Chris Jones & Steve Baker - Gotta Look Up (2005)

In the course of the last ten years, singer/songwriter and guitar virtuoso Chris Jones and harp maestro Steve Baker have released three critically acclaimed CDs together on Acoustic Music Records. Their fourth outing "Gotta Look Up" offers an exciting collection of new songs and presents the duo in top form both musically and lyrically. Jones' and Baker's music has never been easy to classify. It ignores the constraints of stylistic boundaries and is beyond conventional categories, combining elements from rock, blues, folk and funk into a highly individual fusion which touches the heart, body and soul of the listener. On "Gotta LookUp", Jones' and Baker's almost telepathic interplay is perfectly complemented by Martin Röttger on cajon and percussion. Whether on fast songs or slow ballads, the music bubbles with energy and is compellingly authentic. The expressive original compositions are straight out of real life and are clearly not based on hearsay. They tell of love both lost and found, of lust for life, the pain of loss, distilled out of personal experience, as uncompromising and powerful as the melodies themselves. Quality never goes out of style.