Steve Baker

About Steve Baker

Steve Baker was born and raised in London, England, and now lives near Hamburg, Germany. He took up the harp in 1969 and has been a full-time professional since 1975, playing thousands of gigs as well as on countless studio recordings. Today he is undoubtedly one of the leading blues harmonica players on the European scene and is considered one of the finest exponents of this instrument in the world. Among harmonica fans he has earned an international reputation for his outstanding and original playing as well as his excellent books on the subject. His live appearances, writings, recordings and also his long term consultancy work for Hohner have made him a well known and respected figure in the international harmonica community. Over the years Steve has become a kind of harmonica guru for numerous up and coming young players. His unique and instantly recognizable style is a exciting fusion of traditional blues elements with innovative melodic ideas and showcases his mastery of dynamics and tone. In addition to frequent live duo appearances with Hamburg’s blues legend Abi Wallenstein and singer/guitarist extraordinaire Chris Jones (with whom he has toured successfully in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Holland, the USA and Russia), Steve gives regular harmonica workshops. He is also much in demand as a session musician, and his concise and distinctive playing can be heard on hundreds of record productions, TV/ film soundtracks, and jingles. He has been Hohner’s international consultant for diatonic harmonicas for over ten years. As well as performing, recording, writing and teaching Steve is also active as a harmonica journalist. He is a regular contributor to "Easyreeding" magazine and has written a monthly feature for the well known German musicians magazine "Fachblatt" as well as numerous articles for specialist harmonica publications in Europe and the USA. Currently he is writing a monthly column for "Soundcheck" as well as working on two new books. His recently published harmonica intuition CD-ROM is the first of its kind in the world.

His instruction manuals Blues Harping, written with Dieter Kropp and published by Schott Musik International, have now become standard works.