Reviews

Martin Brinsford CD

An album review by Jim, Editorial Team

“Next Slide Please” - Martin Brinsford and

Keith Ryan with Gareth Kiddier

An Album Review by Jim Davies

This is a traditional dance release from three English-based musicians, well versed in English music, but playing mainly

Irish music, and also Scots, Scandinavian, and American music.

There’s the fiddle of Keith Ryan, the keyboards of Gareth

Kiddier, and Martin Brinsford plays the harmonica and our Free-

Reed cousin, the jaw harp. He also plays us the tambourine, probably the most annoying instrument of all when somebody gets up and thrashes it around out of time, but not here - there’s a consummate use of it, doing what it does best. Martin came to one of the HarmonicaUK Bristol festivals a few years ago, and we had a pleasant time blowing in a session in the café there. I remember hearing the English influences in his playing, so I was surprised how Celtic this collection is. Although it’s a mainly Irish playlist, this doesn’t sound like those fine Irish tremolo players, the Murphy brothers or Noel Battle. To my ears, the sound is Scottish, with the stamp of the greatly underrated Jimmy Shand running through it, but perhaps that’s not surprising - these are top class dance-band players. The harmonica player who comes to mind here is Northumbrian Ernie Gordon, with his Scots influences. In some of the Polkas (such as Hugh Gillespie’s) they sound Mainland Western European rather than British or Irish, perhaps a little more staccato than our styles on these islands. The sharp bite of Martin’s tremolo, cutting through and above and below the fiddle is impressive, using the similar range of the two instruments. He uses the tremolo percussively in some of the tracks, other times the fiddle and harmonica play an octave away from each other, and other times one plays straight while the other does the twiddly bits. The tremolo comes up particularly well in the Scandinavian pieces, the drone of the Hardanger Fjelle being replicated so well by the vibrating tone from the two chambers in the tremolo. They show how tightly they can play, both by the use of the tacet (shutting up for a beat or so!) and also the changing time signatures in “Trowie Burn” and “The Waterman’s Hornpipe”. The chrom gets into the CD too. “The Return of Spring” and “The Mountain Pathway” come from the grand old days of the

chromatic harmonica, as Roger Trobridge was telling us in the last edition of the magazine. We are hearing the likes of Ronald Chesney and Max Geldray here. The Free Reed family is also represented by Martin’s playing of the jaw harp on “The Lonesome Polkas” and “Tobin’s” then back to the tremolo for “The Frost is all Over”, with a nice change of rhythmical feel in the middle. A call for attention: we need to look after this neglected member of our family. There is some fine understated keyboard on this CD, by England’s own Violet Tulloch, Gareth Kiddier, his rhythmical patterns supporting and driving the tune carriers. Big shoutout here to the producer, Rod Stradling, who has balanced up the sound so well. He’s kept the lively sound. I wonder whether he cut out the sound of Martin’s expelled air and those involuntary throat sounds we make?! I like the way he’s kept a few of the slight speed ups and slow downs that we all do, the feet tapping, the slight fluffs with the endings. He could have faked them out, but he kept them in, so we know we’re listening to humans. A fine mix of Celtic and Scandinavian traditional dance music.

Danny R & Paul Gillings - The Café Studios EP - Own label A review by Norman Darwen

UK’s Paul Gillings has been steadily and justifiably acquiring a formidable reputation as a magnificent blues harmonica player over the last couple of years. He and singer/acoustic guitarist Danny R recorded this four-track CD EP in Lowestoft, but it may not be quite what you expect. Although the songs themselves may be folk-blues based, rather than a Sonny Terry approach, Paul generally goes for a busy, Sugar Blue-styled approach here, with some quite breathtaking (I mean that almost literally!) sounds at times, though always remaining rooted firmly in the blues. The results are definitely worth checking out, and I look forward to a full-length album if possible! Norman Darwen (www.dannyrpaulgillingsmusic.co.uk)

28 Tunes Traditional Music for 10 Holes Harmonicas Richter or Customized, by Bruno Kowalczyk, 2020, price €35/£30: A review by Sean Spicer

The best thing since sliced bread, or rather since Brendan Power’s “Play Irish Music on the Blues Harp” Introduction by Roger Trobridge - Sean will be well known to people who have seen his progress through the youth competition at Bristol and his success in being accepted as the first harmonica player in the National Youth Folk Ensemble founded by the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS). Bruno Kowalczyk is the best known Traditional player in France. He was due to appear at the Bristol Festival in 2011 but was taken ill just before it took place. This beautifully produced, glossy 56 page wire-bound book and DVD, charmingly illustrated by Sylvie Ecobichon, is not designed to teach you how to play the 10 hole Richter diatonic harmonica. Bruno wants to show you how to use this type of harmonica to play 31 traditional tunes from around Europe, North America, and the UK, as well as some self-penned items. It is written in French and English. Bruno grew up in a Polish enclave near Nantes and took up the harmonica as a child. He has recorded 4 CDs, and in 2010 he wrote a book about playing Québécois music on the tremolo harmonica. Bruno has two main objectives in producing this book: the first is to encourage the playing of traditional music on harmonica, and, second, to show how ‘unused’, specially customised harmonicas can help you to play tunes which are almost impossible otherwise, such as Swedish songs in a minor key and Cajun songs with style and pieces that might be too high-pitched. You can play 25 of the tunes with a 10 hole Richter low D, a G Richter and a custom B flat (thirds lowered). The inclusion of music for the other specially tuned harps does not mean you have to have 15 customized harps to begin with, but it might encourage you to get some in the future. Each tune has its sheet music and tab, and I liked the footnotes which give suggestions about how you can interpret and embellish the score as well as explaining their history. For example, he learnt some of them as a child when they were played on the accordion by the Polish priest of his village. The crowning glory of the package has to be the accompanying easy-to-use DVD which features Bruno performing each tune accompanied by keyboard, accordion, fiddle and banjo players in his garden and home and even in a horse-drawn caravan.

He accompanies the Québécois pieces with some nifty foot percussion. You can use the videos to observe his techniques and enjoy the quality of his playing. When you are ready, you too can play along with the real musicians playing the backing tracks without Bruno’s harmonica. There is even some dancing on the DVD which is a great help in increasing your understanding of tempo and rhythm. These videos are worth watching for the pleasure of seeing Bruno perform these songs with friends in his home and garden. The selection of tunes has been thoughtfully made, drawing on music from Sweden, Poland, Finland, the Auvergne, Normandy, Ireland, Scotland, Louisiana, and Quebec. There is a good range of difficulties so there is something for everyone, though it obviously wouldn’t suit beginners. Do you need the specialist harmonicas? I found that I could play the low tuned pieces on a standard Richter, but the minor key ones require a minor key harp. I also discovered by accident that a Paddy Richter tuned diatonic makes some tunes easier to play, though of course the tab will not be the same and you will have to work out the changes for yourself.

Some tunes, like Bruno’s composition ‘Ecobiche’, have a considerable amount of note-bending in them and they would be much easier to play on a valved harmonica, something which Bruno prefers to overblowing. Bruno recommends a Suzuki ProMaster MR 350v in low F for the one tune in the book which requires a valved harmonica. A section at the back of the book discusses how to valve your own harmonicas. If you enjoy the technical side, there is plenty for you to get your teeth into and additional instructions are on his website, but if you don’t, there is no need. He also provided notes and tab tables for each of the harmonicas, non-customised and customised, with a list of the tunes where they are required. I really enjoyed playing through this set of tunes and have learnt a great deal, even on just a first run through. Bruno isn’t interested in speed but in developing a traditional feel and expression and the backing tracks are at a speed which allows you to really get into that. I recommend this highly for players who want to develop their repertoire and branch out into new areas of traditional music. You can find out more and purchase this beautiful book/DVD (€35/£30) from Bruno: By email, bkharp@wanadoo.fr From his website, http://bklondike.e-monsite.com/ You can view some of his videos on his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/bptard.