Chromatic Weekend

June 17th-19th 2022 Review by Louise Goodridge

I am new to both HarmonicaUK and to playing Harmonica, so making the decision to go to the Chromatic Weekend was a big one for me. However, I am so glad that I did. The weekend was held at the Hillscourt, near Birmingham. The hotel is surrounded by attractive gardens, complete with hopping rabbits. I found my room to be very pleasant and relatively quiet. I arrived on Friday evening and found everyone in the bar chatting. It was very friendly and welcoming. The bar area was set up with HarmonicaUK banners and was ready for a jam. It was wonderful to see a dozen people playing Summertime together, in their own style, but blending beautifully. It just embodied the theme which continued through the weekend of the joy of playing harmonica and how it brings people together. Saturday morning started in the Conference room for the day’s briefing. I was very impressed by how professionally it was set up ready for the evening events with stunning banners, a stage backdrop and an impressive sound and lighting system. My first workshop was with Jens Bunge. As a new player I haven’t found my style yet, so hearing Jens talk about Jazz interpretation was quite inspiring. Listening to him play as he showed us examples was just mesmerising. My next workshop was with Gerry Izzard, a harmonica champion.

The workshop was full of practical hints and tips from how to keep your harmonica in tip top condition, to playing techniques.

There was a whole host of workshops to attend on Saturday and

Sunday, depending on your level of playing and interests. John

Cook was available to help with servicing and maintenance of harmonicas. The legendary Jim Hughes was holding court in the bar on Saturday and had many tales to tell.

Chris Collis was available for practice, and to accompany the performers for the Saturday and Sunday concerts. I described him as a magician as he can play just about anything. Saturday evening’s concert was a chance for the tutors and other performers to show off their playing skills. Pete Hewitt, Neil Warren, Gerry Izzard, Patrick (Paddy) Byrne, Chris Shrimpton and Hilvert Scheper kept us enthralled for the first half of the concert. After which Jens Bunge took us on a musical meander down a Jazz highway. Despite it having been a full day, the concert was followed by another Jam in the bar. After the workshops on Sunday there was an opportunity for the Weekenders to perform. Some participants had only been playing a short time and others were much more experienced, all of them gave wonderful performances. As a new player and a non-music reader I found some of the workshops harder to access, but that has just spurred me on to learn to play and to read music properly. My aim is to be one of those performers on Sunday afternoon next year. Overall, I found the weekend to be friendly, welcoming, inspiring and very worthwhile.