Reviews

Richard Gjems – The Youtube Sessions 2020/ 2021 – That’s Entertainment/ Apollon

Richard is an in-demand Norwegian harmonica player who has been active since the 1990s and who specializes in playing the older forms of blues. He has frequently worked and recorded as a sideman, in a wide variety of styles, and appeared on numerous soundtracks. During the lockdowns and other COVID restrictions, this Seydel endorser recorded these fifteen tracks on his phone whilst he played in his living room – not that you would ever know. Richard sings and plays harmonica on all bar one track here, though he does also turn his hand to guitar and mandolin (and foot-tapping!). Slim Harpo’s ‘Strange Love’ opens the album, a simple rhythmic guitar accompaniment behind Richard’s fine vocal and some excellent rack harp playing – in terms of origin, this is one of the most modern songs on this collection. The solo and descriptively-titled ‘Harmonica Holler’ is one of two originals on the set (the other is the similarly self-descriptive ‘Blue Mandolin’ – one of only two tracks without blues harmonica. There is a surprisingly wide range of blues here: Richard returns ‘Rock Me Baby’ to its deep Mississippi roots, and he also tackles Skip James’ eerie ‘Devil Got My Woman’ and ‘Illinois Blues’, and the solo ‘John Hardy’ (from Leadbelly) is almost a hoedown, though with a couple of rather fine modern touches in Richard’s playing. In stark contrast, listen too to his lively version of Jimmy Reed’s ‘Found Love’, with Reed’s trademark high-end harmonica playing well in evidence – or his warm rendition of Tommy Johnson’s ‘Cool Drink Of Water Blues’. Rather surprisingly, Richard ends this rather fine blues release with a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s impassioned slow blues, ‘Love That Burns’; it strongly recalls John Lee Hooker and works so, so well. As does the whole album, in fact. Norman Darwen (www. https://richardgjems. wixsite.com/richardgjems)

Review of John Cook Harmonicas - Double Reed Plate Marine Band By Ricky Cool

At the recent Harmonica UK Chromatic Weekend I was fortunate enough to be able to have a chat with John Cook, the UK’s leading harmonica repairer and all round fixer for all things harmonica. During our conversation he produced a double reed plate Marine Band Deluxe and said “Try this out and see what you think.” The instrument was a prototype and John is thinking about producing more of them if the demand is there. I had a play on the instrument and it did feel very responsive. John said I could hang on to it for a while to test it out properly and I said I would review it for the magazine and post a review video on my YouTube channel. So here goes. The first thing I was aware of was the weight of the harmonica, 98 grams compared to a Marine Band Crossover of mine that weighs in at 58 grams. The second thing is the increased thickness as a result of having double blow and double draw reed plates. When playing I found that the thickness was more of an issue when using the lip purse embouchure. I needed to use more muscle strength to maintain a good seal around the harmonica. If I was playing it for a long period of time this might be an issue when trying to keep a consistent tone. The increased thickness did not seem to be much of an issue when I was tongue blocking. The instrument was certainly very comfortable to hold and play. John replaces the original wooden comb with one he manufactures from a plastic called Delrin. Delrin is very stable and hygienic. It can be machined and polished to a very smooth, flat finish. John also takes time to ensure that the reed plates are flat and smooth so that the instrument is extremely airtight when assembled. You can also see from the photographs that John uses more screws to attach the reed plates to the comb compared to the standard 3 on a regular Marine Band Deluxe/Crossover. When playing the harmonica (which incidentally was in C) I did feel that there was slightly more volume and a richer tone when compared to my Marine Band Crossover, particularly from holes 1 – 6. The instrument was very responsive and it was possible to play from nothing to full volume and back, on both blow and draw notes very smoothly. I am not an overblow player but I was able to achieve overblows on holes 4, 5 and 6 without too much difficulty. Overall, this is a lovely instrument to handle and play. I can’t see any advantage in having some of these if you play amplified harmonica. The increased slot thickness and thus greater reed

vibration will probably lead to reed failure more quickly if you are playing ‘hard’ all the time with a loud band. I feel that in the hands of an accomplished player in an acoustic setting, the increased expression possible with the double reed plate could well be something that you might want to explore. From my conversation with John I do know that these harmonicas will be expensive in order to be commercially viable. However, being the inventive person John is, he is looking into producing tools and parts so that it will be possible to make your own. If, like me, you have lots of old Marine Band Deluxe reed plates knocking around, this is a very exciting prospect. John will be giving a presentation on these harmonicas at this year’s October festival. He is also going to make up some double reed plate instruments and sell them at a discounted price (behind me in the queue please). Do have a look at John’s website. It’s a treasure trove of all things harmonica: www.johncookharmonicas.com My video review can be found using the following link: https://youtu.be/4n52uKPbLxA

Review of Bad Luck Friday - Wilde Fire Records By Norman Darwen

The label name has the clue – this is Will Wilde’s new band, formed in 2020, a storming four-piece rock band, as the first few notes of the opening track (also called Bad Luck Friday) reveal immediately. Crunching, heavy riffing guitar and a harmonica solo.

Will of course keeps a toehold in the blues on this set.

Although this goes right to the heart of classic and contemporary rock, there are lyric references to black cats, the crossroads and then there’s that harp. Try 666 At The

Crossroads for a particularly fine example on this set, with an instrumental break by Will that’s a little Sugar Blue (who of course famously played with The Rolling Stones) and a lot of Will Wilde. Banshee has Will wailing like a … well, you know what, classicsounding vocals, and a reference to Hellhound On My Trail, before Dust & Bones offers a change of approach, the album’s only slow number, with its slight touch of late 60s/ early seventies band Free. Jealous Woman is blues-rock, a 12-bar format but with modern touches and heavy enough to fit with the remainder of the set; the same comments apply to Low Down Dirty. Take The Best Of Me has another classic rock vocal. The down and dirty Mistress hits an

irresistible groove, whilst Bonnie To My Clyde has maybe a touch of Whitesnake, and the closer, Rebel With A Cause, rides a fierce riff perhaps inspired by vintage Fleetwood Mac – whatever, it’s huge, as is the harp solo. You might hear traces on this album of vintage Black Sabbath or Jethro Tull and more contemporary rock outfits such as Audioslave and Soundgarden. Steve “The Beak” Brook supplies those heavy rock guitars, whilst Alan Taylor on drums and Jack Turnbull on bass drive things along in fine style. And out in front, Will singing like a rock star and playing his own unique, patented, blues-derived rock harmonica. Wonderful! Will Wilde website: www.willharmonicawilde.com Order the album on CD and Vinyl from: www.badluckfriday.com Spotify: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/bad... Follow Bad Luck Friday on Social Media: Facebook: www.facebook.com/badluckfriday

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/willharmonicawilde

Michael Rubin: I’ll Worry If I Wanna (Own label – available at www.michaelrubinharmonica.com) By Norman Darwen

Michael Rubin is a singer and harmonica player, born in New

Jersey in 1969 who sought out and learned from some of the great blues harp players, and he now teaches others from his base in Austin, Texas - and he has a pretty good sense of humour too. The cover sets the right kind of mood. There’s some slashing slide guitar and great slabs of chromatic blues playing by Michael (he can play in all keys on a diatonic too) on the opening, somewhat unlikely-titled Little Rabbit – other song titles include the country-tinged Go Milk Your Own Cow, the lascivious (of course) Kama Sutra Girl and the graphic, celebratory Beer Belly Baby. Old Rodeo Dreams is a slow, melancholy, country styled number with plenty of rural-flavoured harp, whilst Can We Break Up Again is a fine mambo-inflected blues, with perhaps just a hint of Slim Harpo, and an unusual, slight tinge of jazz in the harp break. The title track is a strong, freewheeling, fifties Chicago blues flavoured piece with a swinging guitar break and fine slap bass – and of course a first-rate harmonica break that made me think more than a little of Billy Boy Arnold.

So yes, Michael’s ticking all the right boxes – his playing is exciting and frequently a little unexpected. His singing is good-humoured (try the aforementioned Beer Belly Baby where you can definitely hear the chuckle in his voice) and his accompanists – ex Fabulous Thunderbirds guitarist Mike Keller, Emily Gimble keyboards, Michael Archer bass, Mark Hays drums and Mr. Sick on fiddle – are spot-on. Yes, I really enjoyed this one.

Dustin Arbuckle And The Damnations - My Getaway (Independent) Review by Norman Darwen

Singer and harmonica player Dustin Arbuckle is from Wichita, Kansas, and I nearly wrote “Blues harp player”, but his remit here is a little wider than that. He closes this fine set with the straight(ish) jazz piece ‘Swingling’, but some of the set references his earlier work as one third of Moreland & Arbuckle (yes, you read that right!) with a tough blues sound that draws inspiration from both Chicago and the raw Mississippi hill country sound - try the pounding ‘Across The Desert’.

Sometimes he opts for a strong blues-rock sound, with appropriate harmonica playing, elsewhere he goes for southern rock (‘Dealer’s Lament’) or a country and folk-influenced ‘When A Song Comes Along’. His playing can sometimes go off into unexpected directions - try the opening ‘Say My Name’. Better still, give the whole set a listen… (www.dustinarbuckledamnations.com)