HARMONICA WORLD
J U N E - J U LY 2 0 2 1
Harmonica.co.uk
Registered Charity (England and Wales) No. 1131484 Harmonica.co.uk
Contents
President - Paul Jones
5 Meet the Rest of the Team
4 Chair’s Message
Vice-President - Ben Hewlett vicepres@harmonica.co.uk
6
News Update
Patrons - Lee Sankey, Brendan Power, and Adam Glasser
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Paul Oscher
Executive Committee
9
Bluesgrass, Drea Van Allen
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Ben Talks Harmonica
Chair - Pete Hewitt chair@harmonica.co.uk Vice-Chair (shared) Sam Wilkinson (also Publicity) publicity@harmonica.co.uk Vice-Chair (shared) - Richard Taylor hove.actually@ntlworld.com Secretary - Davina Brazier sec@harmonica.co.uk Treasurer - Phil Leiwy treasurer@harmonica.co.uk Committee Members Membership Secretary - David Hambley memsec@harmonica.co.uk 7 Ingleborough Way, Leyland, Lancs, PR25 4ZS, UK +44 (0)7757 215047 Education - Eva Hurt*
14 Virtual Chromatic Weekend 18
Why the Slipslider is a Game-changer for the Richter Diatonic Harmonica
20
A Strict Approach to Tongue Blocking
23 Reviews 26
Rhythm Harmonica ... with Deak Harp
29 Publicity Column 32
David Naiditch
34
Heroes of Harp: Paul Oscher
36
History of National Harmonica League/ HarmonicaUK
39 Events
IT - Barbara Tate*
40
An Interview with Shawn Hall
Tremolo - Simon Joy*
42
Classified
Editor - Barry Elms editor@harmonica.co.uk Assistants to the committee Education - Dick Powell edu@harmonica.co.uk Health - Rollen Flood * Archivist - Roger Trobridge gopher@internet-gopher.com Editorial team - please contact editor@harmonica.co.uk *Use the contact form at harmonicauk.com/about-us
HarmonicaUK membership The subscription year starts in January UK - Annual subscription/renewal £20, under 18s £10 Join Oct-Mar £20, April-June £15, July-Sept £10 Europe - Annual subscription/renewal £25 Join Oct-Mar £25, April-June £19, July-Sept £13 Outside Europe - Annual subscription/renewal £30 Join Oct-Mar £30, April-June £23, July-Sept £15 Five Year Membership UK £90, Europe £113, Outside Europe £135 Cover: Drea and Kellen van Allen
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Hello everyone, As I look around at all the sub-groups working within HarmonicaUK, I am simply amazed as to how much progress is being made in so many areas. Our IT and rebranding projects are on course to be launched in the summer. I shall report much more about this in the August edition. The editorial team is in a constant state of evolution, with many new initiatives coming from this team, too. I am pleased to report that recently Dave Colclough and Sam Spranger have joined the day to day running of the editorial team, taking this team up to six members.
CHAIR’S MESSAGE
Dave Hambley is chairing the virtual Chromatic Weekend subcommittee. Their achievements have been very impressive, and a truly world-class international Celebration of the Chromatic Harmonica is coming our way on 18–20 June. As a committee, we have decided to make our October festival virtual again this year. There are just too many unknowns at the moment to do anything else. However, what is certain is it will be a festival to remember and of that, I am sure. It seems hard to believe that we have already passed our first anniversary of lockdown sessions and coffee mornings. I think that without a doubt, these sessions have got to be up there as the big success stories of the past year. Sammy Boy Wilkinson has covered this in more detail in this edition. In the last edition, I invited you to meet the Executive Committee of HUK. In this edition, I am introducing the rest of our Committee. Finally, it is with a heavy heart to report that Dave Taylor has decided to step down from the committee. In recent years Dave has been Secretary, and Editor of Harmonica World. Dave’s passion and enthusiasm were there for all to see. On behalf of everyone at HUK, I would like to thank Dave for all of his hard work. I am, however, thrilled to report that Dave will continue as a helper at our live festivals. Happy harping,
Best wishes Pete
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Meet the rest of the Team Simon Joy, Tremolo player/safeguarding As the only tremolo player on the committee, I am carrying the torch for all the members who play tremolo and double reed instruments. I am also using my background working in health and social care to oversee HarmonicaUK’s commitment to safeguarding and managing risk. I look forward to the day I can meet some of you in person to play some tunes together.
Eva Hurt, Education As the Education Secretary I work on getting harmonica educational programmes noticed and recognised both by government bodies and by ordinary people. I am a full-time musician and teacher by profession and education, and have a positive attitude towards life. I’m a night-owl, I work best at night, and my hobbies are buying fancy dresses, birds, and flying objects including UFOs. I love to work in a team, creating an inspiring environment for the development of others.
Barbara Tate, IT and GDPR support I have the dubious honour of being a Trustee of HarmonicaUK without ever having been a harmonica player! I am custodian of the harmonica legacy of my late husband, Douglas Tate, as well as being a past Membership Secretary (just after the last Ice Age) and IT and GDPR advisor. I don’t have an active role at present due to family commitments, but I’m always on hand if needed.
Dave Hambley, Membership Secretary I have been NHL/HUK Membership Secretary for more years than I care to remember. This is my current favourite photo, as I fondly imagine that it makes me look like a Mafioso, spreading fear and despondency into non-renewing HUK members who may previously have viewed me as a ‘pussycat’: be very afraid! I am out to get you! To renew!!
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Editor’s welcome Welcome to the June-July issue of Harmonica World; as I type, it’s bright and sunny outside, hopefully an indication of the summer to come. We’ve got a great selection of articles in this issue, so thanks are due to all our contributors taking the time to write for us here at Harmonica World. At Harmonica World we always need volunteers to write articles or reviews, or generally to help out. For articles we need either 300 or 600 words, ideally in Word or Pages format, and some photos or images to go with them if possible. If you’d like to help or submit an article, please get in touch by email.
NEWS UPDATE Barry Elms Editor
Finally, we are always on the lookout for short news items for this page – please send them in by email.
Micki and Iked Following the publication of Steve Pardue’s interview with Micki and Iked in our last issue, we received a thank you note and recording! ‘Thank you so much! Our article and the magazine as a whole look really fantastic. We are so happy to be a part of this, thanks to you! Also, we wanted to share with you a little song we covered as a thank you to you and the rest of the team at Harmonica World Magazine. We hope you like it :) https://youtu.be/U5_KAhz0CeQ Best wishes from your friends in Palau, Micki & Iked’.
Bruno Kowalczyk - “28 Tunes Traditional Music For 10 Hole Harmonicas - Richter or customized” This DVD, along with its booklet, is in French and English and contains 28 traditional tunes from around the world (Sweden, Poland, Finland, Klezmer, France, Ireland, Scotland, Cajun, old time, Quebec). All the tunes are played on ten-hole Richter or customised diatonics. It is available through Bruno’s website: www. bklondike.e-monsite.com
Martin Brinsford and Keith Ryan – Next Slide Please (CD FBR 006) This CD contains traditional slides and polkas from the Sliabh Luachra area of South-West Ireland as well as music from the dance halls of 1920s Irish America and beyond. Available through https://bandcamp.com. Search for Martin Brinsford. Keep an eye out for a review in a future issue of Harmonica World.
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DON’T MISS
The 1st Hong Kong International Chromatic Harmonica Competition 2022
The competition has been set up to identify talented players and connect them with teachers and professionals around the world. They would like more people from the West to take part. The top prize is €11,000 and there are plenty of other great prizes, so it’s worth having a go! The deadline for entries has been extended to 30 June 2021, and the competition will be held online so there is no need to travel. https://ichc.hkharmonica.org/latest-update
SPAH Week 2021 Join us for SPAH Week 2021, 58th Annual SPAH Convention, online 10–14 August 2021, featuring OVER 60 hours of live and recorded, world-class performances, seminars, and technical sessions, including: • The Blues Blowoff – a live show, hosted by Mark Hummel, with several great blues artists • The Music-City All-Stars, with PT Gazell, Buddy Greene, Charlie McCoy and more • Jason Ricci w/Joe Krown • Featuring: Billy Boy Arnold w/Eric Noden, Christelle Berthon, Cy Leo, The Haymakers, International Youth Show, and many more • 25 seminars on chromatic, diatonic, and MIDI harmonicas, as well as repairs • A Sponsor & Vendor room • 8 hours of Joe Filisko’s Teach-in • Plus: time to visit with friends Brought to your home by SPAH and its sponsors Registration/details: www.SPAH.org. Blues Blowoff $15. Convention: SPAH Members only $100 . Annual SPAH Membership $50/year. Registration proceeds go to our artists; please note, performers and teachers are subject to change.
The kids are alright Great friend of Harmonica World, Rachelle Plas is keeping busy with her musical performances for kids. Not to be taken lightly, this is a lot of work, but rewarding for Rachelle, the kids and Hohner who are partners in this project. Check out Rachelle’s Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/ photo?fbid=422173088855596&set=pcb.422178502188388.
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Paul Oscher died of COVID-19 in Austin, Texas on 18 April. Paul was best known as the first permanent white member of the Muddy Waters Blues Band, which he joined as a harmonica player in 1967 and toured with for almost five years, also recording on several of Muddy’s albums at this time. Paul was born on 5 April 1950 in Brooklyn, New York, and an older African American man he worked with in a grocery store showed him some blues licks on harmonica when he was around 12 years old. Within three years, he was playing Little Walter numbers and appearing in a black club in New York. He first met Muddy at a show in the mid-sixties. There are numerous YouTube clips which feature Paul playing with Muddy; he even appeared with Muddy on the television show Jazz At The Maltings on BBC2 back in October 1968.
PAUL OSCHER Norman Darwin
He left Muddy in the very early ’70s due to ill-health. Later in the decade he worked and recorded as Brooklyn Slim. There was talk of him rejoining Muddy’s band around 1980, though in the end this did not happen. In the early ’90s he began his own career under his own name, gigging and recording as a one-man band or with accompanying musicians. Paul went on to work with many blues greats, among them fellow harmonica player Steve Guyger, Muddy’s son Big Bill Morganfield, and even rapper Mos Def, although Paul was always anxious to stress that he only really played the deep blues. Paul himself went on to influence a younger generation of blues harmonica players, and his regular weekly shows at a club in Austin over the last few years always attracted a large number of the city’s musicians. He was 71 years old when he died.
Keith Parker and Paul Oscher. Keith writes about meeting Paul in this issue’s Heroes of the Harp on page 34.
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BLUESGRASS
Steve Pardue, Editorial Team
An interview with Drea Van Allen I have been playing harmonica for around ten years. I first started playing when my brother handed me a little toy harmonica and during a camping trip I started playing it. He said, ‘Wow! You are really quite good at it’. A few weeks later he gave me a proper one, as I really wanted to jam with him. I got into bluegrass, or really ‘new grass’, as harmonica wasn’t considered a serious instrument for the genre. But I started to join in with bands when they saw that there was a ‘harmonica player’. My first instruction book was Jon Gindick’s Rock ‘N’ Blues Harmonica. I was in college then, and I went to a bluegrass festival and really caught the bug … it was such fun! The day after, I found Adam Gussow’s lessons on YouTube and that is when I decided to practise 30 minutes/1 hour a day. This is what got me started. After that, I found Ronnie Shellist and went to his house in Denver for lessons. But I wanted to know more about tongue blocking, and he wasn’t doing this at that point. So, I stopped taking lessons, joined a band called Slidin’ Delta and really got into blues.
What were your influences and heroes? Annie Raines was a huge influence on my sound and knowing that she was a petite woman, even though I am smaller than her, made me know that I could cup a real bullet mic. Even with small hands I could get good ‘wah-wahs’. Then I picked up some Dave Barrett books and was at a weird point in my life; I was living in a cabin after a divorce, but I felt I had the whole world open to me … I could do what I wanted. You paint quite a bright picture about a stressful situation. Yeah, my life is strange, but my music comes from that. After my divorce, I packed my car, took my stuff and said, ‘I am going to make it in music’. I travelled the States, getting gigs and busking. At that time, I learned some stuff from Paul Oscher, a former member of the Muddy Waters Blues Band. I went to his house and out of the goodness of his heart and his belief in me, he made me a rough EP, took headshots and everything, so I would have something to sell on the road – if I didn’t have something to sell, he said I would not make enough to survive. He then sent me from his house in Texas to Deak Harp in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Deak took me under his wing, didn’t ask for any money, and taught me all about tongue blocking and how to get a better tone. I got the opportunity to play in Ground Zero Blues Club, which is owned by Morgan Freeman. It was such a great experience. And I am now at another crossroads in my life and staying with my brother. I call my music ‘bluesgrass’ because there is so much blues within my music but there is also that country twang which I can’t get away from, so I just put it together. I like playing third position and the sound is a little eerie at times – creepy, almost. It gives my music a ‘gypsy vibe’ which I love. What do you think your future holds? I teach, gig and I have just started a parttime job in an organic winery. They get me to play music in between too, which is great. My family and best friend are here and I am looking forward to meeting more of the community too. I hope to play music full time and tour.
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Tell me about the picture of you and your brother in the wagon. That was taken in Santa Barbara where my brother Kellen and I played the gig on the gypsy wagon for a private party. What harmonicas do you play? I play Hohner Marine Band Crossovers, which are my favourite because of the tone, and I like the bamboo comb. I am not endorsed by them but am endorsed by Lone Wolf Blues Company, who do pedals and mics. I also like Seydel – they are really well made. I am getting back into teaching and have lots of views on YouTube with free lessons. My method is to use your ear. This is how I learnt. It’s not going to do you any favours to have tab, in my opinion. Sonny Terry didn’t have tab. It is really important to listen and feel. Blues is an emotion – you have to listen and get the feeling for it. When you figure something out, don’t be just happy that you’ve done it – you need to repeat it over and over. Even if you play just one song a day, it’s worth it, and music makes me happy. It’s my therapy. You can really scream through your harmonica. Emotion and harmonica go hand in hand. And I guess the turbulence in my life makes my music more interesting.
www.instagram.com/dreavanallen/ www.facebook.com/dreavanallen Drea Van Allen
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Using Musical Patterns To Increase Our Harmonica Skills Many, many years ago, when I was teaching primary school children how to play a scale, I came up with rather a good and simple idea, which I have developed and would like to share with you now. We started with the notes of C, D, E, and F, and I decided to loop those four notes up and down to create a continual melody. So now we had a loop of C, D, E, F, E, D. Why don’t you try it now? Loop it round and round in 6/8 time using a metronome (or metronome app).
BEN TALKS HARMONICA Ben Hewlett Vice-President
Try increasing the speed. Fun? Yes, I agree. Challenge yourself! Then we looped the remaining notes of the scale and got G, A, B, C, B, A.
Same idea, what a beautiful melody. Try it now: use the beat to lock in and see how it feels to play these loops for a couple of minutes. Interesting? Should be. Now memorise the patterns of transitioning from hole to hole, combined with the changes of breath movement, to call it a fixed pattern. Now play those exact same patterns but starting on different holes – try on all the different holes. What music derives from these patterns? You might recognise or be reminded of a tune or a fragment of a tune. Experiment. Usually when we play music, we are intentional about the notes we want to play, and are not concerned about which hole we need or which breath direction is required, we just want to play a specific tune or a specific improvisation. This approach of playing patterns is completely the opposite. The idea is to exploit the physical aspects of the harmonica to see what music can be created. In other words, by playing patterns we care not a jot about the musical result – we are focusing purely on the physicality and practicality of our instrument. This can be done with any instrument, of course: if you think of a guitar or a piano or a trumpet, what would be the easiest practical things you can do? Does pattern playing produce interesting music? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
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There are several examples of pattern playing producing music that has been recorded, if you would like to hear them. Howard Levy’s Classical Concerto for Diatonic and Orchestra has a great example in the 3rd movement. I remember a solo album by Richard Hunter a while back that uses this concept really well; maybe someone has that album? If you listen to anything by John Popper or Sugar Blue you will hear harmonica solos crammed with pattern playing. Another way that many musicians increase their skills and capacity on their instrument is by borrowing techniques from other instruments. Let’s borrow something from drums now. I was just completing a course that I called ‘Drum Rudiments For Harmonica Players’* when I got a video from Howard Levy expanding on a theory I have heard him talking about before, which is exactly that: in other words, using the 40 drum rudiments and applying them to the harmonica. More on this subject next time – it’s too big for one article. I can show you more in my course right now if you are interested, or you can come to my free sessions on Zoom, but I’ll leave you with this cliff-hanger question – how can we play a double paradiddle-diddle or a triple stroke roll converted onto the harmonica? And why bother? More on this coming soon… *https://playharmonica.teachable.com/p/learn-drumrudiments-to-help-you-play-cool-new-harmonica-licks
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VIRTUAL CHROMATIC WEEKEND
Calling all Chromatic Harmonica Players. 18–20 June 2021 Dave Hambley, Membership Secretary
We’re broadcasting a great programme of international guest artists, virtual harmonica factory and museum tours, and sharing our sponsors’ breakout room and technical repair shop. You can go to a breakout room after a performance and talk with the artist. Main Picture: Hermine Deurloo
Dror Adler
Following the success of HarmonicaUK’s first virtual harmonica event last summer, the lockdown restrictions mean that we will have to go online for our celebration of the chromatic harmonica again this year. Building on last year’s virtual Chromatic Weekend, the October festival, and Harpin’ By The Sea, HUK is hosting its celebrated Chromatic Weekend virtual festival from 18 to 20 June on Zoom and YouTube. Add these dates to your diary and reserve a place on the sofa!
The Artists From Israel, Dror Adler is a chromatic soloist whose sound innovations have revolutionised harmonica groups’ sound. His microphones for chromatic and bass harmonicas are used by the world’s top harmonica ensembles today. From Hong Kong, Cy Leo is a chromatic harmonica virtuoso, composer, and singer-songwriter who, by the age of 19, had been awarded 17 international titles, including Solo World Champion twice at the World Harmonica Festivals of 2009 and 2013.
Cy Leo
Hermine Deurloo, from Amsterdam, was smitten by the jazz bug at an early age. After completing her alto saxophone studies, she received a chromatic harmonica as a present and was hooked. Rick Epping is a Californian living on the west coast of Ireland, and former Harmonica Product Manager for Hohner USA, responsible for developing the XB40, the all-bending harmonica. An expert customiser of harmonicas and the ‘father of embossing’, he will be bringing his expertise to the Chromatic Weekend over two sessions.
Rick Epping Will Galison
Will Galison is an American jazz musician and chromatic harmonica player. With Toots Thielemans and Stevie Wonder as role models, Will has played with Sting, Carly Simon, and more, and has recorded soundtracks for films and countless commercials. Enrico Granafei plays guitar and sings while playing hands-free chromatic harmonica on a rack. He studied classical guitar in Italy in the 1970s before taking up the harmonica and discovering jazz.
fei
Enrico Grana
California-based multi-instrumentalist Slim Heilpern (aka Slide Man Slim) began his chromatic harmonica journey at age five and has played the instrument professionally since 1978, both on the road and in the studio.
Slim Heilpern
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Phil Hopkins had chromatic lessons with Tommy Reilly. Since then, he has played harmonica for many London theatre productions. Phil has played harmonica in many different settings, including the ITV show This Morning. He plays in the UK jazz group The Toots Project. Thaddeus Hogarth was born in England and raised in St Kitts, West Indies. A multi-instrumentalist, his chromatic harmonica playing is reminiscent of early era Stevie Wonder. Thaddeus is the author of the Berklee Chromatic Harmonica Method: Foundations for Jazz.
Phil Hopkins
From Sweden, Filip Jers became a double World Champion on harmonica at the age of 18 at the 2005 World Harmonica Festival in Trossingen, Germany. Since then, he has worked as a freelance musician, with studio sessions and teaching the harmonica.
Thaddeus Hogart
h
Filip Jers
From Paris, highly regarded soloist Olivier Ker Ourio has established himself as one of the world’s premier chromatic jazz harmonica players. OKO is a highly demanded soloist as well as a great composer. Isabella Krapf was already fascinated by the chromatic harmonica as a child. She has learned the piano, percussion and singing, but her main interest remains chromatic harmonica. She has been teaching our instrument since 1997 and played weekly concerts before Covid. She has played in the large Musikvereinssaal, in the Wiener Konzerthaus, and also in Chicago and North Korea. One of her students became world champion in 2013 at the World Harmonica Festival in Trossingen. Thank you for supporting our artists and programming. Please note the line-up may be subject to change following the printing of Harmonica World.
Isabella Krapf
Main Picture: Olivier Ker Ourio
http://recklesstram.com
In the 125 years since 1896, when the iconic Hohner Marine Band set the format for all 10-hole diatonic harmonicas in Richter tuning, nothing substantial has changed. All modern harps have exactly the same construction: a central comb with a blow reedplate on top, draw reedplate on bottom, and two coverplates. But with the proliferation of knowledge, aided by the internet, clever people everywhere are coming up with striking new improvements for long established products. In the case of the classic 10-hole Richter harmonica (often known as the blues harp), the most significant, in my opinion, is an invention from Hungarian engineer/designer Zombor Kovacs. Roughly 15 years ago, Zombor created a prototype harp where the lower draw reedplate can move from side to side by the distance of one chamber. This creates new pairings between the blow and draw reeds, which has a huge beneficial effect on the expressive power of the harp. Interactive reed bending is a massive part of the sound and appeal of the blues harp – but only 8 of the 20 reeds can be bent in pitch. In one fell swoop, Zombor’s invention doubles that number to 16! In addition, it increases the range of the existing bendable notes by a large amount. That’s a BIG improvement on the 1896 design without losing any of its intrinsic qualities - because in the home (un-shifted) position, the SlipSlider plays exactly the same as a stock Richter harp.
WHY THE SLIPSLIDER IS A GAME-CHANGER FOR THE RICHTER DIATONIC HARMONICA Brendan Power Patron
With Zombor’s blessing, a few years ago I developed his idea further using magnets, to simplify the construction and make it more user-friendly. I called my iteration the SlipSlider, and made it available as a hand-made custom harmonica. It works well, adding a huge amount of juicy new expression to the standard Blues Harp. Some love it, but others are very disconcerted when one of the reedplates in their trusty ol’ harpoon is suddenly capable of movement. “The notes are all different!” they say. Ah, yes… well, actually, that’s the idea! But what’s really happening in the SlipSlider is not weird at all. In fact, it makes playing a lot EASIER than on a standard Richter harp. That’s because the drawplate movement is simply moving familiar note patterns to other places on the instrument. There is no new tuning to learn; all you need to do is play your familiar licks and patterns in a different area of the harp – it’s that easy!
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Below is a diagram showing what’s going on, comparing the two drawplate moves with the standard Richter ‘home’ position. When the drawplate is shifted left, you can see that the scale diagram of the harmonica in holes 6-9 is IDENTICAL to the standard harmonica scale in holes 3-6. Because the blow/draw reed partnerships are the same, it has the same familiar draw bends, chords etc as in the middle octave. But now they’re playable in the upper octave – for the first time since the Marine Band was created in the 19th century. That’s pretty impressive! When the draw reedplate is shifted to the right, the middle octave area holes 4-7 is IDENTICAL to the normal high octave holes 7-10. This means that all those juicy blow bends you get up high are now suddenly possible in the middle octave – again, for the first time since 1896. ‘Wow’ again! Moving these familiar note patterns to new areas of the harp not only gives soulful new bending expression, but makes the diatonic Richter harp fully chromatic through easy bending technique alone. That’s another huge advance over the basic 1896 formula – ‘Wow’ for the third time! And as a free bonus offer you can see there are other new very wide blow and draw bends available as well - open for some wild new sounds for adventurous types. ‘Wow’ times four! The beauty of the SlipSlider is that it gives the player all this fabulous new capability without in the slightest taking away the good stuff that we’ve all come to know and love about the Richter diatonic harp. It’s one of those rare things: a genuine Win Win. Assuming a low cost mass-produced model becomes available, as more players give it a go they will realise what fabulous stuff the SlipSlider can offer them, and how simple it is to play. Once that happens, over time I believe many will want ALL their harps to have this extra expression inside, ready for use whenever needed. The stock unmoving harmonica will come to seem very stiff and unresponsive by comparison. In short, I think Zombor’s clever invention has game-changing potential to become the new default format for the 10-hole Richter harmonica of the future. Here’s a video showing all the great new sounds lurking inside the SlipSlider, and how easily ANYONE can play them: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=mB75Mrs8g9M
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I think that one of the most interesting uses of tongue blocking is that it allows us to be rhythmic: hearing the great pre-war blues players or certain tremolo players work on even simple melodies, making them incredibly articulated, makes you really reflect on how a humble harmonica can sound like two or three instruments at the same time! Today we have a lot of instructions on effective tongue blocking, but I wondered if it would be possible to implement a series of step-by-step exercises to improve my rhythmic attitude and make it more ‘scientific’ and programmed. I certainly don’t want to sound like a robot, but I would like to make my training more rigorous and explore this particular aspect in depth. Is it possible to evaluate how tongue blocking is able to rhythmically enrich a song? Can you keep a fixed melody and change the rhythm behind it? I decided to choose a melody and check it out. For the melody, I was inspired by the Maestro himself: in 1781, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote twelve variations of the famous French popular melody ‘Ah, vous dirai-je Maman’ (‘Twinkle twinkle little star’): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyhxeo6zLAM The result is amazing, and sometimes it is even difficult to hear the original melody! A problem can arise because of the harmony: on a standard Richter-tuned diatonic harmonica, few chords are actually available, but in this case we focus on the rhythmic aspect, so each slap (i.e. the moment when the tongue strikes the harmonica, blocking the holes that should not play) will be the fastest and most decisive possible, so that the percussive aspect is more appreciated and the harmony is reduced to a minimum (i.e. the chord that is inevitably produced by the vibrating reeds). Two movements are involved (I’m using the same nomenclature as Joe Filisko - someone who knows a thing or two about tongue blocking): Clean single note: the tongue is resting on the harmonica and lets the air escape into the single hole we need on the right side of the mouth.
A STRICT APPROACH TO TONGUE BLOCKING Matteo Pulin Profetto
Vamping the note: played by making the tongue lash – quoting David Barrrett, ‘by breathing a fraction of a second in advance (allowing the four reeds to vibrate), then blocking the three holes [left] with the tongue, leaving the right hole open’. WARNING! This technique, which is used in Chicago style to give push and aggression to a note or split, in this case (which we can refer to as old time style) serves much more to mark the time, and is executed with more subtlety!
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Two things can occur: The tongue slap occurs when the melody note must play: the tongue beats on the harmonica, leaving just the correct hole open and blocking the other holes on the left – you hear the slap of the tongue and the melody note playing together. The tongue slap occurs when the melody note is already playing: the tongue rises and beats on the harmonica, leaving the correct hole open and blocking the other holes without interrupting the air flow that is passing through and allowing the right hole to continue playing – the melody note continues to sound as you hear the slap of the tongue. Referring back to Mozart, I thought of twelve variations (or I’d have to say ‘percussive accompaniments’) of the melody, but of course it is possible to create many rhythms. Sometimes the approach is quite easy; in other cases it takes a little longer; but the best result I think we can get is to hear two distinct elements: the melody and the rhythm proceeding almost independently of each other. Certainly, the melody is deliberately simple: there are no great variations, moving between 1/4 notes and 2/4 notes on a slow tempo. A more articulated and fast melody could well be more problematic, but this is a pure independence exercise, and I think the most complicated thing to pursue is not the technique, but being able to concentrate on doing two things – moving the breath and tongue – at the same time but with two different beats. Only the A part of the tune is included in the musical scores below for reasons of space (part B is just as simple to play by ear). The rhythm part scores are written below the tune, and the basic beat imposed on the piece by the tongue percussion is shown. The exercise is progressive (and customisable), and it is very important to be able to distinguish the two parts as much as possible, performing them as ‘independently’ as you can. When all is said and done, I ask myself and I ask you: is it then possible to think of playing harmonica in a syncopated or poly rhythmic way? We will see in a future article. For the realisation of this article, I am infinitely grateful to Davide Speranza and especially to the great Joe Filisko, who helped me with patience and generosity by giving me a lot of advice. I am pleased to refer you to his website and store (www.filiskostore.com/) for an incredible insight into tongue blocking, old time style harmonica, and many other topics. Facebook: Matteo Pulin Profetto - Irish & Celtic Harmonica YouTube channel: Pulin Harmonica Email: pulinharmonica@gmail.com
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REVIEWS Once Lay a King - Colour of Light An album review by Sophia Ramirez, Editorial Team
Once Lay a King is the latest album by Colour of Light, a contemporary five-piece band who sing as well as play guitar, banjo, ukulele, double bass, and harmonica. Jon Burr plays the diatonic harmonica throughout the album; winner in the diatonic blues/ rock category of a 1994 National Harmonica League competition, Burr has been playing for over 30 years, experimenting with, and mastering all sorts of styles, from blues to calypso, rock to jazz to folk. In Once Lay a King, Burr explores a new way of playing the harmonica – as a third voice in harmonies. The singers Emily Levy and Paul Naylor voice the album’s stories about loss, perspective, and unity. In accompanying their lyrics, Jon Burr and the rest of the band blend together blues harmonica with folk and country influences, creating a pure and heartfelt sound. And while the singers’ beautiful lyrics are needed to put the album’s themes of heartbreak and hope to words, Burr’s energetic playing, too, truly expresses the emotions of the songs. The title song Once Lay a King, for instance, starts slow, with the short wail of harmonica punctuating the end of each verse. Then it grows into a harmonica solo that pulls no punches, forceful and exciting and perfectly capturing the revolutionary sentiment of lyrics like ‘yeah, step aside while we change your rules’. Similarly, the soft-sung track Colour of Light enjoys the bright and hopeful sound of the harmonica joining in with Levy and Naylor’s light harmonies, evoking the feeling of spring and change. In the end, with songs delving into both future and past, dream and history, Once Lay a King is an album constantly rising and falling from quiet to loud, vibrant to serious (often in the same track), its themes tied together by a powerful story-telling style.
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REVIEWS Intimate Expressions of Great Masterpieces - Sorarmonica Duo An album review by David Beer Here is news of a new CD release from our friends from Slovenia – Sorarmonica. This time it is a collection of duet arrangements (played by Simona and Vladimir) of popular classical pieces (SaintSaens’ The Swan, Strauss’ Blue Danube, Franck Panis’ Angelicus, along with pieces by Elgar, Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart, and Paganini, plus Summertime by Gerschwin and Amazing Grace). There are 18 tracks in all, and there are some lovely things on here. The playing is very good, as you would expect, and the recording is crystal clear. This is a must for those who like to hear what is possible stylistically and technically on the instrument, using the classical repertoire. Amazing Grace is haunting and at a lovely slow tempo. The faster, more rhythmic pieces are my favourites, though, as they show off the playing skill so well: the Coucou works really well with two harmonicas and the playing here is so clear. I also like Badinerie, where the melody playing is also very skilled. Humoreska, Blue Danube and Flight of the Bumblebee are great fun and the interplay between the two instruments is excellent. The album finishes with the jazz standard Summertime: there is a tongued rhythmic chordal accompaniment under a beautifully phrased melody, with some subtle jazzy inflections. This lends itself very well to the harmonica. It is lovely to hear so many well-known tunes played in this way, and so cleverly arranged. The CD is available from Vladimir at vladimir.hrovat1@gmail.com
Roll On - Harpface and the Heydays (Fuego 3093) An album review by Pat Missin Long-term readers with good long-term memories will recall that I’ve reviewed several recordings from Rainer ‘Harpface’ Söchting over the years, and I am very pleased to be able to review another one. This is his second album with The Heydays and whilst the first, Pearls, was comprised of covers of classic tunes, this one has a baker’s dozen of blues rock originals. The band are even tighter
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REVIEWS than on their debut, and although Harpface’s harp is a little less in your face than on previous recordings, he still delivers plenty to interest even the most jaded ears, blasting his way through seven positions on standard diatonic, plus a couple of altered tunings and some extra tasty twelfth position work on a low E TurboSlide. Available on CD from all the usual places, plus streaming audio on Spotify and Apple Music.
Exploring the Diminished Harmonica Jason Rogers A book review by Pat Missin In the interest of full disclosure, I should begin by mentioning that although I wrote the foreword to this book and offered encouragement to the author, I have no financial interest in any proceeds of sales. There are several diminished tunings for the harmonica, and this book deals with the most useful one for the diatonic player – a retuned diatonic where the draw notes are two semitones higher than the corresponding blow notes and adjacent notes are tuned a minor third apart. This presents two very attractive features for the player. The first is that a chromatic scale can be played with just blow notes, draw notes and single semitone draw bends – no deep bends, blow bends, overblows or overdraws are required for full chromaticity. The second key feature is that any lick, phrase or scale can be played in all twelve keys by learning just three patterns. Once you learn to play a phrase in C, then you can use that same pattern to play the phrase in Eb, F# and A, just by starting on a different hole. Learning the phrase in C# means that you can use that pattern to play in E, G and Bb. Ditto for D, F, Ab and B. With such a flexible tuning, any guide to its use will only be able to scratch the surface of what can be done, but with this book, Jason Rogers carves some pretty deep notches, with clear explanations and musical examples drawn from a wide range of sources, presented in standard notation and tab. If you are curious about this tuning, or if you have been playing it for a while already, I guarantee that you will find plenty of useful information in these pages.
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Q&A: Deak Harp on Rhythm Harmonica and Learning From James Cotton Deak Harp is a renaissance man of the harmonica. He plays in a one-man band and has released the critically acclaimed album Clarksdale Breakdown. He crafts revered custom harmonicas in his Mississippi shop and even offers to host guests in the Delta and teach them the intricacies of old school blues harmonica. Harp learned from one of the best ever: the late blues master James Cotton. He talked to us about what the master taught him and how players can beef up their rhythmic chops. How did you start playing harmonica? I was in sixth grade right around when Whammer Jammer (The J. Geils Band) came out. Someone was playing part of it in the bathroom that day. I talked to my Mom and told her I needed to get a harmonica; that I found what I wanted to do. I bought the harmonica and asked the person I heard playing if they could show me to play. And there was no showing me – he actually said he wouldn’t show me shit (laughs).
RHYTHM HARMONICA… ...with Deak Harp Justin M. Norton
So then how did you learn? I think it might have been a Three Dog Night song and Black Sabbath’s The Wizard (with a harmonica intro from Ozzy Osbourne, who many years later visited Harp’s shop while filming a reality show). I learned those for a little while before my brother hipped me to James Cotton. I found out Cotton was playing in town at a place called the Stanhope House in New Jersey. I got there early and met James, and we hit it off right away. He became a mentor to you, correct? I ended up following him all over. He could be playing in Pittsburgh and I would go see him and he’d ask, ‘Why do you keep following me?’ He offered to hire me for a hundred bucks a day, and on off days he’d pay for my room. He said he had a tour next week, and if I could get to Chicago, he’d get me working. I drove on and off for him for about eight years. Did you have formal lessons with him, or did you just absorb his style being around him so much? I wanted to get the big sound he had. He would sit right beside me and say, ‘Alright now, listen’. At the time I was still puckering, and I couldn’t get
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that sound. He would pull chords in and make things sound big. I started doing soundchecks for him at shows, and he’d be in the booth which was right in the middle of the audience. He’d hear me playing and go: ‘Deeper, deeper’, and I tried to get that sound. I was indirectly able to play through some of the biggest sound systems in the world and work on capturing that sound. Did he teach you specifically about the importance of rhythmic playing or was it just hearing how he presented ideas? He wanted you to listen, for the most part. He wanted me to use my ears, and it helped unbelievably – the difference was astronomical. A harmonica player needs to use their ears before anything. That’s why you can hear 100 harmonica players and there is only one good one. A lot of people are just novelty players. Do a lot of modern players both within and outside blues not latch onto the importance of rhythmic chops? Yes, and there’s nothing worse than a guy who is just sitting there on stage waiting for his part and doing nothing. What would you suggest to players to improve their rhythmic chops? Is tongue blocking important? It would be ideal to find a teacher, because otherwise it will take too long to learn. But as far as the mechanics of it, you need to tongue block to get the rhythm. Your root note (in second position) on the 2 draw is a great starting place. Some guys try to do rhythm with the pucker technique, but that’s not the right technique. I chose to be on the ‘raw’ authentic side of the harmonica. Tongue blocking allows you to get dirt on the notes and also get in chords – that ‘intentional slop’. That’s great on those lower tuned harps. Is learning to play songs on your own a crucial part of growing as a rhythm player? Well, you need to be a seasoned player to be able to accompany yourself. There is a lot to think about. A more important thing is to have timing, and some people just don’t have it. You can’t get them to go anywhere. Even something like overblows – putting them in time is where it stumbles. If you can’t hit something in time you can’t use that lick. I don’t ever want to hit an overblow unless it’s by mistake because they sound like duck notes (laughs). If you had to give an emerging player one tip on rhythm playing, what would it be? Learn to vamp on the root note – that’s the meat of the early stuff. Put your tongue down on the damn harmonica. Once you add your diaphragm and all these other things, that’s when you can develop a big tone.
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HarmonicaUK coffee mornings and lockdown sessions – a year on. It’s 2 May 2020, 1:03pm… ‘It’s nice to see everybody today. Welcome to the first of these workshops. Hopefully you’ll be able to glean something from it’ These were the words of Paul Gillings at the start of the first ever HarmonicaUK Lockdown Session. A year on and they’re still going strong; artists are now asking to run sessions, which is a great testimony to the reputation HarmonicaUK has gained in the last year.
PUBLICITY COLUMN Sam Wilkinson Vice-Chair
At the same time, the Friday Coffee Mornings began, hosted by David Hambley – a role that comes naturally to him. Since then, a core of members and non-members have this weekly event in their diaries. I would now like to share some quotes from artists and participants, but first from our chair ...
Pete Hewitt, HarmonicaUK Chairman ‘The thing I keep hearing is that once we were accessible twice a year, but now it’s twice a week. This is a fundamental shift that the members have welcomed. They love the camaraderie of the Friday morning coffee mornings, and the lockdown sessions that are a very valuable resource.’
ARTISTS Davide Speranza ‘Very interesting experience. The harmonica is a wonderful instrument and HarmonicaUK brings out every aspect of it. Artists sharing their style and techniques increases the awareness of harmonica in different world cultures.’
Marcin Dyjak ‘I think the Lockdown Sessions are much more than just learning to play harmonica. They focus on building knowledge and giving the opportunity to develop technical skills and understanding music theory. There are other significant benefits too, including providing participants with the opportunity to belong to a group of people with similar interests during isolation, improving respiratory efficiency (blood oxygenation) and lowering stress-related
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blood cortisol levels. I support HarmonicaUK activities with all my knowledge and harmonica skills!’
Philip Hopkins ‘Doing the Lockdown Sessions has been a great experience for me. It has been amazing to connect with so many harmonica enthusiasts and learn from the interesting comments they have made. Also, being asked to share my knowledge of chromatic harmonica has made me re-examine the way I do things – and has reminded me what I need to improve on! This has been a brilliant initiative by HarmonicaUK.’
Santiago Alvarez ‘The Lockdown Sessions gave me the chance to meet the fine harmonica enthusiasts of HarmonicaUK and share my love of Argentine music with them. Keep them going!’
PARTICIPANTS Thomas Lakars (Illinois, USA) ‘This crazy pandemic year has separated all of us, but via Zoom we’ve continued to enjoy music. Your excellent work with Lockdown Sessions now connects harmonica players across the world. Congratulations Sam and HarmonicaUK on your first anniversary!’
Steve Holstead ‘I’m a new member and have attended coffee mornings and Lockdown Sessions. Marcin Dyjak’s Fly Me To The Moon workshop added a completely new dimension to the song – brilliant! I’m looking forward to everything HarmonicaUK has to offer!’
Mike (Dublin) ‘Thank you for all the work you have put into the Lockdown Sessions. They have been fantastic!’
Arthur ‘I just want to thank you for all your great work on keeping the Lockdown Sessions going. It is great that you put them on YouTube. For many years now I have been a member of a club, but now I am part of a family – I can’t wait for Fridays and Saturdays!’ And to see us through the next year are the sage words from the exquisite Scottish Celtic Harmonica player, Donald Black … ‘Whether you are learners, world class players or simply interested in the instrument, I wish you all a happier and more fulfilling year ahead. Whatever your musical and cultural tastes - have a BALL!!! Keep safe.’
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In 2017, I was at the Galax Old Time Fiddlers Convention in West Virginia, a dream long held and finally realised. I fell in with the folk at Swingtown, the biggest marquee on the site. One day, while talking with a friend camped adjacent, I heard a chromatic harmonica playing swing tunes with a distinctive virtuosity. It just had to be … I went next door, and sure enough it was. David Naiditch. I’d known David online for some years and had a few of his CDs. I wrote some nice words about one of them on the harp-l forum many years back, a ruse which had David send me all subsequent recordings, including his latest. We’ll get to that. David studied mathematics at UCLA, then philosophy at UC Santa Barbara, and was for many years a software engineer at The Aerospace Corporation. He has published two books on the Ada programming language. Despite all this, or perhaps because of it, David has found much time for his music.
DAVID NAIDITCH Tony Eyres
He started as a diatonic player in the 1960s, tutored by Sonny Terry, then moved to chromatic. He often plays with just one hand, a skill he gained (according to our discussions) as he practised while commuting, his other hand presumably on the steering wheel. This one-handed habit can be disconcerting, as he appears to be without instruments, until his right hand emerges from his pocket, followed by chromatic playing at the highest level. David has adopted two distinct music genres: swing (in particular, acoustic gypsy jazz) and bluegrass instrumentals. I inhabit this latter genre and have been lucky enough to share tunes with him, at Galax, then at SPAH. This included a roaring version of Jerusalem Ridge, played for Lars Seifert, the president of Seydel Harmonicas. A grand moment. Bluegrass and gypsy jazz have strong jamming cultures, very different to blues jams, where an evening generally comprises a short set on stage, followed by long breaks while others play. Bluegrass and gypsy jazz comes alive at festivals, where players gather, not so much to hear performances, but to play all day (and all night) with their peers. I’m familiar with bluegrass festivals – the jamming session quality is often astoundingly good. David has attended these festivals for decades. The result has been twofold: a formidable technique and repertoire, and long-standing musical associations with the best players.
Until COVID-19 struck, David ran a house concert series at his residence in Altadena, near Pasadena, California, and regularly hosted bluegrass, jazz and other ensembles of the highest calibre. Videos from these events are at Jackie Naiditch’s YouTube channel. All this provides David with a stellar cast for his recordings. In 2011 he released Bluegrass Harmonica and in 2012 Douce Ambience, the latter comprising gypsy jazz standards. Key players from these recordings were Pat Cloud on banjo and Gonzalo Bergara on Django-style guitar, both extraordinary musicians previously unknown to me. Not so for his later releases, Bluegrass in the Backwoods and Bluegrass that Swings, where the lineup includes Sierra Hull, a young lady whose exquisitely precise mandolin has taken the bluegrass world by storm, and who in 2016 became the first female International Bluegrass Music Association Mandolin Player of the Year, an award she has won twice since. In short, David gathers strong groups for his recordings. The band for his latest release, David Naiditch plays Bluegrass and Swing Instrumentals, includes David Grier, Jake Workman and Stuart Duncan. To bring non-bluegrass folk up to speed, a small table set for the leading bluegrass guitar players would include David and Jake. An even smaller table of the fiddle luminaries would certainly include Nashville-based Stuart Duncan, who would probably be handed the wine list. It is one thing to assemble this cast, another altogether to mesh as seamlessly as David does. Perhaps decades of rubbing shoulders with the best at festivals makes recording with this group just another day at the office. The album begins with a short bluegrass set, with standards such as Texas Gales (made famous by Doc Watson), Billy in the Lowground, Beaumont Rag and Whiskey Before Breakfast. The power and precision of Jake Workman’s guitar is immediately apparent, intertwined with David’s harmonica. After a few tunes the bluegrass band slopes off, leaving fiddler Stuart Duncan behind to deal with the gypsy jazz band which follows. And what a set they play, including Joseph Joseph, made famous by the Andrews Sisters. German guitar player Joscho Stephan drives the jazz set with an immensely skilled hand. A key feature of this recording is that no one shines above the others. David Naiditch is at home with these peerless peers. Check it out at website and YouTube Channel, or better still, book him for a European festival when such things resume. YouTube channel: youtube.com/DNaiditch Website: davidnaiditch.com
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However, he was so much more than that: he was a multiinstrumentalist who played diatonic, chromatic and bass harmonicas in a blues style, and most of the time with a rack while playing another instrument. He was also well known for his storytelling whilst on stage, including the one about him meeting Little Walter for the first time in Muddy’s house, where he was staying with Otis Span and playing Three-card Monte with him. He tells this story on his album Bet on the Blues. I was fortunate enough to meet him on my last visit to Austin Texas in 2017.
PAUL OSCHER Keith Parker
I felt Heroes of the Harp this issue should be dedicated to the great Paul Oscher who passed away recently. Paul was well known as the first white harp player to play in the Muddy Waters Blues Band which he did from 1967 to 1972 and his history is well documented.
Whenever I visit a town or city, I check the listings to see who is playing when and where, and I try to immerse myself in the local music scene. On checking the local music paper, I noticed P Oscher on the bill in a small club just outside the city called C-Boys at 6.30 on the next Thursday. Surely that cannot be THE Paul Oscher – he must have a bigger listing than that! On the Wednesday night at the same club there was a jam session, so Jackie and I went along. I was invited to play with the local musicians, and I asked these guys, was that THE Paul Oscher playing tomorrow night? Yes, they all said; he plays here every week on Thursdays. Thursday arrives, and Jackie and I get a cab to the club, expecting a queue to get in, but there was no queue, and it was free to get in. There were around ten people in the club, and sure enough there was the great man setting up his kit ready for the show. So, we bought a drink, found a table and settled down for a great evening’s entertainment that I will never forget, and what an entertainer – he played keyboard, guitar, diatonic, chromatic and bass harmonicas and sang with a great bluesy voice. And he didn’t just sing blues, but also country and gospel – fantastic. At the end of the show, the bucket got passed around for tips, and he got off the stage to make way for the next act. I was shocked to see this legend of the harmonica was playing for tips. As there were not too many people in the club, I went to talk to him. He was truly humbled that we had travelled to see him and that we knew who he was. When he realised I was a harp player too, he said that I should have told him earlier and he would have invited me to play with him! He did not have to say that, but he did. In my opinion, he was a true musical legend and all-round nice guy, who I am pleased to say I met; and I will never forget that Little Walter story.
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Photo: Dave Peabody. Paul Oscher at the London Blues Club, 2008
The 1950s was the ‘Golden Age’ of the harmonica on radio, TV and the theatre, but the decreasing enthusiasm for the harmonica bands and the increasing popularity of the guitar meant that Hohner could no longer continue to support the National Harmonica League as a separate organisation after 1958. Their solution was to move the harmonica into the much bigger National Accordion Organisation (NAO). Prominent harmonica players like Douglas Tate, Brian Chaplin and John Tyler took up senior positions on the NAO committee. The change meant that harmonica meetings and competitions could continue alongside those for the accordion. The Accordion Day had been running as a national event since 1935. The annual Harmonica Championships continued as before, but as a part of Accordion Day, initially in a major London venue and later in the De Montfort Hall in Leicester. The successful players continued to represent the UK in the FIH (Fédération Internationale de l’Harmonica) World Championships.
THE HISTORY OF HARMONICAUK Part 4 1959–1974 Roger Trobridge Chairman 2000-2012
Harmonica News was also discontinued, and some harmonica content was included into Accordion Times from January 1959. It was not much, but it covered the National and International Championships. As before, the majority of harmonica content was related to chromatic performers and harmonica groups. There was some tuition material, and the Three Monarchs had a regular column. There was little mention of the British Blues Boom apart from a piece about the Manfred Mann song: 5-4-3-2-1. 1967 was a significant year. Dr Otto Meyer, who had set up and run the Hohner UK offices and teaching organisations since the early 1930s, retired, Douglas Tate won the FIH World Championship in Karlsruhe, and Jim Hughes, Brian Chaplin, John Tyler and Carol Axford (Bloxham) all did well. Much… of the success in the late 1960s came from teaching, led by Tommy Reilly. He was disappointed by what was happening, and he produced a teaching course for beginners which was sold as a booklet with two LPs or a tape cassette. He also established the Tommy Reilly International Club (TRIC) to raise the standards. This was really for top players and was outside of the NAO organisation.
Accordion Times 1959.
pion.
Douglas Tate Cham
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Tommy bought a 14-bedroom house, Hammonds Wood, in Frensham, Surrey, which is where the teaching was carried out. Lessons were one-to-one and also residential. There is a great video by Norwegian Television of a musical weekend at the house with the Reilly family, Sigmund Groven, Jim Hughes, Carol Axford, Brian Chaplin, and James Moody. Chromatic players from around the world became members of TRIC and visited Hammonds Wood. Unfortunately, TRIC was not sustainable and ended in 1972.
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From the late ’60s, The Accordion Day was held at venues around the UK and continued to send harmonica players to the FIH World Championships until the last one in Brighton in 1974. Hohner could no longer sustain its support for the Accordion Times, and it ceased publication in the same year, leaving harmonica players with no magazine or functioning organisation. Accordion Day continues to this day, and Accordion Times was restarted in 1981 for accordionists by Francis Wright. Hohner did not encourage blues and folk music in the NAO organisation during this period, but The Beatles had featured harmonica on their recordings and the UK Blues Boom was underway. Cyril Davies and Alexis Korner moved from acoustic blues at the Round House pub in London’s Soho to the launch their electric Blues Incorporated band on an unsuspecting public in Ealing Club, opposite Ealing Broadway Tube Station, in London in March 1962. This lit the fuse for the take-off of The Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, Savoy Brown, The Pretty Things … all featuring harmonica players. Cyril’s 1963 harmonica instrumental Country Line Special introduced the UK’s R&B scene to a wider pop audience. Hohner featured these harmonica players in many advertisements in the popular music press. As the decade came to a close, another acoustic scene was developing in the folk clubs. Country blues and jug band music were becoming popular, and several wellknown blues harp players, like Steve Rye and Duster Bennett, got their start there. Things were to change markedly in the next few years, but you will have to wait for Part 5 in the next edition of the Harmonica World to find out exactly what that was.
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Chromatic Weekend: Virtual event 18-20 June 2021, UK.
SPAH Convention: 10-14 August 2021, Charlotte, USA. Currently planned to be a virtual festival: www.spah.org/content.asp?contentid=138
HUK Annual Festival: 1-3 October 2021, UK.
EVENTS CALENDAR Neil Warren
Wisconsin Annual Blues Harmonica Festival: 19 Nov, 2021, USA. Currently planned to be a physical festival: www.eventbrite.com/e/wisconsin-annual-blues-harmonica-festival2021-tickets-84058736945
HUK Lockdown Sessions: Typically run weekly, virtually: www.harmonicauk.com/lockdown-sessions/
Mundharmonika Live: 14-19 Sept, Germany: mundharmonika-live.de/
Silverfish Harmonicas Full bodied and glorious fat crunch tone with good bass and very very hot
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High impedance Unique rubber O-ring / sleeve to improve hand-seal Two-stage mesh/foam to reduce breath noise Shock-mount design reduces handling noise Robust construction for rigour of touring Volume/gain control – optional 1/4″ (6.3mm) jack connector Great feedback rejection Small and very light weight Stainless steel mesh grille Leather and hardwood finish Holster-style leatherette case Guarantee
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AN INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN HALL Around the world with 80 great harmonica players Sam Spranger Editorial Team
After interviewing chromatic virtuoso Cy Leo last issue, I continued my journey ‘around the world with 80 great harmonica players’, and was lucky enough to speak with Shawn Hall, better known as ‘the Harpoonist’ from the duo The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer. The duo have shown a clear bridge for blues to move from its traditional roots into the 21st century. Purists, for example, will enjoy the 2008 self-titled debut album, while progressives will love their modern blues approach exhibited on albums A Real Fine Mess and Apocalipstick. Based in Canada, Shawn has gigged across the world and was kind enough to talk to me about all things harmonica. What are you looking forward to post-lockdown? I just co-wrote a song with Gordie Johnson (from the band Big Sugar), an amazing guitarist and long-time friend of mine. It’s hilarious, as he’s based in southern Texas and I’m in the farthest point in Canada, but we go way back. The song is called Show Me The Green. It’s pretty classic blues, and I’ve enjoyed returning to my roots after my more progressive projects. I think The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer is the best name ever for a harp/guitar duo, can you describe your progression from traditional blues to your more modern sound? Sure – we started out as a short-lived coffee house duo with a view of taking our music careers back to basics. Just folk blues, acoustic harp, Gibson hollow body guitar and ‘porch stompin’’ for percussion. We did that for three or four years as we toured through the Rocky Mountains through the chitlin circuit around the whole of Canada (about a 1,500km route!). But the audiences got bigger and louder! So we adapted by adding magnet-based percussion by the fantastic Pete Farmer. I started using pedals (including an octaver, delay, envelope filter, and lone
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wolf pedals). Likewise, Matt (The Axe Murderer) ‘Frankenstein-ed’ his guitar to cover bass as well as a variety of other sounds. Why the harmonica? Before harp, I played the cello because my mum wanted to keep me out of trouble! I got the harmonica when I was around 13, and I started with Dylan and then Stones records. Finally, I heard a Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee record that changed my life. Once I learned that record, I knew all I thought I needed to know. Then I started hanging out around the blues joints and jams in town and went from there. Years later, I met the producer of that Sonny Terry record, Mighty Mo Rodgers, and practically bowed down to him. It is the blueprint for my rhythmic approach to the harp. Indeed, I think it’s so important to cut your teeth around the bars and the jams! Yeah, and it’s important to get your ass kicked! I remember going to New Orleans with my dad when I was only 21 and I waited all night long to sit in on the jam, and I got my ass handed to me on a plate! It’s fantastic training grounds! What else is coming up? We have a live record coming out in June that we did in Calgary using The Rolling Stones’ original mobile recording truck! It will be accompanied by a video as well. I’m also excited about gigging with my Satellite and the Harpoonist project because the guys in that outfit are absolute monsters! For the whole interview including more on Shawn’s favourite gigs, gear, touring experiences, and tangential conversations on the music industry and our coincidental love of cheesy horror movies, please do watch the full interview online! https://youtu.be/BChjXTIgsIo
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CLASSIFIEDS Teachers and Repairers
KEY D Diatonic.
John Cook 01708 446 644 R Repairs. Certified Hohner, Suzuki and Seydel technician. Chromatic and diatonic Service repair and tuning. Repair workshops and private repair. London. Zoom. john@johncookharmonicas.com
C
Chromatic.
T
Tremolo.
U
Tuning.
R
Repairs.
Eva Hurt 07578 808 353 C Triola. Classical, folk, musical theatre. Triola. London In person, Skype, Zoom. eva.harmonica@yahoo.com
Ricky Cool 07749 918 343 D Blues, country, Roots. Birmingham. In person, Skype, Zoom. rickycool@ blueyonder.co.uk
Cathal Johnson 0834 444 980?? D C Blues, country, traditional Irish dance. Republic of Ireland. In person, Skype, Zoom. Certified Hohner technician repairs and tuning. www.harmonicasireland.com
Mike Fairbairn 01623 753 693 D C Blues. Derbyshire. In person. fairblues@hotmail.co.uk
Julian Jackson C D All genres. London. In person, Zoom. joolsj@yahoo.com
Paul Gillings 07880 324 163 C D All genres. Norfolk/Suffolk. In person, Skype, Zoom. paulgillingsharmonica@gmail.com
Moses Jones 07707 193 437 D C All genres. Bristol. In person, Zoom. moses.jones88@yahoo.com
Adam Glasser C All genres. London. In person, Zoom, phone by arrangement. adamgharmonica@icloud.com
Tony Jukes 01455 202 829 C D Blues, folk. East Midlands. In person, Skype, zoom. tjukes@hotmail.co.uk
Roy Green C D All genres, excluding jazz. Cranbrook, Kent. In person. roysgreen@talktalk.net
Steve Lockwood 07786 256 178 D U All genres. Cambridgeshire In person, Skype, Zoom. steve@steve-lockwood.com
01580 720 148
Cain Hamilton D U Custom and tuning Holywell, Wales. sugarharmonicas@outlook.com Ben Hewlett D All genres. Bristol. In person, Zoom, Skype. benhewlett@me.com
07973 284 366
Ed Hopwood 07814 637 317 D Blues, Folk, Roots. London. In person, Skype, Zoom. info@theharmonicabarge.com
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07930 801 344
Johnny Mars 07947 252 186 C D Four different types of tuning. The Mars Method of Harmonica Tuition. johnnymars@me.com Taunton. In person, Zoom. Eddie Martin 07974 120 418 D C All genres. All genres. (except jazz). Bristol. In person, Skype, Zoom www.eddiemartin.com John Monaghan C U R. Widnes
The magazine for HarmonicaUK
01514 249 594
CLASSIFIEDS Gary Murray 01344 842 162 C Jazz, blues. Berkshire. Online. www.garymharmonica.co.uk
Richard Taylor 07525 256 954 D All genres. Preschool to adults. Brighton and Hove. In person, Skype, Zoom. hove.actually@ntlworld.com
Keith Parker D Blues, country, rock. Cambridgeshire. In person, Zoom.
07966 471 734
Will Pound D C Paddy Richter speciality. Caernarvon. In person, Zoom. will@willpound.com
07884 222 356
Mat Walklate 07725 479 148 D C T All genres. Manchester. In person, Skype, Zoom. mat.walklate23@btinternet.com
Adam Pritchard 07429 126 120 D All genres. Cheltenham. In person, Skype, Zoom. pritchharp@gmail.com Aidan Sheehan 07812 143 226 D All genres, excluding jazz. Cwmbran. In person, Skype, Zoom. aidenharpsheehan@gmail.com Sam Spranger 07815 538 888 C D All genres. London. In person, Skype, Zoom. sam.aspranger@gmail.com
Joff Watkins 07980834 002 D C All genres. London. In person, Zoom. joffharp@y ahoo.com Will Wilde D All genres. In person, Skype, Zoom. willharmonicawilde.com
07854 591 413
Harry Pitch 3 CDs @£11 01628 622895 haru.harmonica@talktalk.net David Hynes finest Irish Traditional harmonica CDs £7 davesharmonicas.com Bass Harmonica for sale, in good condition, box a bit used organbeal@hotmail.com Bargains New/Used Harmonicas For Sale - please ask for list - davetaylorbluespiano@gmail.com Wanted. Chord harmonica in good playing order. Please contact rickycool@blueyonder.co.uk
Editorial policy Editorial policy is to let the enthusiasts write about their interests, with the aim of providing a balance of interest in the magazine that caters for all tastes. Editorial changes are made only if absolutely necessary, in order to retain the contributor’s own style of writing. Members are invited to submit articles of 300, 600 or 900 words with relevant photographs, which should be JPEG files at 300 dpi and minimum 148mm wide. All photographs should include a credit and permissions to use in the publication. HarmonicaUK cannot take responsibility for photographs submitted to us that infringe copyright. We reserve the right to edit or defer articles and they might not always be used. Articles should be submitted either in an email or attached as a Word or similar format. Photographs can be sent as attachments or via WeTransfer. The editor’s decision is final in all matters relating to this publication. All the contents are copyright, and no part may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of HarmonicaUK and the author, and the source must be acknowledged. The contents of the magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of HarmonicaUK, and it accepts no responsibility for any errors, misrepresentations, or opinions expressed by the contributors. Harmonica World is published six times a year by HarmonicaUK, at the beginning of Feb, April, June, August, October, and December. The copy/advertising deadlines fall on 1 January, March, May, July, September, and November. Printed in full colour on FSC silk art paper.
June - July 2021 • Harmonica.co.uk
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