A Now or Never Moment

In September I played a rare classical recital, for which I practised profusely, often from 6 in the morning till late at night, so determined was I not to mess up. I found this experience so intense, I enrolled in the Harmonica Festival almost because I needed a change. I approached it with trepidation as I hadn’t actually played much harmonica of late and, perhaps because I’d pushed myself so hard, I wasn’t feeling terribly well. The journey was awful. It took twice as long as expected, traffic atrocious, and the weather - well, better writers than me tell me it’s not good to use the same adjective twice, but that was atrocious too. By the time I arrived I felt awful, and almost embarrassed to A NOW OR NEVER meet people that I’d only met before online. Still, the greetings all seemed to go quite well. MOMENT Comments like, “Wow, you look much older than you do on Zoom,” and “You’re much Mike Hatchard shorter than I was expecting,” and “Sorry, who are you???”… that sort of thing… and I was overwhelmed by how nice everybody was. I met the very talented and terrifyingly young Cy Leo and we rehearsed a blisteringly difficult piece he’d written. Experience has shown that when rehearsals go well, gigs normally fall apart, which made me nervous. I suffer from something known as ‘ageing.’ I don’t know if I’m alone in this regard. I suspected I wasn’t but I mentioned it to Cy Leo and he seemed puzzled; if you do suffer from it too, you’ll know it means long drives in the rain can cause fatigue, a general inability to concentrate and a feeling that going to bed might be a wiser option than working through it. Nevertheless, I battled on and the concert went well, Cy Leo and I finishing in the same place, always a good sign. I then took my piano to the bar as I understood I was the accompaniment to the Jam Session there, a sort of veggy alternative to the meaty stuff upstairs. Probably, I thought, an hour of twelve bar blues and Summertime; I could pay lip service and go to bed. A few people came up and played tunes with me, and very well too; I felt guilty I wasn’t a hundred per cent on it. Then takers dwindled so I played a solo, and the conversation level rose. I’m not whining here, that always happens. If you go from an instrument plus piano to piano on its own, there is bound to be an energy drop and I accepted that. However, just as I got halfway through My One and Only Love, Antonio Serrano approached and asked if I minded him joining in. Minded??? I recalled how I felt when, at 16, Brigitte Bardot asked me if I’d mind seducing her… actually… I might have dreamt that… anyway, Antonio came in and, boy, did the energy levels go up. A while ago I bought a Fitbit, a device that goes on

your wrist and usefully measures your heartbeat. Opinion is divided on whether or not I needed one (my wife says I don’t, I say I do, nobody else seems to care one way or the other). My conviction has been enhanced by the fact that I can actually see the point, on a graph, where Antonio started playing with me. My heartbeat went to about 160 which is, apparently, ‘dangerous’. Shortly after Cy Leo joined us, when it upped to 180 (‘very dangerous’, apparently). Then Rachelle Plas joined in. At this point it went off the graph completely. I contacted Fitbit to discuss this anomaly, they said 250 was officially: “for Chrissakes, stop playing piano and get some sleep”, but they hadn’t included it, as they didn’t think anybody would need it. I have played for world class musicians before (James Moody, Cleo Laine, Matt Monro, Renee and Renato, etc.) but never three at a time where I was the sole accompaniment. Awesome is a much overused word but I propose to overuse it again. It was awesome, awesome, awesome as the poet Truss might have put it. If that wasn’t enough, the overwhelmingly smiley guy at the nearest table turned out to be Mick Kinsella, not known at all for jazz, but extremely capable in that genre: his rendition of Autumn Leaves was awesome (sorry, there it is again). This was even better than my imaginary night with Bardot (note to self: I must stop thinking about her. Even at 16 she was probably too old for me). That alone would have made the trip worthwhile, but there were many other things, too. Jim Hughes’s Last of the Summer Wine made me literally cry. Meeting Jim McLoon was a joy. He’s a man who lost the use of one arm in a motorcycle accident and has the air of someone who has triumphed over circumstance, a lovely man with an infectious drive. He has customised two of my harmonicas, making a wooden cover for an old Larry Adler 48 which is a privilege to own. Suzy Colclough - what a star. The first time I accompanied her it went a bit awry as I gather she had forgotten to take her anti-rejection medicine and was feeling quite unwell, but, being a real trouper, she came back for another go, performing a Mancini tune so elegantly I was again almost in tears. But my highlight has to be that I was awarded Jazz Harmonica Player of the Year. Hearing this, I assumed I was the only entrant, but apparently there were others even if it wasn’t exactly oversubscribed. What an honour. The last time I received an award was a ten shilling postal order when I won the Swanage Sandcastle Competition (under 8s). This time I got a cup, certificate, shield… everything (except a postal order, hint hint). Actually, thinking about it, perhaps it’s time to cash that postal order. I understand 50p goes quite a long way these days. I’d like to thank too many people to mention for the opportunity to accompany them, and hope to do so again soon.

Rockschool announces the first regulated Harmonica Grades in partnership with HarmonicaUK

By Tim Bennett-Hart, Chief Executive Officer, RSL Awards Ltd

During the HarmonicaUK Festival, RSL Awards, global provider of qualifications in the creative and performing arts, announced their partnership with HarmonicaUK, which will see the creation of the world’s first regulated graded qualifications in harmonica performance, to be launched under the RSL Awards brand Rockschool. The partnership with RSL Awards will see HarmonicaUK provide the expertise in creating a new set of qualifications for learning and performing harmonica. These qualifications give a progression route from the very first steps on the student’s musical journey to the creation of performers with the skills, knowledge and confidence to be able to perform pieces of popular music specially arranged for the instruments. RSL Awards Chairman, Norton York said, “In 2020 I heard an interview with a harmonica player on the radio about the impact of the pandemic on musicians. I realised quickly that harmonica players faced the same issues that we had solved for guitarists, drummers, and bass players in 1991. They needed the same formal recognition that other musicians have received for years. HarmonicaUK are the natural partners for RSL Awards, and we are very excited to welcome harmonica as the next instrument in the Rockschool grades.” The new syllabus will cover the first five graded exams and method books published to accompany Premier and Debut Grades. The method books have been designed to be used in individual lessons and classroom teaching, offering a brand-new route for wholeclass music teaching. At the recent HarmonicaUK Festival, Rockschool provided a first look at their new Graded Syllabus for Harmonica. Author of the books, Ashley Hards, presented a session that took delegates through the first two publications in the series. The method books have been designed specifically for non-specialist teachers to access the instrument for the first time. They have also been written with whole-class ensemble teaching in mind. HarmonicaUK President, Paul Jones FRSL (Hons), was recently awarded an honorary Fellowship of RSL Awards in recognition of his services to music. He commented, “For years, HarmonicaUK