Today at lunch in Orangeville, Adam asked what Canadian harp players (other than Carlos del Junco) he should know about. We came up with a short list - can anyone add or elucidate?
I know I'm missing a couple that we discussed, but in no particular order, this is what I remember...
Harpdog Brown Dave "Hurricane" Hoerl (Twisters) Mike Stevens Chris "Junior" Malleck (Daddy Long Legs)
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Last Edited by misterjunior on Jun 02, 2013 5:04 PM
Alain Lamontagne (innovative integrator of diatonic with synth-enabled foot percussion)
Gabriel Labbé (last of the great tremolo players)
Tommy Reilly (classical chromatic, had most of his career in the UK)
(Several historical players in French Canadian traditional music, including Henri Lacroix, Mary Bolduc, Louis Blanchette, and Adélard Saint-Louis) ---------- Winslow
Last Edited by WinslowYerxa on Jun 02, 2013 10:15 AM
Here's the line-up from the blow-off at Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival 2013 (left to right): Larry Kurtz, ?, Shrimp Daddy, Adam Gussow, Raoul Bhaneja. One of them is American.
The names Steve Mariner, Roly Platt, Harpdog Brown, Mike Stevens, Michael Pickett, Dave Hoerl, and of course Carlos del Junco came up many times this weekend.
Wasn't Dave Burgin the guy that Carlos cited as his chief influence? Yet Platt sounds a LOT like Carlos in a video posted elsewhere. Please remind me: Which player preceded the other player?
I was blown away by the concluding show given by Steve Strongman. Steve Strongman: not a name that many American blues fans, even hardcore ones, would recognize. He's a guitarist (plays a little harp, too) and he won the Juno award for blues album of the year--the Canadian Grammy award, more or less. Great singing, great energy, original guitar style (he was mentored by Bobby Blue Bland's guitarist for many years and spent time in a country band....does a lot of chicken pickin'), and above all great showmanship. He sings naturally, not affectedly. I need to get North more often! (As do my fellow Yank blues fans.)
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Jun 03, 2013 5:36 AM
Dave Burgin was Carlos' main influence pre Howard Levy. Roly Platt was around a bit before Carlos' rise to prominence and is Carlos' favorite Canadian player. Both Roly and Carlos influenced each other (as gigging players of open mind often do) over the years.
The main difference to my ears is that Roly is more on the beat and sharp while Carlos has a laid back swing to his personal style. ---------- The Iceman
Last Edited by The Iceman on Jun 03, 2013 7:06 AM
Chris Whiteley (of duo Braithwaite and Whiteley, one of my fav blues acts) is also a pretty good harp player. He's a multi-instrumentalist: harp is in the mix with guitar and trumpet. But he has solid acoustic harp chops. He does the Sonny Boy II no-hands trick in his shows. ----------
Modern Canadian trad harmonica players include James Thurgood (Cape Breton style), and Québécois players Robert Legault, Yves Lambert, Richard Forest, Daniel Roy, Normand Miron, and Pierre-Luc Dupuis (who will be featured at the 2013 SPAH convention). ---------- Winslow
I couldn't get the video to embed, but I love this song. This is Jerome Godboo from years back with Broken Joe. If someone wants to embed this for me, that would be great.
So Winslow mentions "Modern Canadian trad harmonica players include James Thurgood (Cape Breton style)...",
As I am from Cape Breton which is maybe best known for fiddle,I had to check out Mr. Thurgood. I was impressed with his ability to capture the local fiddle sound.
There was another very cool guy from Canada - Frank Skanga...we called him Skankin' Frank. Met him at Howard Levy's Augusta Heritage week long workshop when I first met Carlos. I know he moved to Japan for a while and then came back to Canada. Don't know if he kept playing, but he was pretty good back in the early 90's.
He designed and built my leather harmonica case that those who've seen lust after. ---------- The Iceman
Great list of Canadian harp, mostly blues, players. I'm looking for some in person instruction so if any of these individuals teach, deal with beginning-intermesdiate players, and are within an hour of the east GTA please give me a shout. I can find teachers on Skype but for the immediate future I'd prefer face to face.
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