I have already posted this a couple of times but I'd like to share it again. Please share your favourite non-blues harmonica... Kletzmer, Jazz, Country etc everything but blues. I'm afraid embedding has been disabled in this clip.
Mikael Fall has arranged and plays a David Bowie song "Sound and vision.
Edit: There probably should havebeen an OT here... Ah well. ---------- Pistolkatt - Pistolkatts youtube
Last Edited by Pistolcat on May 27, 2015 2:39 AM
Anything Mickey Raphael plays with Willie Nelson. I particularly love his piece on the studio version of Georgia on My Mind...very minimalistic and flawlessly melts into that song. listen to it if you haven't before.
Stevie Wonder on the chrom because he makes it swing and groove, and a little bit of Toots but mainly I find harmonica outside of blues pretty much like elevator music regardless of supreme technical playing ability...in fact I feel like that about guitar and piano!
Sam Hinton was one of the most amazing harmonica players I've ever heard. He is one of the greatest tongue-blockers who ever lived, IMO. He certainly ties my tongue in knots! Even try to keep up with him and you will be better off for it as each song is a virtual MasterClass. Great fun just listening, too.
Sam, who passed away in the last few years, was a stalwart in the San Diego folk music scene. In fact, the San Diego Folk Festival is now named after him. Rightly so!
Skip past the explanatory rhetoric if you are in a hurry, though it does contain some interesting historical information. But take a listen to as many of the songs as you have time for. It will be worth it! I keep coming back to these songs (I bought the CD set off his web site so I can listen anywhere). And if you are adventurous, try to keep up with the old feller.
Sam Hinton came to my high school in 1971 and performed in a special assembly, including doing three harmonica pieces. I had been playing harmonica off and on for four years without a lot of progress and had more or less given it up until I saw him play. He inspired me to pick it up again and learn to play the thing. I met his daughter seven years ago at my work; she was in town to help her father move up to Berkeley to live with her. I told her the story, and she seemed pleased to hear it. She asked me if there was a good used book store in town because she needed to do somethng with her father's library. I gave her the name of a friend who had a book store locally. They met, came to terms with the acquisition of Sam Hinton's books. She gave my friend something else, as well, a simple, leather harmonica belt, with slots for six harmonicas. There were three rusty, blown out Marine Bands in three of the slots. She asked my friend to make sure I got her father's specialized harmonica accessory. I still have it and it is hanging in my apartment. ---------- Ted Burke __________________ ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.com
Totally biased,as I've been his student for quite a while now. Justified though,IMHO. He's an extremely modest man,who's terrible at promoting himself. Although his heart lies in chromatic jazz,he's a killer diatonic player,too. His knowledge of theory and how it applies to harp is unbelievable. He unconsciously shows me how little I know about the harp. Edit: I just realized there's no mention of his name in the video. Clint Hoover
Last Edited by Tuckster on May 29, 2015 10:18 AM
Sort of inspired by this thread, I've made a quick tutorial of how to play that opening riff from that Rhythm Junks song, "Join the Bus", I posted above. I also give some of my thoughts about playing contemporary-sounding music on harmonica, which is something I'm quite interested in doing. Enjoy!
My favourite harp player is Mickey Raphael as he is a master of 'less is more'. My favourite tune of his is not on YT but on the Album- Pancho & Lefty & is the second take of the tune "Half A Man' -fabulous solo by Mickey.
But another completely different style of player whose work I love is David Naiditch:-
Glad to see mention Mickey Raphael. I'm a fan of honky-tonk music, which has a lot of blues in it. I'm not sure of the player, but Johnny Paycheck has some great harp on "Only Hell My Momma Ever Raised," "Slide Off of Your Satin Sheets," and "11 months and 29 Days," among others. Gary Stewart has some great harp on his "An Empty Glass," from his "Live at Billy Bob's" CD.
Sorry, I don't know how to put the videos in my message...
I love West African music, especailly Malian music. This is a mixture of that style with a little Brazilian flair. The harp player is Jefferson Goncalves. I love how the harp is used both to reinforce the bassline, but also to give some flair and texture to the song. It's a one-chord affair, but it really moves and grooves! ----------
