I hate to be the lone dissenter here. And I know it's easy to sit back and criticize; I could never in a million years pull that off. But Otavio's overblows and even his bends just don't have the near perfect tonal quality or uniformity that Howard Levys or Jason Ricci's do. And I don't have the best ears.
I salute anyone who can play all keys on a single harmonica. Sometimes, though, it seems to be more a matter of flexing one's harmonica muscles rather than a choice that is made based purely on the desire to make the best possible sounding music.
If a major talent like Otavio put his effort into playing an instrument on which he can manage better intonation, it is my opinion that he would be making better music.
At least that's the way I see it.
Michelle
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Come on Michelle this is Jazz, I could not care less whether he is over, under or sideways blowing, he is pushing the boundaries of self expression in the Jazz idiom and doing it very well indeed..
Octavio does indeed only use a C harmonica and play in all twelve keys on it. The same as Tinus Koorn does. It's a truly incredible feat.
I somewhat disagree with Michelle. I think Octavio's overblows and bends are easily as good as those of Howard or Jason. I suspect the reason they may appear more jarring to Michelle's ear here, is through the choice of the piece of music. When Howard plays full on jazz in a similar vein to what Octavio is doing here. I often hear a jarring tonality to the notes as well. I suspect it's simply to do with the technical difficulties involved in playing those notes at correct tempo on an instrument, that wasn't intended to play them.
Either way it's clear that Octavio is a truly superb musician and has spent a lot of time learning to do something that most of us will never be able to achieve.
Although Howard can play one harp in all keys also, as far as I can tell, he carries several keys and chooses the harp that will sound the best for what he is playing. All this is beyond what I can do, but it is fun to talk about.
Actually he's not "pushing the boundaries of self-expression in the jazz idiom" at all. Instead, he's playing pretty basic bebop licks that any new graduate of Berklee would have in his quiver of jazz-licks, strictly in the chord-scale-theory approach to functional harmony in jazz improvisation.
It's impressive, what he's able to do with a diatonic, no question about it, and not to take anything away from his accomplishment, but it's not anything new as far as what notes he's playing are concerned.
I'd love to be able to play bebop on the chromatic, but that's something you have to zealously practice at the exclusion of pretty much everything else.
You're right--I play bebop on the chrom, and it sounds like clam city. I do have a good time, tho, and it sounds much better than me trying to coax twelve tones out of a short harp. Mostly I learn heads and work on improv, I don't have the quiver--no GIT or Berklee in my background. He sounds great tho, I have no problem with his tone or intonation.
Last Edited by Gnarly on Feb 13, 2016 4:49 PM
You play bebop on the chromatic? That's a real accomplishment. Do you play with a jazz band in clubs? How did you develop your improvisation approach? Just wondering.
@Dr.Hoy It's a matter of knowing the music. I play guitar much better than harmonica. I'm 63 and have been playing music since I was 12, about 40 years as a professional. Currently I'm not gigging much, and mainly get called as a guitarist, and never for jazz--there are too many skilled players who don't have enough work. But when I play out, I try to feature the chrom, and when I solo, it comes out modern jazz--not exclusively, I am playing for audiences of nonmusicians, but a musician can tell I have studied bebop. Alterations and extensions . . .
He's a mighty impressive player. This Vid is fun featuring 'Octavio Castro' Michael Peloquin, Jason Ricci, Jay Gaunt, Brandon Bailey and Christelle Berthon at SPAH 09 - Word Class Harmonica players riff on Django Reinhardt's Minor Swing.
I am not really a big fan of this style of jazz, but I thought that the performance was really good. I occasionally attend local non-harmonica jazz performances by musicians (professors and grad students) from the University of Illinois jazz program. Horns frequently have similar issues of intonation and pitch while playing fast lines.
I'd give my dogs bollocks to have his licks! Speed and accuracy and I'll continue to strive for better. But if that was the only harmonica I'd ever heard it wouldn't have inspired me to pick up a harp and start the journey despite his excellent playing. I wanted to play blues, I wanted the distinctive blue tone the harmonica brings to the music I want to play. I guess we all have slightly different ideas about what sounds really great. I don't enjoy listening to any thin sounding harmonica but really appreciate and applaud his virtuosity.
@ Kingley "When Howard plays full on jazz in a similar vein to what Octavio is doing here. I often hear a jarring tonality to the notes as well. I suspect it's simply to do with the technical difficulties involved in playing those notes at correct tempo on an instrument, that wasn't intended to play them."
I agree - the diatonic harmonica was never intended to play this type of music. That's is why the chromatic was invented. Some bluesy jazz sounds OK on the diatonic. But for the most part, jazz played on a chromatic sounds more like real jazz - the way it sounds when played on saxophones, trumpets, pianos, etc.
I have to agree with the, "Actually he's not "pushing the boundaries of self-expression in the jazz idiom", but he is pushing the hell out of the boundaries of the 10 hole diatonic harmonica.
