I wrote about this in the other thread, but this deservers it's own thread for sure:
Last weekend I saw James Harman performing live in a local club here at Oulu (northern Finland). It was as though I saw for the first time of my life _true_ blues played live. The dynamics were unbelievable - I finally really understood what it means to have a BIG tone. The band was also outstanding. Tomi Leino Blues Band is finnish band that is lead by Tomi Leino, who's one of the best harpists in Finland himself. In this gig he was playing the guitar.
The band worked like a well oiled machine with Harman, whose singing and harp playing was really a piece of art. It wasn't just that he would have played difficult passages or anything like that, but more about the feeling and tone he got - both acoustically and with a bullet mic (actually I liked the acoustic tone even more). It had such a deep level of feeling in it. The band really understood how to support the lead singer/harpist. Tomi did play wonderful solos and even did some tricks like playing behind the neck and using one of Harman's harmonicas as a slide, but still it was all about the James Harman. The breaks of the drummer, bass lines, dynamics of playing - everything worked like a very well oiled machine. Actually James gave praise for the band also more than once, and when the band was soloing he sort of moved from the lead place to a support role.
It was really wonderful to see such an artistry. Harman felt very honest and warm person and his performance was very elegant and still down-to-earth. He played several songs switching harp keys in the middle of the songs and in one song he actually little bit lost the key, which was kind of inspiring for me to see that pros do that too. :) They played a two-hour set, and still it remained kind of fresh. Harman's singing was really outstanding and it was like he wouldn't have needed mic at all, his voice was that strong.
To be honest, I didn't know about him at all before this gig, which makes me think that he is way underestimated in Finland. In any case, it was an inspiration to get to see that level of mastery in the field of Blues. I understood that records can't really make audible the wide dynamics that harmonica can have. To really understand that you have to hear it live.
Yeah Tomi and the boys really know how to play great blues.
James "Icepick" Harman has long been hailed (quite rightly too) as one of the best blues singers around. He is one of my favourite all time blues players. His harp playing and his song writing artistry are among the best around.
He's had some great bands over the years, the best being the one that had both Kid Ramos and Hollywood Fats on guitar. For years, the video of Harmon with Fats has been a hot commodity to find, but some of it has been posted on You Tube.
If you're gonna get a James Harman CD, first one to get right off the bat is Extra Napkins, which has the cream of the LA blues scene crop on there. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
I absolutley love James Harmen. Back about 1985, I wasn't playing at all. My instuments were just gathering dust. I went to see James Harmen play and was so inspired, I was back at it and in a working blues band within 6 months. I went up to him at one of his gigs a few years later to tell him how he inspired me, and he seemed kind of embarrassed. He pointed over the the bar where Billy Gibbons was sitting and said "There's Billy Gibbons over there. Don't you go botherin' him now." ---------- http://www.myspace.com/jeffscranton
