Welcome to check and comment this video, I play in 12th position on the diatonic harmonica, its a nice position for the harmonica to find nice ways to play and express music. 12th position works good for melodic playing, here I jam in the jazz/blues area.
Suzuki Harpmaster, customized by Filip using Dirk Sjogard's UST tool (he can tell you more about that).
I first met Filip as a precocious long haired 16 year old in Trossingen in 2002 and we have been friends ever since. He was already playing I Got Rhythm and similar swing jazz tunes then. By 2005 he was Double World Champion in the Jazz/Blues category.
He subsequently added chromatic to his arsenal and studied at Stockholm's internationally renowned Royal College of Music as their first harmonica major, and graduates this year after 5 years study.
I've flagged up his talent a few times on Harp-l etc and suggested more than once SPAH should book him, but sadly the US centred scene appears little interested in the great young European players like Filip and his slightly older contemporaries Antonio Serrano from Spain and Denmark's Jacob Venndt.
These guys are the future. Not only can they play nearly everyone else under the table, they are highly trained reading musicians who have studied for years at conservatories and can play several other instruments to a high professional level (in Jacob's case, about 16!). The breadth and depth of their musical understanding is far more extensive than the typical self-taught ear playing harp dude (and I count myself in that category).
I guess the fact Jacob (like Filip, a Suzuki endorser) and Antonio specialize on chromatic (jazz & other styles) reduces their interest value for many inward looking blues diatonic players, no matter how good they are. But Filip's consummate overblow diatonic mastery (as shown in the very tasty clip above) will hopefully make the sometimes myopic American harp world sit up and take notice, and look more widely at what's cooking up in Europe. Russia's Alex Paclin & Boris Plotnikov are two more examples of exciting young European players who embody the description Modern Blues Harmonica.
That's not to downplay the roles of Howard Levy (now in his 60s and playing better than ever) & the instinctive genius Jason Ricci, the two most influential harp players of recent times. But from my travels to harmonica festivals around the world it seems to me Europe is where a lot of the high end innovation is coming from these days. Asia is a bit like the USA, very good at one style (classical chromatic & harmonica groups instead of Blues) but rather moribund and bereft of adventurous, innovative young players.
Do yourself a favour : after listening to Filip, check out Jacob and Antonio as well.
Last Edited by on Sep 28, 2011 11:00 PM
Great post Brendan and I couldn't agree more. These guys are the future of harp. I actually felt a bit sick listening to this clip. 'Will I ever be this good?' Makes me want to quit, but these guys have studied and are real musicians, unlike me who's been a 2nd position 'blues squirter' for 20 + years.
I guess us guys are a bit like Neanderthals looking at Cro Magnon man.
I too am guilty of being a 2nd position 'blues squirter'....this guy really is a brilliant musician, but jazz to my ears reminds me of 'muzac elevator music'....not all jazz but 90% of it....therefore i declare myself a 'Neanderthal' kind of guy. Hope i didn't offend anyone here being a 'newbie'. S.S.
Brendan: Just ordered a UST based on your comment here. If it can help to get a Harpmaster to play like that, it's got to help me lick some harps into shape. Thanks.
Look! I agree it's all very clever stuff and it's loaded with OB's OD's and flutters etc, but there must be something wrong with me. I just had to turn it off after 1'47".
I admire technique but surely it has to marry with a pleasant melody too.
Is this one of those Emperors New Clothes things where it is only understood and enjoyed by a select few? ----------
I think jazz is not for everybody. I also think that there is a lot of jazz that is crap. There is often no vocals in jazz, which can bore some people. Then, you have to have an education of what came before the player you are listening to to understand why the player is either very traditional or innovative. Then, whereas jazz is as easy as any music to listen to, it can be very difficult for most people to play, although some people have an ear for it and could play it wonderfully without understanding a lick of theory. I am a theory guy and play jazz gigs and study jazz regularly and I feel like a hack. I think unless I were to change my life and study only jazz all day long and go to jam all night long for many years, I will remain a hack. All these things add up to many people not connecting to jazz.
However, if you went to a forum just discussing jazz the music, I am sure there would be many more listers than there are for all the harp forums combined. Many more people are into jazz than harp.
Which adds to the problem. Outside of Toots and possibly Howard, there are very few harp players who have made there way into "mainstream" jazz. Gregoire and others might play with big names, but only the harp players care. Until more people go after it like Flip and break into the mainstream, jazz harp is really for the harp players and then only for the harp players who like jazz.
The Emporer's new clothes is when there is nothing there and people get excited to show they are in the know. I do not think there is nothing there. This is difficult music and Flip plays it well, but it is just not going to move everyone.
For me it's the expression and tone that Filip's getting out of his humble Suzuki Harpmaster that stand out. He feels there's no need to buy $200+ custom harps when you can tweak a basic well made model yourself. Maybe Filip can tell us more about what he did to the harp?
One area I neglected in my post on worldwide harmonica hotspots was South America, and particularly Brazil. Sad to say I've not been there (yet!), but am regularly hearing about interesting new players in a variety of styles, on both diatonic and chromatic.
Brendan Power Thanks for mention me. UST is made by Dick Sjoeberg.
Filip Your playing is great as usual! ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
Last Edited by on Sep 30, 2011 5:29 AM
I have to say i'm a right big fan of Filips playing. He's a really talented guy. Jazz is just one of the many things he's good at. His cd ''Spiro'' is a really beautiful recording. Mind you Boris is no slouch either,very cool player. But saying that i love ma jazz. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/#!/alprice
Wow, that is incredible! I was hesitant to watch it being 12th position which I know nothing about, and also not being a big jazz lover, and reading the posts about it. But give this one a chance, I found it very accessible, even to this backwoods okie harp torturer.
Thanks for the nice and interesting comments! Parker is nice, tough to get really smooth,, but maybe! Rubin, chord progession to which clip ? the blues?
I did not thought about it actually, but Listening to it now, the basic is C / F / C / Gm7 C7 F / F7 / C / Em7 A7 Dm7 / G7 / Em7 A7 / Dm7 G7
Then they vary a bit, extra dominants and sub-dom here and there. And I also re-harmonize in the moment, building lines around that. Everything was very improvised. ---------- http://www.filipjers.com
to answering the question about what I to do my harmonicas,
First - I have played overblows/overdraws since 2002, by then I have played harmonica for 1 year. that makes that 2011 I have played harmonica for 10 years and overblows for 9 years. I started out overblowing on Golden Melodies and Big River harps. Some years later I played only Hering Vintage Harp 1923, and now I use Suzuki. I think I have pretty "strong" harmonica muscles - I have practised a lot during the last years. And as you can see I have played on different brands, somewhere I think that makes you be able to vary your embrouche in a positive way. I have always tried to see overblows just as natural as I can, use them to get notes that I feel that the music needs.
I have studied Harmonica Customizing with Dick Sjoeberg on a regular base since I was 15 years old (soon 25) and I use his methods regarding setting up reed curvature, reed action, reed gapping and embossing (UST) and tuning. I spend quite some time setting up the reed gap. that i have discovered is very personal and crucial. This is mainly what i do to my harmoncias, the tuning - 442 equal, sometimes strech the top octave and sometimes lower the bottom octave. by ear. depending on the harp and ensemble situation.
More about Sjoeberg http://harmonicasessions.com/?p=91
Article on the UST-tool http://harmonicasessions.com/?p=179
Contact him here, www.masterharp.com
UST Sizing Tool - How it works , https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dg52h7pf_0hvm5j8db&revision=_latest&start=0&theme=blank&cwj=true
Brendan Power says "I've flagged up his [Filip's] talent a few times on Harp-l etc and suggested more than once SPAH should book him, but sadly the US centred scene appears little interested in the great young European players"
SPAH can only afford so much money for artists. I'm aware (and a fan) of all the European players you mention. Generally, the only way we can afford them is if someone (such as a harmonica manufacturer) pays their travel expenses.
Also, it's true that in any given year we have several different sets of listeners to satisfy - the blues fans, the old-time harmonica band fans, the bluegrass fans, and so on. We can't book three different jazz artists, for instance, because we have to balance the different sets of expectations and have limited stage time and dollars with which to do it.
So many great players, and so little time and money.
