Thought I'd share my overseas jam experience with you. Earlier this month, I spent about ten days in Nagoya, Japan (visiting with in-law's). I managed to find a blues jam on my last night, at a nightclub called OTIS'.
They didn't have any harp equipment, so I played out of the vocal mic. They were very enthusiastic and happy to have me. Actually, in Japanese, it's known "blues harp" (it's a foreign loanword). So, when I signed up, a bunch of them were like: "Blues harp! Blue harp!" and then continued speaking in Japanese.
I comped at first, on two tunes, to get the feel of the room. But I was not at all happy with my performance, and I knew that I couldn't go home like that, so I got back up and sang two. Interestingly, they didn't know the songs or artists I referenced (but it could have been a pronunciation or language issue). But when I played basslines on the harp, everyone knew exactly the feel I was going for. And it worked out great.
If you're ever traveling, playing at a jam is an excellent way to make friends quickly. It was a great experience.
The Japanese, from my experience anyway, are really into public performance by the common guy or gal. I was there in ~'86 and whipped out a harmonica (a loud Lee Oskar, I'm sure) in a booth in a restaurant/bar. A cacophony erupted. I thought there was going to be a riot, but it was just encouragement from the patrons in the bar. I bet you were well received.
The American Dollar was pretty strong when I was there, but the retail harmonica prices were still out of reach on my Sailor pay. Did you stock up on Suzukis?
Maybe I should have taken some photos when I stopped in some music stores. NO Suzuki products! Mostly Hohner and some Seydel! I was disappointed because I was looking to buy some Manji.
Nagoya is around 90 minutes from the Suzuki factory. Hohner's got a headlock on the global harmonica industry. ---------- Marc Graci YouTube Channel
