HARMONICA WORLD
A P R I L - M AY 2 0 2 1
Harmonica.co.uk
Registered Charity (England and Wales) No. 1131484 Harmonica.co.uk
Contents
President - Paul Jones
5 Meet the Team
4 Chair’s Message
Vice-President - Ben Hewlett vice-pres@harmonica.co.uk
7
News Update
Patrons - Lee Sankey, Brendan Power, and Adam Glasser
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Publicity Column
Executive Committee
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Forever Summer, Mikki & Iked
Chair - Pete Hewitt (also acting chief editor) chair@harmonica.co.uk
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Ben Talks Harmonica
Vice-Chair (shared) Sam Wilkinson (also Publicity) publicity@harmonica.co.uk
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Blind Ambition, Dave “dogfish” Colclough
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Essential Tongue Blocking
23
My Harmonica
24
Diatonic Quiz
Vice-Chair (shared) - Richard Taylor hove.actually@ntlworld.com Secretary - Davina Brazier sec@harmonica.co.uk Treasurer - Phil Leiwy treasurer@harmonica.co.uk Committee Members Membership Secretary - David Hambley memsec@harmonica.co.uk 7 Ingleborough Way, Leyland, Lancs, PR25 4ZS, UK +44 (0)7757 215047
16 Chromatic Harmonica, a Short History
25 Events Calendar 26
An Interview with Cy Leo
29
Album Review
30
HBTS Review
33
Midi Harmonica vs Harmonica + Midi
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History of National Harmonica League/ HarmonicaUK
Education: Eva Hurt IT: Barbara Tate
40 Little Walter’s UK Tour
Tremolo: Simon Joy
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Member: Dave Taylor Use the contact form at harmonicauk.com/about-us Assistants to the committee Education - Dick Powell edu@harmonica.co.uk Health - Rollen Flood - use the contact form Archivist - Roger Trobridge gopher@internet-gopher.com Editorial team - please contact editor@harmonica.co.uk
Classified
HarmonicaUK membership The subscription year starts in January UK - Annual subscription/renewal £20, under 18s £10 Join Oct-Mar £20, April-June £15, July-Sept £10 Europe - Annual subscription/renewal £25 Join Oct-Mar £25, April-June £19, July-Sept £13 Outside Europe - Annual subscription/renewal £30 Join Oct-Mar £30, April-June £23, July-Sept £15 Five Year Membership UK £90, Europe £113, Outside Europe £135 Cover: Dennis Gruenling
April - May 2021 • Harmonica.co.uk
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Hello everyone, I hope this edition finds you all safe and well. Since the last magazine, a lot of work has been going on in many areas of HarmonicaUK in addition to our normal day-to-day running. Thank you to everyone who has been canvassing new members for us. Early indications are very positive.
CHAIR’S MESSAGE
Davina Brazier’s team looking at compliance is making great progress, as is Richard Taylor’s team with rebranding. Richard and Steve Pardue are also making substantial progress. I feel confident that the new look HarmonicaUK will happen over the summer. Our study into a new IT system has made real progress too. Slawomir Nowordski, Barry Nichols, and Barry Elms have lent their IT expertise in creating an IT specification for us. Dave Hambley and Sam Wilkinson’s weekly Zoom meetings continue to attract a lot of really positive feedback. It is so heartening when our members take time to send feedback via email and telephone. Thank you for confirming that we are going in the right direction. I am pleased to announce that our annual Chromatic Weekend in June will be a virtual event once more. This gives us the assurance to go ahead and plan with certainty. In the Jan/Feb edition I wrote a page introducing the editorial team; since then, that team continues its progressive journey, and I’m pleased to announce that Rowena Millar has offered subeditorial support alongside Sophia Ramirez, with Sam Spranger and Jim Davies joining the wider team too. We are very fortunate to have a large pool of proofreaders now, and we will ensure that everyone has an input at some stage. Finally, over the next few editions I would like to invite you all to meet the current team of HarmonicaUK. In this edition I would like to introduce the officers of our charity who make up the Executive Team. Keep well and happy harping
icaUK
Carl DeAbr eu Photog
zine fo r Harmo n
Best wishes Pete
set of tunes monthly since for hundre 2011 and contai ds of ns scores and by world-renow Welsh tunes. Telyno MP3 files ned triple harpist r Cymru (Wales the 200th ’ harpist), led Robin Huw anniversary Bowen of the birth John’s family of gypsy harpist , celebrated was largely responsible aural harp-p John Robert for mainta laying traditio s. ining playing was n taught in workshin Wales. John Robert the unbroken s’ lively style website www.t ops across of elynor.cymru Wales, holds the scores and the associated Meurig William and tutoria s is the Chair l Traditional videos of Clera, the . Instruments. Society for He started music at the Welsh singing and Port Talbot playing traditio Folk Club with whistle when nal he guitar and banjo and over 50 years, was 17. His passion for music has moving on continued concertina, to the fiddle, for accordion, harp and pibgor mandolin, fiddle, ukulele the harmo nica , n, he has devote and autoharp. Since joiningand has also dabbled with d his attenti Clera in the part of the on to Welsh early 2000s Clera band traditional , which music and Y Glerorfa, was playing a major had around 50 memb when Wales ers, part in the was the feature Lorient Folk Session in Festival in 2008 d nation. He 2006 joined the Monday evenin and until Covid, led Cardiff Welsh its weekly meetin g at the Goat Major eagerly awaitin gs on a in the centre g the oppor of the city, tunity to get and is re-started.
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The triple harp, great houses an Italian development , in Wales in the 18th and was the instrument of was ousted the by the heavy, early 19th centur pedal harp trolley (and ies until it of formal music. Volvo-estate! be carried ) on the harpist The triple harp is light demanding ’s back taverns; it was enough to on one of these and so was popula r around the first played that the Welsh , as a jig. national anthem Fortunately was the Roman y musicians playing the who harp were made their able instrument living from cheaply and to get their hands on the obsole continued 20th centur scent the traditio y. The instrum n through continued to the into the presen ent and the associated style of playing tradition of t century. It harp survived in this unbrok gathered over playing, in songs which en a 70-year period were enthus many melod ies which becam in the 20th centur iastically y, but also to a Welsh e hymn tunes, in chapel in the chapel primary school and sung many of s. I went these tunes in the 1950s, and to traditional where one harpist, so of the parent a Welsh it’s no surpris these. s was a e that I am now hooke Little attenti d on on was paid to Welsh instrum the second half of the Welsh of the twentieth centur ental folk music until Folk y, dances. Enthus Dance Society which following the format ion needed music iastic musici also search for the ed the manus ans played the tunes still around cripts Library collect and ion and publish of the old harpists in purchased from the society ed collections of these the National which, can website (www. Our society be dawnsio.cym , Clera, was formed in ru). Welsh traditio 1996 with the aim nal music with the traditio of playing workshops nal instrum and session ents in their flute, whistle s, promoting contem , pipes) and porary (fiddle original (harp, and pibgor , n [‘pipe-horn’] crwth [like actively promo a violin] ) forms. Since then, the society instrument, ted the playing of Welsh has preferably traditional those acoust folk music music on any ic instruments today; so guitar, viola, cello, associated banjo, mando with accordion, lin, bouzouki, concer are all welcom ukelele, ed to join in tina and of course the instrument not ruled out. sessions, with the occasi harmonica onal amplifi The Wales ed Arts projects which Council has supported Clera have helped workshops us in our work, in three national and session starting and s across Wales, the develo pment of a with each one maintaining websit Gymru (Sessio resulting in e n across Wales) which we still mainta lists session in. Sesiwn Dros generated s, workshops www.sesiwn.c dormant due and activiti om which es across Wales to Covid). Alawon generated (currently Cymru (the www.alawonc tunes of Wales) ymru.com which has published a The ma session ga
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Meet the Executive Team Sam Wilkinson, Joint Vice-Chair Sam ‘Sammy Boy’ Wilkinson is best known for organising the Lockdown Sessions. He got a tremolo when he was three and dabbled in playing the harp in his teens and twenties, until making a serious effort to play in the late noughties. He is also a keen bass player. His main claim to fame is appearing on Eggheads (Series 21, Episode 38 - it’s on Youtube). His favourite foods are sausages and custard, but not necessarily on the same plate.
Phil Leiwy, Treasurer Phil is a practising chartered accountant. Phil is very interesting, especially when he’s talking figures. His Excel spreadsheets are colour-coded. Getting him to spend HarmonicaUK money is like pulling teeth. In his spare time, Phil performs a cockney music/music hall act under his alter ego, Harmonica Lewinsky, playing guitar, playing harmonica in a brace, and singing. It’s not very good. His other interests are buying DIY tools from the middle of Lidl and telling people he’s going on holiday during lockdown. He’s on his third butler.
Richard Taylor, Joint Vice-Chair As a former travel professional, Richard rarely ventured abroad without a harmonica. He holds the world record for playing Stone Fox Chase at the most airport security checkpoints worldwide. Self-taught, Richard’s punk-blues style led to lesson requests, whereupon he started music teaching. He launched the Harp Surgery website, commenced weekly workshops, and co-founded the Harpin’ By The Sea annual harmonica festival. He also set up Harp Academy, teaching harmonica to 4-11 year old schoolchildren. Having joined the NHL in the 1980s, Richard is now a proud committee member of HarmonicaUK and happy to provide tips on harmonica travel safety.
Davina Brazier, Secretary Davina is a keen chromatic and woodwind player. She performs locally with a mixed wind ensemble and is also learning the piano accordion. Her background in healthcare management has helped to equip her for the secretary role. In her spare time, she does aerial circus, fire and flow arts, and rides a unicycle!
April - May 2021 • Harmonica.co.uk
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Editor’s welcome Welcome to the April issue of Harmonica World. We’ve got a great selection of articles in this issue, so thanks are due to all our contributors for making Harmonica World such a great read. This news page is a new feature that will appear in each issue going forward, so if you have any contributions that are too short for an article, please send your news items to me by email and we’ll include them here. We are also introducing a ‘Me and My Harmonica’ feature, which are short (300-word) articles about our members and their harmonicas. It could be about you and your harmonicas, how you found the harmonica, or perhaps you’ve played with famous musicians, or at well-known venues. Please send me your ideas by email.
NEWS UPDATE Barry Elms Editor
At Harmonica World we always need volunteers to write articles or reviews, or generally to help out. For articles we need either 300 or 600 words, ideally in Word or Pages format, and some photos or images to go with them if possible. If you’d like to help or submit an article, please get in touch by email. Barry Elms, Editor, editor@harmonica.co.uk
Chromatic Weekend 2021
Due to uncertainty about when Covid restrictions are ending this year we have decided to run the Chromatic Weekend on Zoom again this year, on 19/20 June. This was successful last year and we attracted some of the world’s best chromatic players and hope to do again. Since then we had both the festival and Harpin’ by the Sea on Zoom and we will be hoping to innovate and build on improvements made.
Jimmy Regal and the Royals
Jimmy Regal and the Royals appeared on Radio 4’s Loose Ends on March 13th. The band, featuring Joff Watkins on harmonica, performed their song ‘Can’t cry no more’ in collaboration with Senegalese singer and kora player Diabel Cissokho. The song was recorded during lockdown in South London and Senegal and is a combination of South London and West African blues. You can listen on catchup here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000t411 and memories for the archive Do you have any old (pre-2000) harmonica magazines, event posters or programmes, photographs, sound and video/ film recordings, badges, etc., to fill in gaps in my archive? Any memorabilia or even memories from the four NHL 'get togethers' held in Cecil Sharp House, London (twice), in Birmingham, and Manchester in 1977-79 would be very useful. Fred Southern made
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some tape recordings of the events. If you knew Fred, or you are aware of any of his recordings, please get in touch. If you think you might be able to help in any way, please contact Roger Trobridge, phone: 07712 671 940, or email: gopher@internet-gopher.com
Nolan Abbott
I am sad to report the death of Nolan Abbott, who was a popular member of Morton Fraser`s Harmonica Gang. Nolan and I joined the ‘Gang’ when along with Jim Barrie, we replaced Gordon Mills and friends who formed The Viscounts before Gordon went on to manage Tom Jones and Englebert, etc. Nolan and I lost touch through the years when I was based in the USA, but we got in contact again during recent years. Nolan played chromatic and harmonetta with the group, and later went on to form an act with Ken Howell for a while, after which he formed a successful double act with a trumpet player known as ‘The Pagefields’. Our thoughts go out to his family and many friends. Sincerely yours, Johnny Stafford This picture was taken when we were guests of Hohner in Trossingen around 1960. Back Row: Stan Kaye, Johnny Stafford and Nolan Middle: Tony Francis (singer), Morton Fraser, Nat Lees. Front: Tiny Ross and Tony Vincent.
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No … thank YOU! When the Editor gave me the deadline for this column, I said to myself ‘is it that time again?’. I’ve normally got some thoughts brewing, but this time I hadn’t come up with anything. Days passed… and still nothing. I spent a week or so waiting for some inspiration, and then we received a very touching email from a member.
PUBLICITY COLUMN Sam Wilkinson Vice-Chair
As I’ve previously mentioned, HarmonicaUK has interacted with its members more than ever during the past year or so, and in previous months we have received many messages of appreciation. The weekly messages from the Chair (and others in the Executive Committee) have also been warmly welcomed and we are getting lots of positive feedback regarding the new-look Harmonica World magazine. So, on behalf of HarmonicaUK, I need to say a really BIG thank you to everyone for bearing with us, and to everyone that has supported our weekly programme of events, as well as attending the festivals. It’s clear to me that we now have a thriving harmonica community! Now back to the email. The sender gives an account of their harmonica playing over the years and mentions joining HarmonicaUK (then National Harmonica League) nearly ten years ago - ‘what a treasure I found’ are his words. His last paragraph sums up the feelings that come across in other messages of support. “I actually started this email with the intention of expressing my gratitude and appreciation to all of you for the good work you are doing. I just love the Friday Social Coffee Meeting and I hope that will carry on for years. Think of all the Saturday Workshops, how many different issues, and all the jolly participants from all over England and also the rest of the world. It is marvellous.”
Once again, thank you!
HarmonicaUK Lockdown Sessions - Playing/singing solo Part 1 - Jason Ricci
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Micki and Iked Mikayla Kilbury (originally from Southern California) and Iked Etpison (originally from Palau) met in Honolulu, Hawaii, and have been making music together since 2016. I first came across them in my usual trawling through YouTube whilst checking out Seydel harmonicas. There it was! I saw their song recorded for Seydel - ‘Forever Summer Lover’. The music was so fresh and the harmonica embedded within the song - not dominating or supporting,- but properly Editorial Team integrated into the music.
FOREVER SUMMER Steve Pardue,
Micki and Iked met whilst studying in Hawaii - in fact, it was one of their professors who brought them together and suggested they should meet as they ‘would get on’. After being part of a band, they eventually branched out on their own to explore and play their own music. ‘When we first started playing music together, we would go to open mic sessions every week and played in venues across the island, like the Blue Note in Waikiki. We play and write music with the harmonica as if it were Iked’s voice, doing call and response harmonies.’
Iked’s background is in drumming, and when he moved to the Netherlands he started playing Latin percussion. ‘While at a music store in the Netherlands during my first year of college, I bought a harmonica necklace as a gift for my cousin from Palau, because her mother (my late auntie) used to play the harmonica. When I bought the necklace, it came with a free blues harp. I was always fascinated with the instrument, but it was at that point that I thought I might as well learn how to start playing. I grew up listening to a lot of reggae and blues, from artists such as Bob Marley and Sonnyboy Williamson II, and was inspired by them. I mostly learned from watching YouTube videos. At first I learned by slowing the videos and music down, learning the licks, and following the rhythm of some of my favourite solos. Similar to how I practise playing the drums. The harmonica is a very versatile instrument, and we incorporate the instrument into our music and write the melody with this in mind.’ Iked plays both diatonic and chromatic harmonica. ‘Although I started playing the diatonic, I wanted to learn the chromatic to step outside of my comfort zone and develop a cleaner sound in my playing. Even though chromatic playing is achievable on diatonic harmonicas, the sound of overblows can be overpowering when accompanying Micki’s voice. I like all kinds of music; Toots Thielmans, Stevie Wonder, John Popper. I met with John Popper, and we went backstage and jammed together. He gave me some tips. I also met with PT Gazelle at a SPAH event in 2019, which was awesome. What I like about John Popper’s playing is, as a drummer, there are rudiments like paradiddles* and triplets being implemented in his playing, so the rhythmic approach to his playing I can really appreciate.’ Micki and Iked are aiming to move to Palau Iked’s home - once restrictions are lifted. Micki has a job lined up in the Office for Climate Change. But they want to share their music too.
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Iked is a dive guide and takes his harmonica with him. He plays Seydel harmonicas. ‘I find that, in a tropical climate, Seydel’s stainless steel reeds are perfect and don’t rust, and when I am on the dive boat with all that salt spray I am not worried about ruining my harmonica. In some of our songs, I will use multiple diatonic harmonicas in relative keys to switch between major and minor progressions or to change keys. Most of our early songs were written in the keys of A or D, but we are always trying to expand our range by writing in other keys as well. The two Seydel harmonicas that I use the most are the 1847 Classic diatonic harmonicas, as well as a custom Saxony Chromatic Harmonica made by Seydel dealer Greg Jones at 16:23 Harmonicas. The harmonica featured in our photos is the Seydel Soloist Pro 12 with an extended low end octave.’
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Last summer, Seydel asked them to write a song to promote their 2020 summer edition session steel harp, which is when they came out with their song ‘Forever Summer Lover’. ‘With that song and that harp, our goal was to create music that gives off island/beach vibes… it was a fun challenge for us. The 2020 harp is no longer available, since it was a limited edition, but harmonica players can look forward to future summer edition harmonicas by Seydel since they’re different and unique each year!’ Micki’s singing and playing style is so fresh and clear, and, with Iked’s harmonized playing, their music is for sure the sound of summer. Micki and Iked can be found on mickiiked.com - their official website - but their social media is where they are most active. Instagram: @mickiiked Facebook: Micki & Iked Tik Tok: @mickiiked YouTube: Micki & Iked Their original songs are available for streaming & purchase through: iTunes Spotify Apple Music ‘Although the harmonica is such a small instrument, it has had an incredible influence on both of our lives. Its versatility allows us to experiment with all kinds of music. We are continuously exploring the instrument’s great potential and ways we can incorporate it into our writing and original music. The best part is that the harmonica has introduced us to a fantastic community of extremely talented musicians and music enthusiasts. We would like to thank all of our friends, followers, fans, family, and mentors for all of the continuous support in doing what we love to do most.’ *Paradiddle: one of the basic patterns (rudiments) of drumming, consisting of four even strokes played in the order ‘left right left left’ or ‘right left right right’.
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http://recklesstram.com
Did you know you can play reggae on the harmonica? Nope? Neither did I. Until one night, when I was playing with a blues band in Kanchanaburi (the town that contains the famous ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’) in Thailand. After the strains of ‘The Thrill is Gone’ and the applause fade, the next song starts, and it’s Bob Marley’s ‘No Woman, No Cry’. Ah … hmm: Reggae. I’m not expecting that. Live in front of an audience. No rehearsals. I thought we were a blues band.
BEN TALKS HARMONICA Ben Hewlett Vice-President
Ok. I’ve got this …what key, which position, which harmonica …what am I supposed to play? I know the song enough to sing the chorus but no more than that.
No idea about the structure, chords, lyrics, or soloing style required. I lean over to the bass player, “What should I play?” “Just get in the groove.” “Yes, but what do I actually play?” “Anything, just get in the groove.” So, this month, one of my three live classes on Zoom has been ‘Exploring Reggae’. The others are ‘Learning Whammer Jammer’ and ‘Basic Blues Level 1’. All details are at www.playharmonica.co.uk. I will be repeating these classes later in the year, so register on that site to get an alert and be in the loop if you fancy it. In the class, we start with rhythm and groove. Using chordal chugging to pulse on beats two and four is a great place to start. This works nicely - one ‘chucka’ three ‘chuck’. Next, we use a groove called ‘Sunshine Reggae’ on iReal Pro - that’s a free backing track program I’d recommend. (www.irealb.com/forums/showthread.php?15908-Sunshine-ReggaeLaid-Back) It has a bar of G (you need to change the song key to G), a bar of B minor, and two bars of E minor in a repeated pattern of sixteen bars. It’s a nice relaxed groove to chug along to using those chords. Using a C diatonic, we can easily play the G chord on holes 12&3. The B minor chord can be partially played using B and D on holes 3&4, and the E minor chord can be partially played using E and G on holes 2&3.
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The next thing to explore is playing the root notes and adding a short flick to the neighbouring hole and back - up or down is all good depending on your taste. What about an improvising scale? G major pentatonic (GABDE) sounds good, as does the E minor pentatonic (EGABD). Why do they both sound good? The scales use the same notes. Where does reggae come from? My (simple) understanding is that it follows on from a long line of Caribbean folk music starting with mento, which became calypso and, in turn, ska, two-tone, rocksteady, and finally reggae. I don’t know what happened to form ska, but the music has been slowing down since then. I didn’t know about some of these forms, and I want to explore rocksteady a bit more - it sounds excellent to me. The songs we are working on right now are ‘No Woman, No Cry’ and ‘Redemption Song’. I can’t quite understand how with such simple chords - C, G, Am, F - Bob Marley has found such poignant and uplifting melodies. Those chords can all be played on a C harmonica (with Am and F being two-note chords). The melody is fairly simple to play, and improvising works well using a C major pentatonic in first position. How would it work using an F harmonica in second position? The exploration continues! All details are at www.playharmonica.co.uk. I will be repeating these classes later in the year, so register on that site to get an alert and be in the loop if you fancy it.
LEARNING HARMONICA HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER • Take a FREE ‘Suck it and See’ course. • Or Register FREE to get in the loop for Ben’s Saturday Live classes. • Or try a FREE TRIAL no-contract membership.
LEARN WITH BEN HEWLITT www. playharmonica .co.uk
April - May 2021 • Harmonica.co.uk
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Johan Richter double harmonica The Johan Richter harmonica is one of the oldest and most valuable harmonicas in my chromatic harmonica collection. In actuality, it is not per se a chromatic harmonica, as I will explain below. The first time I saw a similar instrument was a couple years ago on a German television show, where somebody presented a complete set of two singles and a double Richter harmonica. Immediately, I was fascinated. I can narrow down the date of my Richter harmonica to around 1875, based on the ribbon that is attached to the top of the accompanying case. It says: Gebrüder Hug (Hug brothers). Hug was/is the biggest music store in Switzerland until today. The ribbon lists all store locations at that time. The latest store branch to open was in Lucerne (Luzern) in 1874-75.
CHROMATIC HARMONICA A short history Mark Weber
This double harmonica comes with a pair of top and bottom covers, which can either block the top or the button reeds, depending on pushing one of the lower covers towards the reed plate. This interaction automatically lifts the top cover up and blocks the lower one. By releasing the lower covers, the opposite occurs. In theory, it would have been possible to use that exact mechanism to play chromatically, similar to today’s chromatic harmonicas. But instead of pushing a slide button, one could just push or release one of the lower covers. Besides, I was assuming that Johan Richter (most likely born in Bor, now in the Czech Republic) knew about the Joseph Richter Tuning. Based on his name, it is likely that he is a relative or even Joseph Richter’s son. Unfortunately, I was not able to verify that assumption. After some examination of all reeds and tuning, I got somewhat confused. The tuning is definitely not even remotely chromatic and not very coherent. It is possible some of the reeds are out of tune, but I think I could, in most cases, detect that. I was able to gather more information from the harmonica museum in Trossingen, Germany. The museum has a similar instrument displayed. There, it is described as a double-tremoloharmonica tuned in A flat, F, D flat, and G flat (as written on the accompanying case).
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Mark Weber lives in Switzerland and has been interested in the harmonica since a young age. He started playing blues harmonica at the age of 14, and after hearing the famous harmonica virtuoso Tommy Reilly on the radio, he became fascinated by the chromatic harmonica. For many years, Mark has been collecting chromatic harmonicas. Today, his collection encompasses more than 200 unique instruments. In early 2019, Mark started to write a blog about the chromatic harmonica, which depicts the history of the instrument from the 19th century to today. Mark designed a new chromatic harmonica (ML-12) with a unique magnetic lock system. You can find more info on the Johan Richter harmonica, as well as other articles about historic chromatic harmonicas on his blog at: http://chromhistory.blog Picture 1: Johan Richter Double Harmonica and case Picture 2: Closeup of case label Picture 3: Reeds and reed damper (lifted up) Picture 4: Spring connected to the outside of the reed damper
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It had always been my ambition to play a musical instrument, but somehow I didn’t get around to it until I was in my forties, and, somewhere in between, I lost my eyesight. So why did I pick the harmonica? (Diatonic first and then chromatic.) Well, quite frankly, I tried to think of an instrument I could learn by listening to instruction rather than having to see where to put fingers, etc. The harmonica seemed perfect for me because, firstly, most of what’s going on is happening unseen and has to be described (I have even heard it be called a blind instrument due to this) and, secondly, I thought it would be easy. Dave ‘Dogfish’ Colclough It turned out I was correct on the first point and very wrong on the second! Who would have thought our tiny instrument could be We are grateful so beautifully expressive and yet so technically difficult to for Dave’s help master? in making our With so many techniques and nuances to learn, it is an magazine more instrument that fascinates me. accessible and we I often find myself talking about this at great length to now have digital, my long-suffering wife, Suzy, and in the process I have print and large print discovered that I can identify the sound of eyeballs rolling. versions available. So, having chosen my instrument, I bought my first harmonica for the princely sum of £6 and headed off to We would love to YouTube to search for lessons. create an audio version too so if any Although my harp was as leaky as a colander, I easily found beginner lessons and began the painful process of getting budding voice over single notes. artists want to have I should say at this point that I quickly realised that you get a go ....? what you pay for and upgraded my harmonica, and I would recommend to beginners to not go for the cheapest. Good quality harps are really affordable, and cheap ones can hamper your progress and discourage you. The wealth of lessons on YouTube are great, but after six months I found myself flitting from one lesson to another (some far too advanced for me at this point). I felt my learning was unstructured, and I was attempting to learn too much too soon and absorbing very little.
BLIND AMBITION
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... whatever your ambition, there is usually a path to get there - you’ve just got to find yours.
It was then that I started Skype lessons with my tutor Michael Rubin (michaelrubinharmonica.com). Structured learning really works for me, and, along with music theory, techniques that seemed impossible are becoming second nature. Michael is not at all fazed by my lack of sight and has adapted to overcome any difficulties that have arisen, even finding apps to help me, such as Talking Tuner, a free app that speaks out the note played and how sharp or flat you are. Another great app that works well with the voiceover function on my iPad and iPhone (which reads out text to me) is Harp Key Pro, an app that shows the note layout for the diatonic harmonica. You can change the key to include overblows and overdraws and change the tuning. Of course I come up against difficulties. For example, tab doesn’t work for me: there doesn’t seem to be a standard way of tabbing out, the voiceover calls out a minus sign as a hyphen, and, unless the tab has sufficient spacing, it reads like a child reciting the alphabet, not knowing the correct order and hoping that going fantastically quick will hide it. So, I mostly learn songs from ear and with the assistance of another app, Amazing Slow Downer. This app allows you to import a song and not only slow it down, but also set loops to learn specific parts, and you can also change pitch. Not all of my harmonica hacks are high tech - I made myself a tactile circle of fifths out of a cutting board and kids’ plastic letters, and the humble rubber band helps me identify certain harmonicas. Sometimes, simplest is best. What I’m trying to say is, whatever your ambition, there is usually a path to get there - you’ve just got to find yours. It has been great, since joining HUK, to get to know some of you through the very enjoyable Friday coffee mornings and excellent lockdown sessions on Zoom, and I look forward to meeting up in the future.
Happy harping, Dave
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Dennis Gruenling's music is rooted in traditional blues and jump and swing, yet boasts a modern sensibility. One of the defining aspects of his harmonica playing is his effortless command of all the textures and subtleties afforded by the tongue block embouchure.
In addition to his mastery of foundational tongue blocking skills, Gruenling does all of his blow bends and overbends tongue blocked - a skill mastered by few. Yet what matters most is how he uses these skills to make memorable music. Gruenling, the 2019 Blues Music Award winner for best instrumentalist/harmonica and nominee for the 2021 Blues Music Award-Harmonica, talked to us about tongue-blocking basics and why foundational tongue-block skills are crucial at any level. When did you figure out that tongue blocking was the way to get a big sound on the harmonica?
ESSENTIAL TONGUE BLOCKING ... ... with Dennis Gruenling Justin M Norton Editorial Team
Some older players mentioned the term to me when I was a young player, even if they didn't show me (laughs). It wasn't until I started experimenting that I realised that it's an essential part of traditional blues playing. I would say some great players tongue blocked all of the time, and all of them blocked some of the time.
You learned to play in the era before YouTube and the Amazing Slow Downer allowed people to slow down licks and learn these techniques. How did you do it before the technology was available? I would listen to a record, put the needle back on, and then listen to the song again. If I wanted to learn a solo, I would copy it from an LP onto a cassette. Then I would listen to that solo over and over again. The older players didn't really teach specifics. But I was always someone who wanted to discover things on his own anyway. There is now a plethora of information thanks to the Internet, but unfortunately, much of it is not good (laughs). I know Joe Filisko, myself, and David Barrett have worked to help some players unlearn bad things from the Internet. When players come to you wanting to learn about tongue blocking, where do you start? If I have a student who is new to tongue blocking, I show them how to do a few clean single notes tongue blocked. Later in the lesson, they are doing it. If someone is taught correctly and in a fun way, they can do it. How do you get people started on the tongue-blocking journey? It varies from person to person, but the main thing is to get back to basics. Some people think (tongue blocking) is more difficult because it's not their frame of reference. They didn't start playing while tongue blocking. If you can play clean, clear single notes tongue blocked, then everything stems from that. Most players now actually didn't start tongue blocking and might be hesitant
because it feels like moving backward. But once you get over the hump and get basics down, you start moving forward quickly. What are the essential tongue-blocking techniques you should master first? The best way to go about it is to start with two primary techniques. It's worked for every student I've had over the years. Clean and clear single notes and single-note lines: You should be able to play these tongue-blocked, that's the most important thing. Depending on your level, this will also involve bending. Chord sounds: This involves playing a single clean note and getting a chord sound by taking your tongue off the harp. This is the basis for most of the rhythmic things you can do while tongue blocking. There are so many other effects, but almost all of them stem from those things. Once those foundations are in good shape, what's next?
Building up rhythmic chops is so important, even if you don't anticipate playing a lot of rhythm.
Building up rhythmic chops is so important, even if you don't anticipate playing a lot of rhythm. Chord vamping (where you make a percussive slapping sound by moving your tongue on and off the harp) is essential. I'd also suggest a side-to-side tongue trill. Some people find the on and off vamping is easy, and they need to work the side-to-side trill. For others, it's the opposite. With many of the older players, you find that they use one or the other. Have you seen any innovations in tongue-blocking techniques lately? There is not much in the blues because fewer modern players use tongue blocking, although you have players like Sugar Blue and Russ Green. Their approach definitely sounds more modern, and yet they are tongue-blocking… not necessarily a new innovation per se, but the context in which they both use it is more modern. Howard Levy also uses some great blocking effects in many other musical styles as well. When should a player advance to octaves and five-hole octaves, and other tongue block techniques? Too many players work on too many techniques too soon and forget about playing music. While learning technique is very satisfying to a player, it's the icing on the cake musically. The foundational skills coupled with some music basics go a long way towards making music. Techniques just decorate what you play. Dennis Gruenling hosts Harp Q&As with great players as well as skill workshops every Saturday during the pandemic. He also sells vintage mics and amps and an assortment of harp gear. Learn more at his website www.badassharmonica.com
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The magazine for HarmonicaUK
MY HARMONICA Michael Felgate
For my 8th birthday, in 1954, my unexpected present was a Hohner Sonny Boy tremolo harmonica. I took the harmonica everywhere, practised hard and within two weeks, played ‘Frère Jacques’ and ‘God Save the Queen’. At 13, my uncle gave me a Hohner Chrometta 8. Then, at 16, I bought my first Chromonica and a Larry Adler tuition book, but I struggled with it. At 16, I joined my first band. Our debut gig was at the Cumberland Hotel in London. I was the lead vocalist plus harmonica. I was nervous, but arriving on stage, I spotted a BBC sports presenter in the audience. He was larger than I imagined, as just head and shoulders were shown on TV at that time! My nerves vanished. After that, I joined a number of bands as a vocalist and harmonica player. In my late teens, I joined Steve Miller`s Delivery band. There’s a BBC documentary about Eel Pie Island titled ‘Rock Island’, with a brief shot of a poster showing the band’s name on it. Leaving Steve’s band, I explored folk music. At 22, my friends and I formed a band. We recorded a demo (allegedly on the same label as Jethro Tull). We got nowhere, but performed doing covers at functions. At 27, I met my wife at a gig and we married a year later. I also did some solo work. We moved from London to Shoeburyness, near Southend, so our son could train with the swimming coach there. I continued doing solo work and also joined a band. Relocating to Leigh-on-Sea, we joined a church. My friends and I formed a band doing charity gigs. We recorded a demo CD which was played on the church’s PA system. A lady said “That`s Paul Jones!” and I replied, “No, that’s me.” She continued saying “Paul comes to church.” Paul and his wife came in 2013! He asked me where I had played, so I told him about Eel Pie Island, and also that Leigh Operatic and Dramatic Society (LODS) were rehearsing the Rock Opera ‘Tommy’. I played the part of ‘Harmonica Player’ using an ‘F’ and ‘Am’ harp, and was given eight more parts. Eight shows followed, from ‘Ghost’ to ‘All Shook Up’. What a great experience. In 2017, LODS performed ‘Whistle Down the Wind’. I practised the harmonica part, but I needed something sharper. I asked John Cook to source me one. I waited till a month before show week and then called John, who said that Hohner had been on shut-down for six weeks. A CX12 Jazz harmonica arrived. Then came show week and it was first call. I put the harmonica to my mouth, only to be told, the part had to be cut!
DIATONIC HARP QUIZ! Keith Parker, Editorial Team 1 What was Little Walter’s real name? 2 Which film did Walter Horton have a cameo appearance in? 3 Who played harp on Cream’s album Fresh Cream in 1966? 4 Who were the two American harp players who formed the band Bacon Fat on the British Blue Horizon label? 5 Which harp player sometimes plays with ZZ Top? 6 What were the names of the founders of the record company Chess Records? 7 Which English harp player toured with Rory Gallagher in the 80s? 8 Who was the harp player with the J Geils band?
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9 Who first recorded Stone Fox Chase? 10 Which born again Christian played on Garth Brooks’ albums? 11 Name a white harp player who played with Muddy Waters. 12 Who played with Eric Clapton at the Albert Hall shows? 13 Which player formed the Ealing club with Alexis Corner? 14 Who had a cameo appearance in the film The Blues Brothers 2? 15 What music is typically played on a Paddy Richter-tuned harp? 16 What is an Astatic JT30? 17 Why was Paul Butterfield different from most blues harp players? 18 Who played harmonica at the Grand Ole Oprey in the early 1900s?
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19 Who played in the band War? 20 Who plays harp in Aerosmith? 21 Name these three players pictured at a Spanish blues festival, 2006. (pic 1) 22 Name these three East Anglian players pictured at a Gary Primich show in Essex, 2007. (pic 2) Answers on page 35
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The magazine for HarmonicaUK
Chromatic Weekend: Virtual event 18-20 June 2021, UK.
SPAH Convention: 10-14 August 2021. Charlotte, USA. Currently planned to be a virtual festival: www.spah.org/content.asp?contentid=138
HUK Annual Festival: 1-3 October 2021, UK. Currently planned to be virtual
EVENTS CALENDAR Neil Warren
Wisconsin Annual Blues Harmonica Festival: 19 Nov, 2021, USA. Currently planned to be a physical festival: www.eventbrite.com/e/wisconsin-annual-blues-harmonica-festival2021-tickets-84058736945
HUK Lockdown Sessions: Typically run weekly, virtually: www.harmonicauk.com/lockdown-sessions/
Mundharmonika Live: 14-19 Sept, Germany: mundharmonika-live.de/
ADAM GLASSER
EXPLORING CHROMATIC HARMONICA AN IN DEPTH LOOK AT THE CHROMATIC STYLES OF STEVIE WONDER, LARRY ADLER AND TOOTS THIELEMANS Adam Glasser New Workshop Series May 2021 3 x Sundays in May (2nd/16th/30th) 3pm - 4.30pm on Zoom Based on his highly acclaimed ‘Harmonica Stories’ lecture series, Adam takes a hands on in depth look at the playing styles of these 3 genius chromatic players with exercises and playing tips based on an examples of their playing. Includes mp3s, videos and instructional material. For a full course description/fees/registration:
adamgharmonica@gmail.com w w w. A D A M G L A S S E R M U S I C . c o m
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Around the world with 80 great harmonica players If social media has shown me anything, it’s that there are fantastic harmonica players everywhere in the world. So, I thought I’d start a journey to interview some of the greats among them. Who better to start with than two-time harmonica world champion Cy Leo. His father founded the Hong Kong Harmonica Association and gave Cy harmonicas to play with when he was only a few months old. He began ‘serious’ lessons on the harmonica at age six with educator Mr Lee Sheung Ching. At only 25 years old, Leo’s career has shown brilliance in both the classical world and in jazz and fusion music. He has recently begun a masters degree in New York, where he was kind enough to chat with me.
AN INTERVIEW WITH CY LEO Sam Spranger
What harmonicas are you using? I’ve gone through two stages. The first stage was my classical phase until I was 19, where I played the 12-hole Polle Harmonica from Norway. It’s probably the best for playing ‘pure’ classical music with its tone and its projection. As I stepped into jazz and other genres, I figured I needed a 16-hole chromatic and invested in a Cremona. I think the future of chromatic harmonica is the 16 hole. While I am still waiting for the ‘perfect’ 16 hole to come along, with the extra octave, I’ve received so many compliments on the range and tone of the instrument. How do you prepare for a performance? Before going on stage I am very conscious of my state of mind, and I evaluate my body condition, e.g. Are my lips dry? Is the instrument warmed up? I need to be calm enough to remember the notes from the piece but also have a readiness to respond to the conductor or any mistakes from the orchestra. After I step onto the stage I relax and just go with the flow. Interestingly, these two mindsets are very similar to playing classical and jazz. Playing jazz is so about playing in the moment. Classical requires a lot of calculation. However, even when playing classical, I love using that jazz mentality on stage and being more spontaneous. Favourite performance from the past? My first time competing in the World Harmonica Festival with my high school harmonica orchestra in 2009. Before we went to the competition, we practised every day for months to nail down the performance. By the time it came to the competition we had such a great feeling of camaraderie and enthusiasm. It was such a wonderful performance, and we received a five-minute standing ovation.
Do you have any favourite pieces to play? I enjoy the 1st movement from the Bach Cello Suite. The piece is so meditative yet also warms up every aspect of playing the instrument, such as corner switching and puckering. Do you pucker a lot? Yes, probably about 60% of my playing is pucker as it allows for more speed and control of air. What are you looking forward to in the future? I have so many interests in so many genres. I don’t have a specific goal. I just really enjoy exploring and creating music that excites me. I’ve come to New York to study because there are so many great ‘cats’ here that I want to work and learn with. It might not be the music I’ve made before such as concertos or fusion, but I’m hoping to make music that is timeless. You can listen to the whole 40 minute interview online: https://youtu.be/innFJa-vRqg
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Spin-Off by Juraj Schweigert & The Groove Time Eclectic just short of whiplash, ‘Spin-Off’ offers a listening experience that flies through musical styles and emotion. Juraj Schweigert started playing harmonica in his early twenties, and since then has mastered the instrument both in depth and breadth, the versatility of his skill made clear through his albums, where he’s constantly moving to and from different musical genres. He released his first album, ‘Novelty Shop’, in 2015, which was nominated for best self-produced CD by the Blues Foundation, based in Memphis. Now in his second album, Schweigert and his band ‘The Groove Time'’ collaborate with other talented Slovak musicians, such as Lenka Molčányiova playing the alto sax and Stanislav Palúch playing the fiddle. Together, they create a captivating exploration of the fusions between blues, country, jazz and more, bringing the listener along on a trip across musical boundaries. In one moment, the listener enjoys the easy-going singing and slow, mellow sound of ‘Every Four Seconds’ - in the next, the discordant ‘Miss Chief’ delights with its fast-paced rhythm and wild harmonica solos.
ALBUM REVIEW Sophia Ramirez Editorial Team
As the music races from funk to reggae to country, the album ties itself together with its innovative melding of instrumentals and vocals. Take, for instance, the opening song: with ‘Nobody’s Talkin’,’ the album swings into an upbeat melding of instrumentals and voice. The rich tone of Schweigert’s harmonica complements the vocals as if it too were singing. And though it momentarily drops the vocals, the title track ‘Spin-Off’ keeps up the excitement, spotlighting the interplay between the playful harmonica and other instruments that lay a lively beat. In short, ‘Spin-Off’ is a pot-pourri album that’s over too soon.
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Dear Friends, Artists, Sponsors and Colleagues, This time last year, I sat chewing a pencil and wondering whether or not Harpin’ By The Sea could ever happen again. Following our tenth anniversary bash, co-producer Stuart McKay retired from the pressures of event management, and the global pandemic brought live music to a standstill. The outlook was bleak. Meanwhile in the US, SPAH took the bold decision to deliver their annual summer convention online. HarmonicaUK followed suit with a chromatic weekender and their virtual online festival. A brave new world of opportunity had been pioneered, and Harpin’ By The Sea was next in line to carry the torch.
HBTS REVIEW Richard Taylor Joint Vice-Chair
With a rekindled appetite for adventure, a new production team was recruited, and the fresh twist on our festival took shape. What better way of bringing our past guest artists together, acknowledging their contribution to our ten-year history, and raising funds to support them in a time of lockdown? The production team rallied round the concept. Russ Turner set to work on a schedule of archive video footage, Ben Reese approached a shortlist of trade sponsors, and Matthew Edwards designed a brand new logo to carry us forward. Paul Gillings took up the task of translating our charity raffle into an online feature while managing our guest artists, and Trevor Yeo masterminded the necessary technical checks, risk assessments, and a contingency plan against outages and meltdown. Two of our former guest artists were unable to join the party. Our thanks go to Rory McLeod and Jerome Godboo for the joy they shared through their respective past appearances. Two newcomers therefore made their HBTS debuts in the shape of Mickey Raphael
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and Mark Hummel, both from the USA. We very much hope they can join us in person next time. Finally, the entrepreneurial genius John Cook joined the plan, providing a technical breakout room for anyone with an interest in harmonica repairs, modifications, and maintenance. Before we knew it, we were ready to broadcast live to the world on Zoom and YouTube for the very first time. On Friday 5th February 2021, green screens and mute buttons at the ready, our introductory video tape rolled and Harpin’ By The Sea Eleven was launched. The weekend’s schedule included presentations by fifteen guest artists, interviews with our trade sponsors, a virtual Hohner factory tour, further archive video, and the climax of our charity appeal, which raised over £3,000 for children in critical care. Statistics from Zoom and YouTube indicate that the event drew between 800 and 1,000 unique visitors each day, with an audience figure of 250 viewers at any one time. This is a fantastic endorsement of everything the team had put into the production. As they drew a collective sigh of relief on Sunday evening and scanned the initial feedback, a combined sense of pride and shock took over. Everything had gone exactly to plan! Nothing would have been possible without the dedication and determination of the event’s team of volunteers, the generosity of our sponsors, the trust of our guest artists, and the encouragement we received from everyone who tuned in worldwide. In a time of global pandemic, we all need to feel connected, and I hope our efforts have helped. Anyone who was unable to join us can still enjoy the event, which has been recorded and will be rolled out on the Oxharp and Harpin’ By The Sea YouTube channels, respectively. Our list of artists and sponsors can be found on the event website at www.harpinbythesea.com It’s impossible to say whether we will be in the same situation a year hence, but rest assured that Harpin’ By The Sea remains committed to its mission of celebrating the harmonica on an annual basis. We hope you will continue to lend us your support and friendship.
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After spending most of my performing career playing standard harmonicas through microphones, I was introduced to the world of MIDI four years ago, after being sent the first prototype of the Lekholm DM48 MIDI Harmonica to evaluate. Not having any experience of playing a MIDI instrument, it was quite a shock to discover all the amazing possibilities opened up by accessing this alternative music universe via an instrument that looked and played like a harmonica, but was something else entirely! You can tell how awestruck I was in my first demo video of the DM48 in January 2017, showing off many of its astonishing features: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwgIAFOnJVs&t=26s The DM48 is part of a family of electronic wind controllers (EWIs) that emulate saxophones, flutes, etc. It has no reeds, just tiny breath sensors that trigger as you blow and draw. It makes no noise of its own, but sends electronic signals via a USB cable to any synthesizer that can generate sounds using MIDI. Here is the
MIDI HARMONICA vs HARMONICA+MIDI Brendan Power Patron
Wikipedia definition: “MIDI /midi/; an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music.” The DM48 is amazing, giving you access to literally millions of sound patches for thousands of synth hardware and software choices. My favoured sound generator is the iPad; it’s so simple to use, and is a nice small size - great for home playing or live gigs. The iPad has a large and growing range of brilliant synth apps (free, or very reasonably priced), giving you sounds ranging from the utterly bizarre to very realistic emulations of real acoustic instruments. You can play it in any key with a press of a button, with a range of up to eight octaves, and in any tuning you want - all in the one instrument! It’s also very expressive, with great dynamics between hard and soft blowing. Since it makes no noise of its own, you can play it silently through headphones at any time of the day or night: a boon for good family relations in these lockdown days! I love the DM48, but found it had one glaring flaw: I couldn’t bend notes using my harp embouchure technique. This was a big problem for my playing since I use bends all the time, on both diatonics and chromatics. I partially solved the issue by creating a little finger-operated gizmo called the Mini PitchBender, which can be stuck to the top of the DM48 to give note bending: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZZkkb_qBqo It works, but it’s not nearly as easy and intuitive as bending on a normal harp.
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Now that I had discovered MIDI, I looked for ways to somehow access this amazingly powerful world of sounds with a standard harmonica. Actually, there are quite a few possibilities available, from MIDI microphones to little digital interfaces that you can plug a microphone into, and I tried as many as I could find. All of them have their good points - but in the end I found the best solution so far lay right there in my iPad! It’s an amazing app called MidiGuitar 2. As you can tell from the name, MG2 is designed for guitarists who want to access MIDI sounds through standard electric guitars - but I found it works with harmonica mics too! You have to play cleanly, and it’s best in monophonic mode (no chords). But once I adjusted my playing a bit and got the mic levels right, suddenly I was able to sound like anything I wanted - whilst blowing on a standard harmonica! Not only that, I could use all my normal harp bending technique, and it came out perfectly in the MIDI sounds I’d chosen. And, as with normal harmonicas, to play in a different key or tuning you just pick up the appropriate harp and it’s reproduced faithfully by the MIDI patch. Wow! That was as big a moment of revelation as when I first played the DM48. It inspired me to make a bunch of videos showing how it works, for others to learn from (if interested, search for “Harmonica & iPad” on YouTube). However, whilst allowing any decent harmonica player to trigger the amazing world of MIDI sounds with their standard harps (diatonic or chromatic), playing via a mic into MidiGuitar2 is not perfect. Because the software has to translate an audio signal into MIDI messages, there is slight latency: the MIDI sound comes out a tiny bit behind the audio sound. With the DM48, the response is instant. Another issue is that, since you’re playing a real harmonica, you’re hearing it along with the MIDI sound. This can be minimized by using headphones, but it’s still there. Thirdly, unlike with the DM48, the MIDI signal has no dynamics of loud or soft - it’s simply on or off. (A way to get around this is to use a volume foot-pedal, but that takes some time to master and is not as responsive as breath dynamics.) I find the best solution to all these issues is to make a virtue of necessity: mostly play with a mix of the harmonica and MIDI sound. You minimize the issues described above and get the best of both worlds. So… what’s the best: playing a real MIDI Harmonica like the DM48, or triggering MIDI with a standard harmonica? Different players will have different answers, but personally I find that I like to use both, they each have strengths and weaknesses. I’ve made a special video covering this topic to go with this article, which will help you decide for yourself. Here’s the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS50Fuu04M0
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Quiz answers from page 24 1 Marion Walter Jacobs 2 Blues Brothers 3 Jack Bruce 4 Rod Piazza and George Smith 5 James Harman 6 Leonard and Phil Chess 7 Mark Feltham 8 Magic Dick 9 Charlie McCoy 10 Terry Lee McMillan 11 Paul Oscher and Jerry Portnoy 12 Jerry Portnoy 13 Cyril Davies 14 Junior Wells 15 Irish 16 Microphone 17 He played left-handed and upside down 18 DeFord Bailey 19 Lee Oskar 20 Jerry Portnoy, Rick Estrin, Kim Wilson 21 Keith Parker, Gary Potts, Giles King
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April - May 2021 • Harmonica.co.uk
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The end of WW2 produced major changes in society. Soldiers returning home wanted change and they returned to a different Britain. One part of the change was the rebuilding of the entertainment industry, with musicians and artists looking for work as the rebuilding of the country got underway. We will see the secondary effect of the opening up of education when we get to the 1960s. Left: Ronald Chesney mic 1955. The 1950s saw the high point for the harmonica. The soloists (Ronald Chesney, Larry Adler, Tommy Reilly and Max Geldray) gained national and international status, and the harmonica groups (The Three Monarchs and The Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang) enjoyed lots of success in music halls, initially on BBC Radio, and then TV brought them into homes all over the country.
THE HISTORY OF HARMONICAUK Part 3 1950-1959 Roger Trobridge Chairman 2000-2012
Ronald Chesney demonstrated the potential of the chromatic harmonica when he gave a solo performance in the Royal Albert Hall in 1946. Larry Adler toured the world, starred in films, and composers began to write music for the harmonica. In 1952, Larry performed the ‘Romance in D flat for Harmonica’, composed for him by Ralph Vaughan Williams, in the BBC Proms. Tommy Reilly moved from the music hall to the concert stage with compositions by Spivakovsky, Gordon Jacobs, and his long-term accompanist, James Moody. Max Geldray continued in the jazz clubs and variety. The format of the early radio shows opened up many opportunities for entertainers. Shows like Variety Bandbox and Workers’ Playtime on the BBC Light Programme provided spots for soloists and the groups, but the popular long-running comedy programmes like The Goon Show and Educating Archie featured musical breaks in the story which were filled by Max Geldray and Ronald Chesney respectively. Ronald went on to write the scripts for Educating Archie.
Goon Show Music Hall.
Harmonicas also turned up on themes for radio programmes and films. Tommy Reilly can be heard on Dixon of Dock Green and The Navy Lark, and Larry Adler had a big success with his music for the film Genevieve. In addition to the home-grown talent, the Harmonicats’ recording of ‘Peg O’ My Heart’ was proving very popular, and Borrah Minevitch had moved ‘The Harmonica Rascals’ to France. Interest in the harmonica was at its peak.
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Hohner had started rebuilding their organisation after the war, and in 1949 they established the National Accordion Organisation (NAO) and relaunched their magazine, Accordion Times.
Genevieve poster.
In 1951, Hohner restarted the Hohner National Song Band League (HNSBL) and began the publication of Harmonica News. This was in part a reaction to the increase in popularity of the harmonica in the UK, but also a result of Hohner setting up the Federation Internationale de l’Harmonica (FIH) with Dr Otto Meyer (GB) as president. This was an umbrella organisation covering most European countries and South Africa which went on to organise the World Harmonica Championships, starting in Duisbourg in 1953 and then moving around European cities in subsequent years. The new organisation had Ronald Chesney as its president, and Larry Adler, The Three Monarchs, and Tommy Reilly were active in events and writing for the magazine. At the start of 1953, Hohner changed the name of the organisation to the National Harmonica League (NHL). This was less of a mouthful and reflected the increased emphasis on individual players, not bands. Competition for the NHL Championship was fierce, with regional heats and then a final which was held in the Central Hall, Westminster, in London. The three winners then took part in the FIH World Championships.
Harmonica News 1951.
As the event developed, competition classes were held for chromatic soloists, groups, and diatonic harmonicas (not blues harp!). Several of the winners of these early competitions have been active in the NHL in recent years. Douglas Tate, Jim Hughes, Gerry Ezard, and Dave Beckford are probably the best known, but even more went on to join the Morton Fraser Harmonica Rascals. Local harmonica bands and groups continued into the 1950s, but the increasing popularity of the guitar-based rock and skiffle groups led to a steady decline in their numbers.
Three Monarchs 2.
The peak of the NHL’s success was in the mid-1950s, but by 1958 the interest was waning and Hohner could no longer afford to support the magazine. In 1959,
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Morton Fraser Gang 3
Harmonica News ceased publication, and harmonica items were moved into the Accordion Times. The Council of the National Harmonica League agreed to transfer its activities into the larger and more active National Accordion Organisation (NAO). The activities of the NHL continued under the wing of the NAO.
Round House Sept 1955.
Away from these organisations, something was stirring. Deep in Soho in the Round House pub on Wardour Street, Cyril Davies (harmonica) and Alexis Korner (guitar) were running a club which was progressing from playing early country blues, Woody Guthrie, and Leadbelly music, to barrelhouse and blues. Touring American blues musicians visited the club, and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee were the club presidents. Following Muddy Waters’ visit to the club in 1958, the move to electric Chicago blues music was underway, but that has to wait for the next part of the story... You can read my blogs on these times here: www.the-archivist.co.uk Type ‘Golden Age’ into the search box for ‘The Golden Age of the Harmonica on BBC Radio - 1950 to 1960’. Type ‘Cyril Davies’ into the search box for ‘Cyril Davies - from Trad Jazz to the Rolling Stones.
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In the early sixties, there were many black American R&B artists who found their careers declining and jumped at the chance to tour Europe and the UK when offered the opportunity. Some of these tours were put together under the banner of the American Folk Blues Festivals and were multi-artist tours, but certain musicians such as Little Walter came on individual tours. Although I was not old enough to go to these shows, a lot of them gave birth to many UK musicians trying to emulate these visitors, and helped grow the burgeoning blues scene in the UK . I am very aware that, although I am now in my late sixties, these facts may have been forgotten and hopefully make interesting reading and perhaps stir the memories of some of our readers who may have gone to these shows.
LITTLE WALTER’S UK TOUR 1964 Keith Parker Editorial Team
For this issue, I will concentrate on Little Walter’s UK tour in 1964.
Walter arrived in the UK on 15 September on a tour put together by Willie Dixon of Chess records and Frank Weston of the Londonbased Malcolm Nixon agency, with a series of shows all over the UK, including radio and TV appearances. Audiences had been expecting him, following articles in Blues Unlimited and Melody Maker magazines and also with the release of a best of LP and foursong EP released on the Pye Records R&B label. He was met at the airport by Weston and Memphis Slim, who was also performing in the UK, and allegedly after checking into his hotel, he paid a visit to the legendary 100 Club and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the musicians playing on stage. Walter’s first gig was to a sold-out audience of 400 at The Marquee Club backed by the Hoochie Coochie men. There followed numerous gigs all around the UK. Walter told lots of stories about good and bad performances and alleged incidents, one being that he pulled a knife on ‘Rod the Mod’ Stewart, although that might have been hype. He always used local bands as backing. I will focus on one show which happened in Cambridge at the Alley club in October - it was told to me by my friend Dave Luxton, who was there with his friend Al Thompson that night. Dave and Al were record collectors and had a good collection of imported blues and R&B records from all the leading labels, and they had persuaded the owner of the club to let them play the records for two nights a week when they did not have acts booked. Dave reports that Walter arrived early, had no rehearsal, and just told the band (The Worrying Kind) to play a Jimmy Reed riff. He was in fine form, and it was a blast, with many instrumentals.
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After the show, we took him to a local pub, the Still & Sugar Loaf, and once we had told him we knew the music of Jimmy Rogers, Muddy, and ‘Baby Face’ Leroy, he said, “You know, Baby Face, we got on fine.” The pictures were taken that night. Walter has had a huge impact on my music and style, and his light still shines on countless players of the past and continues today. I just wish I had been there that night - I did visit his grave on one of my trips to Chicago, but that is another story. Next issue I will have a look at Sonny Boy Williamson 2’s UK tours.
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