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Memories of the Harmonica

It looks as though we are at a vital time for the harmonica as the generation who established it as a world wide serious musical instrument disappear from the scene. Their memories and experience will also be lost but there is still a chance to protect some of their experiences if we can look after the books, magazines, audio (reel to reel, cassette and vinyl), video and film recordings that they accumulated during their lifetimes. All of these can be digitised and shared. If you have something you think might be useful please contact me.

You can see examples of what can be done here. My websites - the-archivist.co.uk and YouTube video channel

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Norm Dobson  (1929-2019)

Norman R. Dobson Jr., or Norm, as he was known to all his harmonica friends everywhere, was the US Vice President of the National Harmonica League from 1982 until his death, aged 90. He lived in Peabody, near Boston, and for many years he looked after the interests of NHL members who lived in the USA.

Norm played harmonica as a child but his musical life changed when he heard Peg O’ My Heart being played on the radio in 1947. He bought the 78rpm record and 16 hole chromatic harmonica. He was in the Marines but when he came out of the Services in 1950 he found two friends, Bill Mackay (chord) and Jack Malaquias (bass) who joined him in a harmonica trio, The Harmonichords. They performed together for 38 years and helped with the important charity work Norm did with other ex-Marines in his home town.

Norm always had an interest in the harmonica which went worldwide and he attended many national festivals, becoming a member of many harmonica associations around the world. This is how he came to build a special relationship with the National Harmonica League. John Walton invited him onto the committee in 1982, about the time Hohner bestowed the title World Ambassador of the Harmonica on him. He hosted NHL members on their trips to the USA and he helped to run the World Championship Festival in Jersey, 1987, organised by Jim Hughes. You can see him at work in the first five minutes of this video. Here is another video of him in the concert with Alan Pogson and Earl Williams. After the festival he stayed on to visit his friends in the UK. In the 1990s he became a VP of SPAH.

Norm was most proud of becoming the first and only harmonica player to be elected as the head of a district Musicians Union. Until 1947 the harmonica was regarded as a toy, but, following the success of The Harmonicats’ recordings, harmonica players were finally accepted as members of the Union. Norm was President of the Local 126 Northshore Musicians of America Federation of Musicians for many years until his death.

Norm remained in touch with the NHL and was pleased to be a part of its success. 

Here are a couple of local obituaries;

The Salem News 

CCB Funeral Home

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The best harmonica CD ever?

I have just finished listening to 60 tracks from a 3 CD set of recordings I found in the music department in Foyles Bookshop in Charing Cross Road in London yesterday for £6. I have some already but why not another one? This one was incredible value especially when you see that this is no rip-off of old recordings. It is an official CD issued by Sony Music. I have just checked and can get also get it from Amazon.

It is called The Real... Toots Thielemans and I did not know what was going to hit me when I started to play CD1. Track one was a great version of Bluesette and then I heard Paul Simon singing Night Game... then came the Toots solo.

I have many, many LPs and CDs by Toots but this is so different. I did not know what was going to hit me when I started to play this one. The first track one was a great version of Bluesette and then I heard Paul Simon singing Night Game. Toots is a superb chromatic harmonica player and he is in great demand for sessions where he can add his unique solos to recordings by famous singers and instrumentalists. 

This CD does what we could never do. It brings together all these special recordings filled with the best musicians making great music. What a tribute, what a variety of  wonderful arrangements - Billy Joel, Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, John Williams, Shirley Horn, Astrid Gilberto, Steve Tyrell... plus lots of the best of Toots own jazz tracks (Killer Joe, Scotch on the Rocks, Old Friend...) and his beloved Brazilian music. 

In any language this is a steal at any price - especially this price. 

Judge for yourselves with this look at the track listing.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

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Harmonica Music for Christmas

Here are links to some of my blog posts on my website The-Archivist.co.uk. I have collected examples of Christmas Music which features different types of harmonicas and styles of music. Have a listen and enjoy the range of emotion and variety of the music the harmonica can produce.

Blues Harps at Christmas

Jazzy Harmonica Arrangements at Christmas

Chromatic Harmonicas at Christmas 

Harmonica Groups at Christmas

Harmonica Christmas Stocking Fillers

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Harmonica Groups in Taiwan

I met up with my friends, Dror Adler (The Adler Trio, Israel) and Rob Janssen (Fata Morgana, Holland) in Birmingham, UK, this weekend, when they were attending Jim Hughes’ 90th birthday celebrations.

These groups have transformed the repertoire and performance of the traditional harmonic groups. I learned that both Rob and Dror are involved with young and successful harmonica groups in Taiwan. Dror is working with Judy's Harmonica Ensemble and Rob is working Sirius. Both had been inspired by what The Adler Trio and Fata Morgana had done and they had invited them to visit and share their knowledge.  

You can see some of the fruits of these collaborations in these two videos.

The Adler Trio and Judy's Harmonica Ensemble play HarmoniCadence - Roots

Fata Morgana and Sirius play Toledo

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Fabrizio Poggi and Angelina

I have known Fabrizio and Angelina for quite a long time and it took a while to understand how a harmonica player from near Milan in Northern Italy was so attached to the blues. Over the years I have seen him travel and play in Mainland Europe, the UK and all over the USA, performances which led to several awards. He has also written several blues books in Italian on blues players and stories.

He often travels alone and sits in with local musicians. We met up in London a few years ago when he was accompanying Guy Davis and I took him on a tour of the early blues venues including The Round House in Soho where Cyril Davies launched the UK Blues Scene with Alexis Korner in the late 1950s.

Fabrizio has over 20 CDs to his name and the last one is Breath of Freedom: Blues & Civil Rights (2017) had lots of guest artists and got a good reception as did his duo recording with Guy Davis, Juba Dance, in 2013.

You can find out more about this friendly fan of the blues on his website which is named after his band. - www.chickenmambo.com

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50 Years of Maspesos

When I was working in the fantastic harmonica museum in Trossingen, Germany, during the World Harmonica Festival 2017, I finally met up with an email friend, Werner Hotan, from Switzerland. Werner plays in a Harmonica Trio, Maspesos, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2016. Werner gave me a CD with 29 tracks drawn from their long history which demonstrates their ability and virtuosity. Here is a video which illustrates the 50 year history of this harmonica trio, which consists of Ernst Hotan (Lead), Werner Hotan (Bass) and Hans Hofer (Chord). 

This is the anniversary video - Perfidia by Maspesos

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Yusef Lateef

This was another surprise appearance by a harmonica. I came across Juba Juba on the CD, Introducing Yusef Lateef, and was impressed by the rough bluesy sound of the harmonica and the breathy flute on this atmospheric jazz recording from 1968.

I think the harmonica was played by the saxophonist, Buddy Lucas. 

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Home of the Blues

For many harmonica players the spiritual home is 1950s Chicago especially in their early days but then they usually dig down into the roots as they hear more and end up in the in the earlier radio and acoustic times. My journey was the other way round. I grew up with 12 bar blues played by traditional jazz bands like Dippermouth Blues by King Oliver, rock and roll like Roll over Beethoven by Chuck Berry and Ray Charles’ What I Say. 

I first came across blues harp in 1963 through the new UK popular blues bands like the Cyril Davies All Stars with Chicago Calling and the Rolling Stones -  Not Fade Away.

It was the work of Cyril Davies and Chris Barber, who helped launch the Rolling Stones and many other of the new British R&B groups, who put the spotlight back on Muddy Waters, Little Walter and the Chicago blues scene, where their inspiration came from. 

The rest is history....

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West Coast Jazz Harmonica Summit 2009

For most people it is not easy to get to hear top harmonica players, especially when they get together to play. Festivals are one option but there have been a few occasions where making music was the main purpose. One of these was the West Coast Jazz Harmonica Summit organised by Slim Heilpern (Slide Man Slim) in Santa Cruz, California, just before the 2009 SPAH Convention. He pulled together 8 top players from the area and they played a sold-out concert at the Digital Media Factory, which was captured on a superb DVD. You can get more information on the event’s website, and possibly a bargain! http://jazzharmonicasummit.com

Here is a link to a review I set up with Rob Paparozzi when I was editor of Harmonica World. http://jazzharmonicasummit.com/reviews.html

Here is a link to playlists of YouTube videos from the Summit 2009.

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Abaji and simple effective harmonica

Today, when I was tidying up my office, I came across a CD that I had not heard for a while. Abaji is a unique mixture of unusual acoustic string and wind instruments and percussion, with musical themes from around the Eastern Mediterranean - Oriental Blues. Then out of the mix on track 4, Nour el Nar, came a harmonica, the right sound in the right place. Very basic but what was wanted. Things don’t have to be complicated.

Abaji on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV4vnPjaq5M

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Who played that harmonica?

My ears are tuned to detect a harmonica when it is present in a recording. When I was listening to Desert Island Discs on BBC4 Radio on 6th Oct 2019 I was surprised when a simple diatonic solo leapt out of one of the music choices of Lin-Manuel Miranda. The track was Rosa Parks by OutKast, When I tried to find out who played the solo I ended up on Richard Taylor’s website, Harp Surgery, where he has a page with lots of examples and information about “Who Played That?”

Here is the official video of Rosa Parks by OutKast.

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Palomino Bros - harmonicas can be fun!

The members of the Palomino Bros (Gianandrea Pasquinelli and Gianluca Caselli) are regular Italian visitors to the NHL International Harmonica Festival, previously as the Armonauti Trio with Gianni Massarutto. They closed their set at the Saturday Festival on Aug 17, 2019 with an uproarious romp around the stage and through the audience. Harmonicas can be fun! You can see it here....

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Joe Powers Tango Performer

Joe Powers was one of the stars at H2019, the National Harmonica League International Festival at Hartpury, Gloucester (UK) in August 2019. Accompanied by Naoki Aoki (piano), he played a varied programme of Tango music including 9 de Julio - Nocturna - Mariposita - Flor de Lino - Oblivion - Tango Negro - Jacaranda en Flor - Naoko - Adios Nonino. Joe is well known for his concerts and appearances at the major Tango Dance Festivals around the world. It is a tribute to the years of training and experience he has invested in the music styles of Argentina. He can also dance the Tango!

Here is a link to one of his numbers at the festival.

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Ken Burns - Country Music

Ken Burns’ has produced some of the best music history/documentaries full of great interviews and music. The latest is a 16-hour documentary series, Country Music, which started on Sept. 15 on the Public Broadcasting Service in the USA and will be shown later on the BBC. In the opening of the series he discusses the story of DeFord Bailey, the black harmonica player who played on the essentially white Grand Ole Opry. When he did go on tour with the Opry, he was forced to find separate accommodations in a segregated South. Here is a video of his effortless harmonica style.

DeFord Bailey - Pan American Blues

Here is a recording I made of Joe Filisko celebrating DeFord Bailey’s induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Joe lost his voice on the transatlantic flight to London, so he sounds a bit ‘croaky’ - he still played great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw95vo82y9o

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Harmonica collection donated to the Horniman Museum

Rosamund and Rory picked up 43 of my harmonicas which I have donated to the musical instrument collection at the Horniman Museum in London. This shows them being indexed and packaged for their move to the museum. Harmonicas deserve to be included national collections of musical instruments!  

The donated harmonicas cover all the types of harmonica that are played in blues, traditional, classical, jazz and orchestral/group music.

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Horn From The Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story

The film “Horn from the Heart” has been shown in many cinemas in the USA and in some other counties - not in the UK at the moment. The DVD and Blu-Ray was released in the USA on Aug 17, 2019, and streaming is available though iTunes and Amazon. Here is the trailer on YouTube.