Musical Ramblings

The Long Road

I am walking down a road. In the beginning, there is heavy fog, and I can only see a tiny stretch of the road in front of me. I stumble on a few rocks at first but I quickly get back on my feet and soon enough I'm walking at a steady pace.

As I move forward, the fog lifts, or maybe my sight sharpens, I don't quite know. As a consequence, I begin to see a lot further ahead of me. I can see that the road goes on for much longer than I originally expected. At times, I stop walking and look back. I can still see the beginning of the road. I've made progress and that pleases me. But then I look forward again and I see that the road goes on for so long... I find that a little depressing at times...

I do not travel this road alone. Often I spot other travelers heading in the same direction. Sometimes, on sinuous parts of the road I manage to speak with those who are ahead of me. They tell me about the sights I have yet to see, and sometimes I wish I could just skip these parts of the road and hop along with them. But deep down I know that it's not worth cheating over. I will always know that I haven't traveled the road all the way if I start taking shortcuts.

There are travelers behind me also. Sometimes I'll let one or two catch up with me and we travel together for a while. Sometimes, in the sinuous parts, I cross people who are way behind and I try and encourage them with a few words of wisdom learnt along the way.

I reflect that some travelers move faster than others. They seem more dedicated, or perhaps they simply have more talent for walking. Once in a while, I meet up with a traveler who has stopped and settled down. I often think that they will be depressed or bitter about not having been able to travel further, but really most of them are happy. They stopped because they felt they had traveled enough for their own satisfaction, and simply don't wish to go further.

At first, the road was pretty straight, there was only one route so to speak. But as I move along, I realise that there are more and more alternate paths, and it's sometimes hard to choose which one to travel on. It's hit and miss mostly. Sometimes I choose a long route only to realise that it didn't get me much further down the road, sometimes I put a lot of effort on what looks like a hard path, and it really pays. But after a long while, I start to realise that the further I go, the steeper the road as a whole becomes, no matter which paths I choose. It takes me a lot more effort to cover the same distance than it used to.

There are distractions along the way. Some of the alternate routes end up being dead ends or winding paths that lead back to where I started. There are also many inns by the side of the road filled with laughter, seductive wenches, happy toddlers to entertain. So sometimes, I myself stop along the way. At first that made me feel guilty, but after a while I realise that I need those periods of rest to find confidence for the rest of the journey.

I can see the road all the way to the horizon now. I think I've finally figured out that there is no end to the road. No matter how much I walk down the long road, there will always be a longer stretch ahead of me. I have also realised that I will stop one day. There are those dedicated travelers who I believe will always keep walking until the day they die, and I truly admire that dedication. I think I don't have the willpower to do that myself. For now, I'm happy to continue to walk, but I know for a fact that I will settle down one day, and I'll still be happy with the journey I've made...

Greg Szlapczynski - La Part du Diable

This review should have been written a long time ago : La Part du Diable was released in early 2002. However, I find myself glad I took so long to get down to it. La Part du Diable is an unusual record, especially on the harmonica scene, and lies outside my usual field of musical investigation. My appreciation of it has therefore evolved over time and repeated listening, and I’m not sure that my opinion upon first discovery would have been the same as today. Since Greg Szlapczynski just opened his new website at www.gregzlap.com, I decided that was a good opportunity to finally review this record.

Greg Szlapczynski has acquired a small notoriety on the French harmonica scene by taking over Jean-Jacques Milteau’s harmonica school in Paris. For those who don’t know him, he is a young diatonic player whose sound is sharp and precise, and whose musical aspirations are vast. His first release Ternaire Madness flirted with blues, jazz and country but stayed well within the realm of the acceptable for the often close minded blues afficionados. His second album, Gregtime, was a live recording of a similar vein. On both these albums, the astute listener would distinguish, through certain of Greg’s compositions, a will to break down the ‘harmonica=blues’ straightjacket, but neither went as far as Greg seemed to want to go, most likely for fear of alienating his usual public.

With La Part du Diable, Greg has crossed that particular threshold, and the record is all the better for it. Not only does it resolutely walk down the jazz road, it does so with a significant electro touch : samples, effects of other noises abound. Which is not to imply that there is no band: drums, bass, keyboards, guitar, vocals and harmonica flirt around the electronic samples, who end up being complementary rather than dominant.

Stylewise, Greg’s jazz owes more to popular music than bop canon. La Part du Diable features a jazz waltz, (Valse à 30 ans), a spanish-y jazz tango (La Boîte), and several sweet melodies that are given the jazz treatment through arrangement rather than theme. The role of guitarist Pierre Durand is crucial here, through clever chord substitutions and a few improvisations that make him sound like a cross between BB King and John McLaughlin.

If you’re like me, the word ‘sample’ probably gives you an itch, so I guess I should expand on that. This album is not a collage of samples like Us3, St Germain or Moby may have done (with uneven artistic success), but rather an interaction between the band playing and the samples. Several intros start as samples and seemlessly move into the band playing, a number of evocative solos are enhanced by background samples, etc. Much as it surprised me, I love it.

From a harmonica point of view, La Part du Diable is by far Greg’s best effort to date, a superb demonstration of his talent both as writer and player. His playing here is undoubtedly more mature than on his previous albums, and he shows his capacity both for fiery lyricism, like on the opener 1962, and this rare talent of integrating silence in the music, as on Serve you well.

The magical thing about Greg’s playing is that it all sounds so easy until you grab your own instrument and attempt to replicate it. Then you understand that his delicate phrases use all the resources of the diatonic, vibratos, bends, overblows, with such finesse and fluidity that it all sounds ‘natural’. As an illustration, Rue des Lions is a moving guitar / harmonica duet with a simple industrial rhythm in the backdrop. It’s beautiful, haunting, and an absolute bitch to play.

As I grow older, I tend to favour records by talented artists who play what they want to play as opposed to those who don’t (even if they end up playing music that is more stylistically close to what I’m used to enjoying). It took me a while to fully appreciate La Part du Diable,  but it’s now my favourite of Greg’s albums. I listen to it often and every time, discover little things that I hadn’t noticed until then. That’s how rich it is…

I realise also how much guts it must have required for Greg to risk confusing his usual public with no guarantee of finding another audience, and his merit is all the greater. Amidst a harmonica scene that remains very self centered and often rehashes the same references, it’s refreshing to hear a young artists taking these risks and go for something new. Thank you Greg, I can’t wait for the next release !

Eventually

Since I wrote that review of Truth Be Told, I noticed that there was a relatively new live release by Blues Traveler called Live on the Rocks, which seems to be the CD of the same concert that's available on DVD under the name Live - Thinnest of Air. I'll have to get at least one of these eventually, probably the DVD considering the track listing is a lot more extensive.

When will I ever stop having this urge to buy more stuff ?

Anyway, I also wanted to thank Stephen and Paul for their comments. I'm unsure why they all appear under the same post, but they are heartwarming nonetheless. Stephen, rest assured that a lot of the issues you raise are issues I have as well, and I'll certainly be rambling about that soon enough.

I have a couple of reviews, some harp and some not harp lined up, and I might run another top 10 soon enough, if I can think of a good hook to get me started. Suggestions welcome !

Blues Traveler - Truth Be Told

It’s not unusual for a band to evolve over fifteen years of existence. In fact, it’s usually vital for a band to evolve over such a long period of time if they don’t want to simply crash and burn. Through the changes, they loose some fans, find some new ones and hopefully keep a vision and develop a sound that remains coherent. For a couple of years after Bobby Sheehan’s death, I really thought that BT were done for, not because I felt that the bassist was irreplaceable (as some fans apparently did) but simply because they didn’t seem to know where they were going anymore.

There is no doubt that the Blues Traveler of today is not the Blues Traveler of yesterday. The jamband tendencies that were audible in the first few albums are mostly gone, and even though the new songs stretch longer in the recent live release What You and I Have Been Through, it’s still not the full-blown jamming of the nineties as exemplified in Live from the Fall. The quirky, youthful feel that transpired in the early days has also been toned down, although it’s not completely gone. To some of the early fans, these are signs that Blues Traveler itself has lost it. Until recently I would have had to agree with them. I wasn’t impressed by Bridge, although the circumstances around the album’s inception excused a lot, but more importantly, I was pretty much disappointed in What You and I Have Been Through, and live albums, to me, are the true measure of a band.

Truth Be Told, the latest Blues Traveler studio album has made me change my mind. It hasn’t dethroned my favourite BT studio album, Four, but it comes close, even though it’s very different in feel. Four to me, is the studio album in which BT has the most coherent sound. Before that, they were a bit too wild for coherence, and after that, they started experimenting with a new sound that never really got nailed down. Truth Be Told also has a strong, coherent sound, albeit very different.

There has always been a friendly, pop edge to Blues Traveler, and that’s still there. None of the songs are insanely out there and you could imagine hearing most of them, if not all of them on radio. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and unlike Bridge, Truth Be Told doesn’t sound like it was designed for radio airplay. Blues Traveler on this album are a confident funky rock band, and more importantly, they are a band again. They’re working together and you can feel it. New bassist Tad Kinchla and keyboard player Ben Wilson are now fully integrated in the sound, and they contribute to this new sound rather than perpetuate an old sound that wasn’t their own. Additionally, guitarist Chan Kinchla who was always a bit disconnected in my opinion seems more together with the band now.

The record starts with a couple of rockers including the excellent Eventually built on a catchy yet odd guitar riff. This is where Popper demonstrates that his harp playing has also evolved. It’s less rushed and manic, capable of more nuances. His solo here is very relaxed and ends with him repeating the first line of the chorus’ melody with a great upper end vibrato. Very powerful, but without the furiousness that previously seemed unavoidable. And this is another good surprise of this album. Popper seems to have resumed pushing the envelope as a harmonica player, and with this comes a greater musical maturity. Here and there he still lets it rip, but it’s now a lot more efficient, because it stands out.

Following eventually is a ballad called Sweet and Broken. Blues Traveler have often been guilty of leaning way too far in smooch territory when writing and playing ballads, but this one keeps enough of a rock edge not to sound too corny. Popper’s harp solo is light and pretty. Nice. My Blessed Pain, which follows, epitomises the funky rock sound I was talking about. The bass and guitar are definitely funk, but the choruses are slightly heavier, with more of a rock feel. Incidentally, Ben Wilson contributes very tasty piano accompaniment here, and the guitar and drums break over the third verse is the kind of thing that really wakes you up when listening to an album. Again, great stuff.

And that’s what most of the album is like. Good, solid, friendly rock, with quality lyrics and a tight band that knows what it’s doing and does it well. The sound they aim for is perhaps less crispy than it used to be (lots of guitar fuzz and similar effects on the harmonica) but it works well. Less individual soloing and more thought-out arrangements. So I would have liked a little more edge and maybe a little more jamming, but on the whole, I cannot but appreciate. Blues Traveler is a band again, and I hope they do good with this new lease on life.

They could start by touring Europe, at last. That’s be nice, I’d be able to see how this new sound stands live. Mind you, there’s a new DVD out as well. I might have to check that out. I’ll let you know !

Some kind of pressure

Well, there it is, for the whole world to see...

I can't hide behind words anymore, there are a couple of videos of the concert I mentioned in a previous post on the net !

ON the night we played, there was a guy from the Chateauvieux townhall there who apparently filmed the whole concert. He's made a couple of very short clips (about 30 seconds each) available on the website of Chateauvieux.

The first clip (Morceau n°1) is the middle solo of our cover version of John Lee Hooker's "Baby Lee", bang in the middle of the harmonica solo. You can judge for yourself. The second clip (Morceau n°2) is the beginning of Robert Johnson's "Come on in my kitchen", with no harp and only a little bit of my voice (but lots of Rolf's, and his great guitar playing). You'll have to wait some more to see if I can sing !

As for the rest, well, you can appreciate my girth, you can wonder why I wore a shabby T-shirt when my two acolytes were dressed sharp, and you can look at the great setting !

Help Me

One of the things that beginning harmonica players often ask is "Help me choose harmonica records to listen to ?". The answer to that question is unfortunately too often "Anything by Sonny Boy Williamson 2, Little Walter or Big Walter". Despite the fact that these are three stellar players, not only is the answer not helpful (I challenge anyone to find a consistantly good and well recorded album under 'Big Walter'), it also formats the wannabe players into a harmonica=blues mold that is very restrictive.

Hence the list you will find on the side. It presents 10 albums featuring harmonica in a variety of genres like blues, rock, hip-hop, jazz and world. In my opinion, these are all exceptional albums in their own right, and the harmonica in all of these albums adds significantly to the music. The only voluntary omission here is Classical Music, mostly because I know too little about the classical harmonica pieces to seriously recommend anything.

I'm finding out about the capabilities of my blog provider as I go, and alhtough their list feature is really neat, the automatic amazon links don't always point to the right album. I'll query their customer service about how to force the link, but in the meantime, there are two errors in the links, namely :

The G. Love album linked is the latest release, 'Hustle', but not the one I reviewed, Philadelphonic. I will be reviewing Hustle soon though, it's a great album too...

The Muddy Waters album linked seems to be a special edition of some kind, which is the shame since the regular version of Hard Again costs less than $7.00 !

Major Bash

Let me tell you a bit more about that harmonica seminar. Chritsophe and I met when he decided to organise a harmonica festival near where he lives. I played there the first year with my guitarist and double-bassist of that time, Patrice. In fact that was our one and only gig ever, but that's another story.

Anyway, ever since, Christophe and I have ran these seminars roughly every six months and they are organised around two sessions of work, a formal one in the morning and an informal one in the afternoon. In the evening, there's a harmonica concert, where I usually play alongside musicians I like and enjoy. It's my guilty pleasure, because these days I hardly ever get the chance to gig in between an intense job and two young kids that i don't wish to dump in my wife's arms too often.

Last Saturday was the fourth Harmonica Seminar we've run. Originally, we expected about 15 students of all levels, roughly in line with the previous editions. On the whole we tend to cater more for people who are still in a learning phase than for people who are in a perfection phase, so even the 'experienced' level we propose would seem relatively easy for those of you readers who have been playing a long time.

Christophe always does a great job of advertising these Harmonica Days in the local press and radio station. The response was overwhelming, and we ended with 36 students in the end. As the date grew closer, I had to reorganise the lessons and recruit two additional teachers, since there was no way I was going to manage 36 students on my own. I contacted Xavier Laune, a great diatonic player both with the Mojo Band, one of the most interesting blues outfits in France, and Distant Shores, an Irish music formation. I've known Xavier a long time and it was clear to me that he had both the expertise and the humility to make a good teacher.

Finding a second teacher was tougher, since my usual suspects (Xavier Lanusse-Cazalé and David Chalumeau) were both unavailable. Christophe and I called half a dozen harp players I knew from reputation but had never met and explained the situation. In the end, we recruited Emmanuel Frangeul, the harp player from the French blues band Malted Milk, who seemed to be both eager and articulate enough about his playing to make a good teacher.

Meanwhile, I recruited two musicians for the evening gig, Stéphane Barral, a most excellent double bass player who I'd already worked with and singer-guitarist Rolf Lott who I only knew by reputation (he plays in a blues band called New Chump Change). We built a blues repertoire through exchanges of CDs, e-mails and occasional mp3s (for the self-penned tunes), but rehearsal time was limited since we would only be able to play together a couple of hours on the Friday and a couple of hours on the Saturday.

I drove down to Tours, where Stéphane lives for the Friday afternoon rehearsal. I picked Xavier Laune up on the way and we had a pleasant trip, listening to a lot of music, both with harp (those old Storyville recordings from Sonny Boy Williamson 2) and without (the latest live from Derek Trucks) and getting reacquainted after not having spent any significant time together for the last couple of years.

In Tours, I found out that Rolf only had an hour or so to rehearse, since he had managed to find himself a gig for the Friday night, so we did it quick and dirty and eliminated a couple of potential covers that turned out to be too difficult to put together in such limited time. The reassuring thing was that the sound obviously worked even if the songs weren't all completely in place from the get-go. Stéphane is sort of a progressive player, influenced by jazz as well as blues and as willing to break down barriers as I am. Rolf is more respectful of tradition, but it turned out that everyone was happy to find a middle ground.

Then we hopped back in the car with Xavier and drove an hour up to St Aignan for a meal at Christophe's. It happens that Jean-Jacques Milteau was staying in the area for a couple of days (he has family in the vicinity) so he and Marie (his companion) were invited to the meal as well. It was very pleasant, both for the food and the company, and there was surprisingly little talk about harmonica for a meal despite at least four harp players around the table.

I managed to hit bed relatively early night, after a quick meeting with some of the participants back at the Sports Center where we all slept. Some had come from really far away : Hendaye (by the Spanish border), Nice (by the Italian border), Lyon or Nantes. I was amazed at that and thought it boded well for the next day's activities. "If they are that motivated, it cannot go wrong", I thought. Emmanuel also arrived late in the evening, so we had a quick chat on how to organise the morning course and what to focus on.

The next day, everybody got up early and we all met up for a breakfast and group assessment at the Chateauvieux Cultural Center. Chateauvieux is a small village just next to St Aignan, and the place we were in was previously a Church and looked darn cool ! We split the students into three groups, 15 beginners (including three kids) with me, about 10 intermediates with Emmanuel and the experienced bunch with Xavier. Emmanuel's class focused on positions and Xavier's on playing minor tunes and improvisation. Christophe had organised eveything, and we immediately started the morning classes. He's the guy in red talking in the photo, and I'm the guy in blue next to him (bleary eyed and looking sleepy).

I took my group of beginners to the castle above the village, who happens to be an old people's home in which Christophe works, so we had access to one of the conference rooms. One thing I should mention is that when we advertise lessons for beginners, we assume that the person has never played a harmonica before. In fact, quite often, we have retired participants who come over with their tremolo harps.

Now, 15 students is a lot for a single two-hour lesson, so I tried to be as informative as I could while letting them discover things about the instrument for themselves. As I like to say, the challenge with beginners is not so much the technical side of things as infusing them with a passion for the instrument. How do you do that ? Well, you need to first make them feel what can be done with it (playing a few short tunes in various styles helps), where the instrument comes from (a bit of history), how it works physically, and then get them playing. And you need to be passionate yourself.

Our melody for the day was Yankee Doodle, since it requires only one bend when played in second position, which allowed me to finish the morning lesson on bending and get them to try it. As I usually say, the first technical step to playing the diatonic harmonica is blowing and drawing in one hole only. They all practised the tune outside the castle in order to focus on this specific aim. Single notes aren't actually that easy to get out and two among the students didn't manage it that morning.

The others all tried bending, and I was quite pleased that about five of them managed to consistently bend either the 4 draw or the 2 draw by the end of the lesson. I finished by letting them ask any question they wanted, from whether to learn how to read music to how to clean your harmonicas. On the whole, I think they were all pleased with that first contact with the instrument, although a couple of them were frustrated with their inability to bend. I kept telling them to be patient, that Rome wasn't built in a day, but really I know just how they feel, it was like that for me as well in the early days...

We had a huge canteen-like lunch prepared by some of the members' of Christophe's association, which was another opportunity for students to talk amongst themselves and ask questions to the teachers. A few of the experienced players also have very good advice for beginners, so all in all the meal is a great opportunity to exchange and consolidate what has already been seen.

After the meal, the groups resumed. Since it was bright and sunny, I took my group outside in the grass and again went for a very open format. Understandably, a lot of the questions revolved around bending, but they also asked me different tunes to practise different things. I tabbed out Beethoven's 9th for them, Sakura and the theme to the movie Godfather. This last one was way beyond their level since it's 3rd position with lots of successive bends, but I figured if they wanted to have that as an aim, why not ?

In the middle of the afternoon, Jean-Jacques arrived for an impromptu masterclasse. He had kindly agreed to pop 'round and spend a couple of hours with us. JJ is a star of the French harmonica world, so if you want to figure the students' reactions you have to imagine Kim Wilson or Carey Bell casually walking into a harmonica seminar in the US. Christophe and I were slightly worried about the potential for 'raving fanboy' behaviour but all the students remained very civil despite their enthusiasm, and it all went really well.

I took the opportunity to slip away and rehearse in the kitchen with Stéphane and Rolf for the evening concert. We finalised the setlist as well, and finished laying down the three songs I'd written for the occasion. The repertoire was mostly blues with a couple of forays into more jazzy stuff and a controversial Elvis cover. The first set was planned with 15 songs and the second set with 14, so a good three hours of playing.

After a not-so-quick set up in which Stéphane blew up his bass amp and we had to find an alternate solution real quick, we sat down for a nice meal before going on stage around nine o'clock. In addition to the twenty or so students who stayed for the evening gig, there were about 50 paying tickets for the evening, which made for a nicely packed room.

To be fair, our first set wasn't top notch. Even though we had an excuse for lack of rehearsal, we didn't manage to finid a groove and were always on edge from start to finish. The fact that there were many songs I didn't know the lyrics to and that I had trouble reading my cheat-sheets with the lightin didn't help. Thankfully, halfway through, a nice soul noticed my plight and discreetly set up a stand for my sheets.

I had decided to write some lyrics in French for that gig. Blues is a music that stirs emotion, and although that emotional charge comes from the music itself, it also comes from the lyrics that are often simple yet touching or darkly humorous. Playing blues in English to a French crowd, you can't help but feel that they are only experiencing half of the thing, which was why I wrote three tunes (well, four actually, but we only played three) for the occasion. During the first set, I sang the third of these, a song called 'C'est le Diable' (It's the Devil), the story of a man who takes the devil as an excuse for his criminal actions. I thought it was funny in a cynical way, but the audience didn't laugh...

During the intermission, we discussed things with Rolf and Stéphane and slashed a couple of slightly 'unstable' pieces including two of my self-penned (an instrumental and a song), but it also built confidence for the second set. From the get-go, things worked better, the collective sound was more coherent, and we finally fell into that elusive groove. From then on, it was nothing but fun.

My second composition (in French) was supposed to be one of those tragic minor slow blues, desperate and all, but I knew from rehearsal that there was an unexpected (by me at least) comic effect. Indeed, they did laugh, so although it wasn't the impact I had originally envisaged, at least there was some response to the lyrics. A couple of people complimented me on that one later on, so I guess I'll continue in that direction and try to write better stuff for the future.

We also invited guests on that set, Julien a very good local harp player, Xavier, and Emmanuel. It was the first time I heard Emmanuel live (I knew what to expect from the other two) and he played an interesting solo with a deliberate emphasis on the breathy sound of the diatonic. It was a very nice and impressive effect and although I suspect it would get tedious if used too often, it was a great concept for a one off contribution.

At the end of the second set, the audience called us back for an encore (always nice) and Stéphane suggested we unplug everything and just play full acoustic in the audience. So we walked down the stage and played a couple of songs there. The audience loved it, Emmanuel and Xavier joined me for three part rythmic harps, and it was a blast.

I finished the day exhausted, but very very happy. A lot of the beginners were hooked and the more experienced players all seemed to have received what they wanted out of the Seminar. Also, I had a blast playing with Rolf and Stéphane, and I hope we can find some way to make it a more regular thing. Rolf's singing is real nice and soulful, and his guitar playing is very very impressive as far as blues guitarists go. he's both able to stay true to tradition and yet think out of the box on occasion. On some of the slow blues we played, he really shined and sent a couple of shivers down my spine. Okay, so I'm a sucker for slow blues, but still... As for Stéphane, I already knew his worth, and I simply adore his playing. That phat bass sound, the sliding notes, the little ornementations, it's all good. I like to think that the semi-acoustic formula (without a drummer) actually allows him to stretch out more than he does with the other bands I've heard him play with. Apparently, there was a guy who Christophe knows who videoed the whole concert, so we may be able to extract a four or five song demo out of the sound track...

As for the rest, we'll be running a couple of teaching sessions during the next St Aignan festival in early May, but the next full fledged Seminar will be next September. I'm looking forward to it. It feels like Christophe's hard work at promoting these harmonica events and the success of the events themselves have created a real dynamic and it's really exciting being part of that...

On the road again...

Last week-end was a real defining harmonica moment for me. For the last 8 years or so, I've been playing diatonic harmonica fairly seriously, both practising and playing live. I've also been giving lessons and organising seminars, getting quite involved with the French harmonica scene.

I started a web magazine in French and English called Planet Harmonica about five years back. There haven't been many updates in recent months, but it's my hope that the magazine has contributed to bridging the gap between European and US players and artists, increasing the visibility and awareness of both communities. I have been greatly helped recently by Laurent Vigouroux who took many of the day to day management tasks of the website off my hands and contributed great content as well, so although I'm less involved, I'm confident that the spirit and quality of the content will continue.

These days, however, I find more and more that the people I want to talk to about harmonica aren't those who already know about it, but those who know little or nothing about it. Like any community, but perhaps more than some others, the harmonica community is somewhat self-centered, and I miss the spark in the eye of the curious beginner.

For the last two years, I've been organising one-day harmonica seminars about twice a year with Christophe Minier a great guy and enthusiastic harmonica fan. Which brings us back to last week-end, which was the fourth such event. It was an astounding success with over 30 students attending including 15 total newbies. Driving back from St Aignan (a lovely town 150 miles south of Paris where the event took place) I started thinking about many things harmonica related and I decided to write down and share those thoughts in a blog.

Which is what you're reading now. I won't talk about harmonicas only, although chances are they will be a big part of the posts, but since I also find myself listening to a lot of music that doesn't feature harmonica and thinking about many unrelated things on my drives back from work, you may occasionally hear about my other hobbies, my family and total random topics.

Hence "Ramblings"...