Toots is, in my humble opinion, both the best and the worst thing that happened to Jazz harmonica. The best because his music is wonderful, and also because he gave the instrument visibility and credibility in a musical milieu where no concessions are made. The worst because he was so influential that very few players today have managed to step out of his shadow. To some extent, they all sound like Toots, although he can hardly be blamed for it.
That's one of the reasons that I don't listen to much harmonica jazz. Another one is that chromatic players have this tendency to focus on the pretty and mellifluous, "between a smile and a tear" aspect of the instrument. If you read me regularly, you know that I'm not much of a fan of romantic jazz, and this probably explains that...
So figure my astonihsment, nay, my utter joy at the discovery of an entire musical tradition of pre-Toots jazz, players who, for the most part, were not influenced by other harmonica players. Of course, I knew of Larry Adler, but I didn't associate him with jazz as much as I associated him with vaudeville, perhaps wrongly. But Harmonica Swing presents us with many more players, some of whom sadly faded from the limelight in the late 40s, despite their obvious and amazing talent.
Like with all Frémeaux compilations, the production quality of Harmonica Swing is top-notch, and the liner notes are nearly as exciting as the music they describe. I learned, for example, that during WW2 and the late 40s, the chormatic harmonica was nearly as frequent in French gipsy swing bands as the accordion. For some unclear reason, as the 40s moved into the 50s, the tendency died down and a great musical tradition was if not lost, at least obfuscated.
Apart from the 40 or so pages liner notes, what you get in this compilation is 41 tracks spread over 2 CDs, featuring harmonica stars of both the European and the American Swing era. So alongside Larry Adler and Borrah Minevitch who American listeners will be familiar with, you will find many recordings by Dany Kane, Max Geldray, Hubert Giraud, the Dupont-Durand Quintette, etc. Those who already have many recordings of Adler and Minevitch can be reassured though : only 13 tracks of the total 41 feature these two, so there's a definite wealth of material here even for the afficionados of the swing era.
What makes this recording and the whole style of play that it showcases interesting to me is first of all that the music in general is lively and exciting, and also that the harmonica is used in a way that I haven't heard in any post-toots jazz. First of all, the music: it's mostly acoustic accompaniments, with a couple of guitars and a double-bass, as well as the occasional clarinet and drums. The European part mostly features small formations in the gypsy jazz tradition, and indeed there are couple of tunes here with the Hot Quintette in accompaniment. French listeners will also enjoy a few of the earliest recordings of Henri Salvador as jazz guitarist (and a rather competent one too...)
As fits the musical genre, the focus of the harmonica playing is therefore not on the lyrical, the long trailing notes, the sweet vibratos, but rather on a nervous and very rhythmic approach with lots of chording, short notes and fast runs. The two most interesting players here from my point of view, in addition to Larry Adler, are Max Geldray and Dany Kane.
Listening to tracks like Dany Smokes Virginie or the cover of Parker's Ornithology, the difference between vaudeville and jazz is readily apparent in Dany Kane's playing. His inventivity in improvising matches his virtuosity, and there's a definite direction in his playing: he's in charge of the instrument and not the other way round. Max Geldray is closer to the vaudeville tradition, but with a flair and a rhythmic sense that's really worth hearing.
So, 41 tracks of chromatic harmonica swing, mostly with acoustic accompaniments or harmonica ensembles, wonderfully restored even though some are very old. I understand that each individual's tolerance to old recordings is different, but despite being sometimes picky about the quality of scratchy old recordings, I found Harmonica Swing utterly listenable from an audio point of view. The liner notes are great and informative, and the cover is beautiful; what more could you want? Well, according to Art Daane's comments on amazon.com, some of the tracks are very rare and I presume therefore that they appear for the first time on CD.
Admittedly, like every thematically strong collection, Harmonica Swing can get a tad repetivite, but you don't have to listen to the two CDs in a row, and it's very pleasant and digestible in small chunks as well. Also, it's a great first step into a nearly forgotten and sometimes disregarded harmonica tradition that many modern jazz players could do worse than revisit, in my opinion. I suspect that it only takes a liking for early jazz to enjoy this collection, and obviously if you're a harmonica enthusiast in addition, you'll most likely be thrilled!
I first met Pat Missin at a blues workshop in the UK in 1997. Until then, I'd been learning on my own, and meeting him opened up my harmonica world in ways that are still tangible today. Over the following years, we met once more, he repaired many of my harps, including some really vintage models, and we corresponded a lot.
