It is often remarked that there are few, too few female harmonica players. I've never quite figured out why, the only one I ever maneged to see live was the amazing Annie Raines, as powerful as she is small. So it's nice to mention a new kid on the block : Sandra Vazquez. Sandra is from Argentina and plays heavy blues either with her own band or alongside other musicians. From what's available on her website, she may not be the one who will revolutionise the instrument, but her playing is confident and powerful. Let's keep an ear on her playing !
« August 2006 | Main | October 2006 »
The Wood Brothers : Ways not to Loose
Some of you are starting to know me, sometimes I buy records on impulse, and based on not very much : the photo at the back of a CD, the presence of musican I know (or just have heard of), a short snippet heard at one of those listening booths in Virgin. Anyway, the other day, I was buying the latest batch of releases at Gibert, a large record store in Paris, and I stumble upon a record with a green cover by the Wood Brothers entitled Ways Not to Loose.
Out of curiosity, I check out the back and it turns out that one of these Woods is Chris Wood, of Medeski Martin & Wood fame. MMW is an avant-garde jazz-rock trio that I've never managed to get into despite many attempts. So why would I but this record, you will ask ? I don't know. The fact that Wood plays double bass, for sure... Not much else, I couldn't listen to it in the shop.
I don't regret it, it's a beautiful record. It's blues with a touch of folk or folk with a touch of blues, depending on which side of the fence you stand, it's sober and sparse, just guitar, double bass, an occasional discreet drumming, and once in a while an odd instrument like banjo or harmonica.
Oliver Wood's voice probably weighs a lot in my appreciation of this record. It's quite high pitched, a little broken, moving, atypicial. It's also beautiful and accurate, more than just an added bonus. The bassist brother sometimes helps him along with unison or harmonies. Wood's guitar playing is sans frills, indeed there are very few solos in the usual sense, just occasional short instrumental breaks or bridges taken by the guitar or the double bass.
The double-bass. Sweet, gorgeous, mellow, supple fibrous double-bass. When you think that Chris Wood is as hardcore a jazz bassist as there is, the exercice is all the more impressive and poignant. Here, the double bass is not a backing instrument, indeed it's quite high in the mix, and it's not limited to harmonically poor rhythmic patterns. And yet, there's no harmonic wildness either. Wood uses a rich yet deliberately limited subset of his vocabulary to add colour, enhance moods, break rhythms, and it sounds so simple. Simply delicious, in fact.
An adjective that springs to mind listening to this record is langourous. There's a good mix of melancholy pieces and more uptempo ones, but even the 'rocking' numbers have a sweet relaxed feel to them. A little bit of swamp without the grease, maybe. It's easy to imagine Ways not to Loose being listened to (or even played) in a rocking chair, which doesn't preclude occasional foot tapping, of course.
Harmonically, Oliver Wood's songs are not set in a I IV V cast, or other blues progressions, and yet you're never far from there. I'm pretty sure blues fans will feel at home. The lyrics are pretty cool too, with a kind of post-modern melancholy to them. Tried and Tempted really gives me the chills, with its relentless slow beat led by a little guitar scratching and the double basse pushing forcard, a sad song of amourous temptation.
Anyway, enough rambling. It's a very very cool record, and I heartily recommend it to fans of acoustic music, blues, folk, roots, Americana. If you're into that, Ways not to Loose is right up your alley. You can listen to some excerpts on the Wood Brothers website.
Interview : Matt & Scott of The Hetrick Harmonica Company
Q : Hello Matthew ! Could you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us maybe what your harmonica background is ?
A : Hello Ben. I am here with Scott Hetrick, the “brains” behind the Hetrick Harmonica Case. I have been playing/teaching harmonica for 12 years. My website is www.atlantaharmonicalessons.com – obviously I live in Atlanta. I met Scott through a friend and he expressed his interested in taking harmonica lessons. We worked together for a few months and then started talking about harmonica inventions. One day, he showed me his invention (the Hetrick Harmonica Case) and we decided to start this company.
Scott is a mechanic and self-taught engineer. He lives in Snellville. He is very passionate about learning “how things are made” and he is the most creative person I have ever met. He comes up with all kinds of inventions and gadgets. It is pretty amazing. He has invented transmission tools, guitar devices, and many other things. Some of which are already on the market. Essentially, Scott’s specialty is creating tools and gadgets that help complete a task. For example, he invented a special tool for working on Chrysler transmissions which is being marketed all over the world. His website for that is www.the604tool.com. Scott has also been very helpful with teaching me how to fix, repair and customize harmonicas. I was not very good at manipulating metals and making modifications and Scott is very good at this.
Q : So you're launching a new company called Hetrick Harp Co. Can you tell us more about it ?
A :
“The Hetrick Harmonica Company's mission is to create specialized products and enhancements for the intermediate and professional harmonica player. Instead of trying to create homemade "tweaks" and remedies, you can rely on us to create solutions that will eliminate the little annoyances of harmonicas and harmonica gear so you can focus more on your playing!”
That is the line from our website…www.harpcase.com. Essentially, we are attempting to make our little contribution to the harmonica by creating unique devices and gadgets to help harmonica players-beginner to professional.
It all started when I complained to Scott about my Fender Mississippi case. I complained to him that the harmonicas slide around in the case and that while I like how it looked, I wish it was designed differently. Scott agreed, and mentioned that he didn’t like the foamy taste of the Hohner case. A month later he showed up with the Hetrick Harmonica case. The case is our “flagship”, starter product. An idea to help us get known in the market place. We are hoping to come up with an entire line of our own harmonica gear for the market.
We also currently sell a harmonica paint pen that makes it easy to write the keys on your harps and we are a reseller for Jim Mcbride’s amazing bottle of blues microphone and little smokey amp. I actually use his microphone when I gig. It is amazing. He was also a former student of mine.
Q : What is the philosophy behind the company and which products do you see yourself delivering in the future ??
A : Basically, we really try to listen to the harmonica players’ needs and invent products that will help them. Other products we are developing is a larger version of the Hetrick Harp case for professionals and road warriors. This case will hold 50 or so diatonics, chromatics, microphones and mike stand attachment and much more. We would also like to create some products focused more on the chromatic players. I don’t think enough things are done for them.
We are also looking at making some special harmonica tuning kits/tools. Not to downplay what is already out there, but I have never been fully satisfied with the toolkits on the market. I have spent the last 2 years learning to fix, repair harps and purchasing little tools and also having Scott create some special items for me. We would like to put out some tools that will make it easier for harmonica players to replace reeds, retune harps etc.
We are also “prototyping” a special device that will help beginners get a tighter cup with a bullet style mic and will help advanced players get a better cup sound for a chromatic. Any level of player would be able to use this device. I have been using it with my super 64 chromatic and the sound is amazing. It allows you to relax your grip and you can a distorted sound that is just not possible with the human hands. Stay tuned for that.
We are also looking at creating harmonica combs with different materials. Those are a few things we are working on.
Q : Your first product launched is this Hetrick Harmonica Case. Can you tell us more about it ?
A : The Hetrick harmonica case is the first customizeable, interchangeable harmonica case. We are trying to find a better way to market it to the public. We are actually going to make some videos that will be posted on our website soon. When you see it in person you won’t believe it. Basically, dimensions wise (11.5 x 7.5 x 4.5) it is the smallest case on the market and it holds more harmonicas that any other case (up to 42 harmonicas). The dividers that hold the harmonicas are in place are made from lexan, bullet proof glass. They can be moved, switched around, altered, cut.
Basically, you can customize the case to hold what you want. A first for the market place. For example, my case holds 29 diatonics, a 12 hole chromatic and a slot for my microphone, smokey amp and a cord. The inside of the case is very sanitary, the high density impact foam inside does not leave any after taste or debris in your harps. The best part? No more shuffling or moving harps. We also can customize the metal nameplate on the case for professionals or an extra fee. Jimi Lee is an official endorser and we engraved his logo on the case. I attached some pictures for you.
Q : When was it officially launched and how well has it been received so far ?
A : We started selling cases a couple of months ago, but our official website launch date and show and tell was at SPAH. We could not attend, but we sent Jimi Lee his custom Hetrick case (holds 42 harps) and he showed it off at SPAH. We received a good number of orders after SPAH. According to him the response was very good. He compared it to other larger cases and they could not hold as many harmonicas! I think it is really starting to catch on. The 24 harp and 42 harp versions are actually cheaper than the Fender case so I think it should do well. We tried to make it affordable as well. Michael Peloquin, Chris Michalek also use the cases.
Q : Do you work with pro harmonica players when designing your products, and if yes, what do they contribute to the designs ?
A : We consider a lot of factors when we design products. We are both harmonica players so we have a good understanding of what players might like, but we also do a lot of research. I co-founded a harmonica club here in Atlanta and I run some ideas by them as well as by Harp-L users. I do as much market research as possible to try to create the best product. Jimi Lee has also been very helpful.
Q : Finally, where can readers interested in your products see them and/or purchase them ?
A : www.harpcase.com !
Well, thanks a lot for your time. Readers can expect a review of the case in the coming days !
I'd rather drink Muddy Waters
In my day job, I wonder about how services like Youtube can show some of the stuff they do. You know, digital rights and all.
When I get home, I sometimes praise them to high heavens. Today, I stumbled on a huge, huge documentary on Muddy Waters. Because of format constraints on Youtyube, it's split in 7 parts. It starts weird, feels like there's a little missing there, but the whole thing is just amazing, with many, many artists we know and love (Charlie Musselwhite, Willie Smith, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Paul Oscher,...) talking about the man who defined modern blues (in my opinion).
Anyway, the documentary is apparently entitled Playin' for the Devil and here are the links you need :
- Playin' for the Devil part 1
- Playin' for the Devil part 2
- Playin' for the Devil part 3
- Playin' for the Devil part 4
- Playin' for the Devil part 5
- Playin' for the Devil part 6
- Playin' for the Devil part 7
As an added bonus, here's a link to an early film of Got My Mojo Working with, I believe, a young Paul Oscher on harp. Wow !
New Scrapomatic Album Announced !
You may remember my glowing review of Scrapomatic's first album entitled, funnily enough, Scrapomatic. Great duo turned band for that particular record, navigating the waters between blues, soul and rock. After three long years of waiting, their second album Alligator Love Cry is finally announced for release on October 10th. Rest assured I will get hold of a copy and tell you about it. Assuming you don't know the first one, it's a great time to rediscover it, and if you happen to know and love it, then you may acquire a copy of this new one even before I do, transatlantic snail mail being what it is...
