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You're going to start thinking I'm stalling with the end of my St Aignan 2007 review - and you may not be entirely wrong - but I had to share this as soon as I found out about it. The whole Olivier Ker Ourio & Sylvain Luc concert from the closing night has been videoed and shared on Youtube!
Enjoy a moment of music and magic!
I especially recommend their cover of Gainsbourg's La Javanaise at the opening of Part 3.
I've been a big fan of G Love and Special Sauce for over a decade, and I saw them live twice. While there are many bootlegs of the band available on the net, there's never been an official live release, and I could never figure out why. I still can't, but at least there will be, and soon!
On July 31st, Brushfire Records will release A Year and a Night with G. Love and Special Sauce, a DVD featuring an hour long documentary of a decade of touring around the world, 10 live video tracks and a full-length live CD.
I'm excited as hell! This is going to be my summer treat! Check out the trailer!
While you wait for that long coming final installment of my Saint Aignan 2007 write-up, here a re a few pictures of the gig I did in one of the bars on the Saturday afternoon. I only have the three, and none of them feature the musicians, hopefully that will show up soon.
This is me blowing (or sucking, depending on your point of view). You can see a little bit of Kevin, the amazing guitarist I was playing with, on the right. Man was it hot and sweaty in there...
This is me and Joe Powers playing Horace Silver's The Preacher. It was a really fun, swinging moment. I look positively scruffy next to Joe's quiet sophistication. How does he do it ?
This is me with Paul Lassey (left), a great player and great friend, and Christophe Minier, the festival's organiser (middle). We were doing some blues standard (was it I'm Ready, possibly ?), Paul went totally bonkers, got the audience singing, and everything just went wild. It was great fun!
Ever since I discovered the Dirty Dozen Brass Band I've been excited about the sound of the barytone sax. Obviously, it's a little bit silly to be thrilled about a sound and not the music it's used for, and I guess it's a whole anyway, but the lower register of the bary sax just moves me. A couple of years back I went to see Duke Robillard live in Paris and there was a barytone sax player with him, Doug James. I really enjoyed his playing, and purchased his album Blow Mr Low. My favourite track on that album is a slow jazz number called Blues for Leo, and the sleevenotes mentioned 50s barytone plater Leo Parker as the Leo in the title. Ever since, I've been looking for music by Leo Parker, but never found it here in France.
A couple of weeks back - in London - I stumbled upon Leo Parker's Blue Note debut Let Me Tell You 'bout it. Turns out this 1961 release was to be his swansong too; Leo Parker passed away four months after recording that album. His death propelled him straight from future landmark jazz artist status to that of obscure oldie. Listening to this album, I'm pretty sure you'll agree it's a shame.
The instrumentation and feel of this record is quite typical of Blue Note releases of the day: drums, double-bass and piano form a discreet but swinging rhythm section, and one or two other horns contribute harmonies and/or choruses. Overall, Let Me Tell You 'bout it has a relaxed feel to it and it's very accessible jazz with deep roots in blues and church gospel. There's a variety of pieces, some uptempo like TCTB and the opener Glad Lad, both featuring really nice harmonies where the particular tone of the bary really shines.
Probably the defining track on that record however is Blue Leo, a slow and increadibly poignant blues where Leo plays over an extremely sparse background laid by the rhythm section. While he doesn't abuse the kick in the lower register (which I tend to like, did I tell you) his tone is pure velvet, just stunningly beautiful. I understand where Doug James got the inspiration for Blues for Leo!
Anyway, Let Me Tell You 'bout it really is a gem, and is a great addition to my collection of 60s jazz. I strongly recommend this album if you're a jazz or blues fan who likes a powerful tone, great sounding harmonies and swing.
I'm not much good for anything these days but posting videos. Too much hassle at work, not enough time in the day, you know how it. The new podcast is nearly ready, I need a few hours to finalise. In the meantime, I wanted to share an amazing video of chromatic player Laurent Maur with percussionist Orlando Poleo. I saw these guys live in St Aignan last year and loved it. The video captures the energy really well. Enjoy!
I only ever saw John Wedemeyer with Charlie Musslewhite in the late 90s (but twice) and I only know of one album where he's featured (The Ford Blues Band's Live in Breminale '92) but he struck me then and strikes me know as the ultimate tasteful blues/jazz heavy duty guy. He can play those sweet notes with gusto and great tone, and he can tear it up relying on lesser used jazzy phrases. He plays blues, undoubtedly, but it's an open minded kind of blues that I love.
There's more about this guy on Youtube, this is just to get you going!
There's not that much good rock harmonica around, so I was quite pleased to find a little sample of Marko Balland's playing on Youtube. It's a clip he did for French rock band Café Bertrand, and it features a pretty good, heavy, solo by him. You can find more samples of Marko's playing on his Myspace!
On the old Planet Harmonica site I published this article by Bill Barrett on harmonica tone. I don't know how much exposure it got at the time, but re-reading it I find it very informative and didactic (it also made me think I should start exercising on the harp again...) I thought I'd republish it here, and hope you enjoy it. Remember to check Bill's website and buy his excellent music!
It's easy to find books on playing chord changes, sight reading, transcriptions of famous solos etc. But it's harder to find books on tone production, on just improving your sound. That's too bad, considering how much we obsess over it.
Perhaps the lack of material on the subject is a reflection of how difficult it is to discuss. Tone is an emotionally charged topic for harmonica players. One that takes on mystic properties. A common view on practicing tone goes something like: Your tone is your soul, and either you have soul or you don't. It's certainly not something you can learn or practice.
I disagree, issues of "soul" aside, you can learn to do things that improve your tone and to add variety to the way you play the notes. You can practice effects like throat vibrato, and learn to beef-up your tone. When we discuss a players tone I believe we mean more than just timbre. I intend to use the term tone in it's loosest meaning, as a player's overall sound. Tone as used here includes all the details that attend the notes such as vibrato, articulation, ornamentation, and phrasing. It's that quality that makes great players of all instruments easy to recognize within a measure or two.
Take Miles Davis, and Dexter Gordon for example, in addition to the distinctive timbre of both player's notes, there are other features of their respective sounds that identify them. Miles intentional lack of vibrato, or his use of a Harmon mute are aspects of his tone that make him immediately recognizable. Dexter's inimitable sound comes as much from the way he plays behind the beat as the rich timbre of the notes pouring out of from his tenor. The subtleties in the way these two geniuses shape the notes are amazing. The devil is in the details. Still, which details make for a pleasing sound seems to be in the ear of the beholder.
I feel that a variety of timbre with other shifting details make for a memorable solo. My favorite players come across "3D" to me. Let me take three contemporary masters as an example: Take Paul Delay, his solos are full of diversity. The subtle way he opens the cup of his hands lending a shrill bite to the end of a phrase, just as his vibrato gets more choked etc. Or how Stevie Wonder scoops into a note and sets it into an driving rhythm with rich ornamentation. Or Brendan Power's ability to decorate his notes with endless variation. Can you learn to do that? You can certainly learn some of the features of their respective sounds. In doing so you can sound a lot like them, or just borrow (steal) the details you like, and craft your own sound.
In European (art) music a standard timbre is aimed for - that is, there is an ideal violin or trumpet sound that the player within narrow limits, aims for. In jazz, timbre is highly personal and varies not only from player to player but from moment to moment in a given passage for expressive purposes, just as European players swell or diminish a note to add feeling. In European music each note has a fixed pitch (some slight variation is permitted the leading tone) that can be measured by a machine. In jazz, pitch is flexible to a considerable degree, and in fact some types of jazz are invariably and deliberately played "out of tune" by European standards.
Nat Hentoff (The Making of Jazz)
By European I believe Nat Hentoff meant so called western "art" or "classical" music, as opposed to african. Jazz is obviously a marriage of the two. Also, there are of course many fine traditions of improvised music with large tonal variance outside of jazz and blues, and many fine jazz and blues artists that are european, etc.
Anyway, how do we go about working on our tone, making it more "3D"? I think the best place to start is with our ears. We need to learn to appreciate diversity, and open our ears to the subtleties. By truly perceiving these details, by hearing the differences in these various features of tone, we make our first step.
One effective tool you can use to facilitate perception of these sonic "differences" is called Binary Opposition. "Binary opposition is simply the idea or the perception of two things being antithetical to one another, 180 degrees apart. Yes and no are binary opposites. So are black and white, on and off, day and night etc..." (Bob Ors in Home Recording Magazine)
Here a few examples of how to appropriate this concept for our purposes-
First, play a note with the thinnest possible timbre you can muster up, with no vibrato or bending, etc. Just one very clean and really thin note. Now play one that's as fat as you can. Then go back and forth between the two of them (thin, fat, thin, fat, etc.) Really listen to the difference between the two notes. Once you've done that, try to play a note between them. Then try to play as many timbres at points between the two extremes as you can hear. Treat the exercise like you're using an effect pedal. Imagine a virtual pedal that you're turning the knob on. Be conscious of what your mouth, throat and jaw are up to, but above all listen to the sound, hear the difference.
Another exercice is to play a note without any vibrato, then play a note with vibrato that's as close to, say, five beats per second as you can. Now use binary opposition to vary the rate at will. Do the same thing with pitch. (i.e. Treat your own throat vibrato like a virtual vibrato pedal).There are two aspects to vibrato i recommend listening for:
Note that playing at a rate of two or three beats per second is hardly vibrato at all. It's more of an exercise in staccato, and rhythm, but valuable none the less.
Now try it with other components of your sound (e.g. articulation, duration, dynamics, "du" to "wah" hands etc.) Take articulation as the final example - pick a short phrase play it very legato, now play the same phrase very staccato. Apply binary opposition.
The goal of Binary Opposition is to hear the difference, and widen your own ability to play those differences. That way you can make choices in these various minutia of your sound more consciously. With practice you can sculpt a phrase of music in a more 3D way. You could become a more authentic traditionalist, and /or create your own unique approach. At the very least it'll add to the appreciation to your growing record collection.
Speaking of which - the next tool for adding depth and variety to your tone is Attunement. This is an easy exercise. In fact, you're probably already doing it. To become more Attuned to an idiom or player - lounge around and listen to lots of good records of that player or style. That way you "put it in your ear" (another excuse to buy more CDs!). I got the concept from an excellent jazz educator Jerry Coker (practicing jazz). He wrote "attunement to anything depends upon our exposure, attentionality and personal preference for the subject." That is to say, if you want to become Attuned to the sound of blues harmonica you need to listen to a lot of blues harmonica, and love it.
Which segue ways nicely into - a more specific listening skill is Active Listening. It's the "attentionality" of attunement. Pull-out a recording of a player you admire, and listen to his playing. I mean really listen to them, down to the details. Very carefully pick out what is going on with his playing. First listen to the production. How is harp mixed? How is the level- is he louder than the rest of the band? (doubtful, unless it's his record). What about effects- is there a ton of reverb or delay on the harp, a quick "slap" echo or is the track dry? Just listen to the amp sound?
Now just listen to the harmonica playing. Listen to the acoustic features of his tone, separate from the amplification, effects and production. Does he use a lot of vibrato - the whole time or just at the end of a phrase? How does he phrase things: is he playing on top of the beat- or way behind? Are his phrases long or short? How is his articulation - does he play consistently very staccato, or legato, with a particular repetitive internal phrasing? How about ornamentation: does he use the same couple of mordents, trills and or tremolos or a variety of ornamentations? You get the idea. Without taking the magic out of a treasured record, try to hear the details. Then try to play them. The overall effect of a given record may still feel "greasy" but now you know why.
Playing Long Tones is a standard practice for other horn players. There is probably a lot written about it already. Here's a simple way to get started. Play one long note with as big a timbre as you can. Set your jaw, throat and hands to maximum fat. Start softly, slowly get as loud as you can, while keeping that big timbre, and then let the note grow soft again. Think aboutyour tone, not about how bitchin' the chicks will think you look with your new pompadour, or how delicious another beverage would be (that's a tough one for me). Just the tone.
In addition to these exercises and conceptual games, I'd like to add a bit about the instrument and yourself.
Good Posture is so important, and my biggest problem. Try to sit up straight or stand when you play. It's hard to play well, or even take a deep breath when you're hunched over. It's more difficult yet to concentrate on the "details" when your back hurts.
Make sure that you have a Decent Harmonica. It will save you a lot of trouble trying to get a good sound, and it's just more inspiring to lay. If you can afford it, I recommend having a custom repairmen go through your harp. Either way, you should learn Harmonica Repair.
It's important that you get Good Compression. It'll be very difficult to get a good sound on a leaky ax. Your harmonica should be as airtight as you can get it. The alignment, and gapping should be set-up just so. That is set for your style of playing. Chromatic players- be aware of your lever finger. Make sure you don't rest it on the button too heavy. You could be slightly depressing the lever, and getting a dreadfully leaky harmonica. The windsavers should be laying flat (I recommend voodoo).
There are a number of resources these days to learn about repair. If you want me to recommend a good book or repair person feel free to write me. Sure it seems like a lot of effort, a lot of time, and/ or money but it could be worse, you could be an oboe player, and have to cut your own reeds or a drummer and have to haul your kit around. Hell, the heaviest thing we have is the guilt we carry when we are packed and leaving, and the drummer is unscrewing that first wing-nut.
The last thing I'd like to say about tone is well.... just Play Often. The more hours you log behind the harmonica the better. Play with others as much as you can. Working on details like your mic technique by yourself important, but it's also valuable to work on it in a live situation.
These should be fun exercises, not dry intellectual abstractions that kick the life out of a nice practice session. Basically, sit-up straight, and play a decent harmonica. Listen to lots of good records carefully and with love. Try to be conscious of you own tone, and add variety to the details with binary opposition. By being conscious of these details you'll gain an appreciation for the variety of fine tone in others. With practice you can sculpt your own unique sound. I believe this will all add depth, and dimension to your appreciation of music, and to your own playing.
My plans for the second day of the festival (and what would turn out to be, for me, the best night of concerts) were mostly family-focused, so I'll spare you the description of the superb animal park that's just five miles out from St Aignan. Suffice it to say that I spent a great day with wife and kids and not a harmonica in sight.
I did miss an interesting conference by JJ Milteau and Paul Lassey on the harmonica as a therapeutic instrument. Both JJ and Paul have been involved in programs with hospitals, especially invovling children with breathing disabilities. The conference was followed by an open air jam.
In the evening the communal meal was livened by the arrival of Steve Baker and Fernando Bresslau, all the way from Germany. They'd missed the first day because Steve had a concert the previous evening. No-one introduces Steve Baker anymore, of course, let's just say that I was really pleased to finally meet him face to face after all these years. Fernando is a product manager at Hohner in germany and I'd been in contact with him by email for a good while as well, so it was a real treat seeing him there too.
During the meal, the musicians from l'Ironie du Son tried to negociate with my kids for the right to chocolate eggs that had been given to them (my kids) by the catering ladies. The boys didn't let themselves be intimidated though! The badn felt relaxed before their early evening concert, with the possible exception of harmonica player Guillaume who felt a little bit like he was the accused at an inquisitorial trial.
He shouldn't have, and thankfully he found his stride real quick. L'Ironie du Son opened the evening superbly, with a blend of slam, jazz and ambient music very different from the solist role that harminca featuring bands are better known for. The line-up of this swiss band is Nicolas Silvestrini on guitar, Cyril Bondi on drums, Jonas on vocals and the aforementioned Guillaume Lager on diatonic harmonica.
For the last couple of years, through artists like Saul Williams or Nya (with Erik Truffaz) I've come to appreciate the particular flow of slam and the poetic dimension that the lyrics often take. The main reason I don't listen to more hip-hop or slam is that instrumentation matters to me but mostly doesn't to those who record this kind of music. For this reason, I hadn't yet heard slamming in French, and it was quite a discovery to realise that the flow worked in French too.
But the instrumentation here was not absent, far from it. The grooves layed down by drummer Cyril were quite intricate, not to say complex, but his superior technique only served to build the foundation of the songs, there was no showing off there. Over these grooves, guitarist Nicolas deftly laid atmospheric, jazzy chords, using his bass string to support the groove with an occasional low-end line. Overall, a fairly sparse sound for the vocals and harmonica to soar over.
I loved the dynamic that these guys had too, being able to build up tension progressively and explode into a fury of sound only to drop back to a quiet support of the vocals. There was a lot of improvisation over obviously constructed structures. The whole picture was brought to life by Jonas' intelligent and socially conscious lyrics and his sturdy, steady flow. His presence on stage, while very sober, also helped carry along poems about not finding one's place in society and despairing for lack of love.
Overall, the themes carried by l'Ironie du Son's music are quite serious and not very frivolous, but they managed to lay down a truly deep atmosphere real quick and the audience, despite being surprised by their music at first, loved it. Furthermore, there were a lot of younger people in the audience that night, for reasons that will become obvious soon, and they absolutely loved it. I was quite pleased that the festival organisers managed to convey a message to the younger audience that the harmonica is not just an instrument associated with musical styles that date back 50 years.
After a quick intermission during which I spent time with the local representative of Suzuki and inherited a loan of their latest models (the all-wood Pure Harp and the Wood & Metal Firebreath), we reconvened to our seats for the night's closer, Kwak. Kwak is a French pop-rock band fronted by singer/harp player Damien Tartamella. I own their latest record which I found fun but not as energetic as I expected. Live, however, Kwak are something else...
How do you categorize a band that creates music out of various influences? You don't, I guess. Here's what I heard - in terms of influences: reggae, ska, rock, metal, celtic, klezmer, country and a touch of blues. That's probably not complete either. But who cares about categories? For me, that night, Kwak redefined what it means to set an audience on fire. The variety of styles, the stunning musicianship, the energy, the shifting instrumentations, the repertoire...
It was all there. It's really hard to define. I was entranced, and I think the rest of the audience was too, from the teenagers who were numerous because the local high school choir shared a spot with Kwak to the older audience, everyone was laughing, clapping, dancing, moshing, you name it.
Kwak's line-up is
While there's a touch of improvisation in thir music, that's not the focus. The pieces are quite tightly written, but the energy and wildness on stage totally erases any stiffness that the notion of written may suggest. What I found really cool as well is the variety of rhythmic approaches within a given song as well. A reggae-ish piece will shift to ska, then to punk and from there into a metal-ly bridge, and then shift back to the reggae in a heartbeat.
The lyrics are quite humorous and clever, often about day to day life - like in Une Semaine which tells of a man who is so drowned in administrative nightmares with his bank, the social security, etc. that his girlfriend ends up leaving him - but also more poetic (Nage dans le sable), sometimes a tad political (like Gaïa) or just plain crazy (like the hilarious Des Thunes). Obviously, it's all in French, but hey, who says it has to be in English to be good!
Damien's harmonica playing is quite impressive in that he has the full mastery of the diatonic (fast runs, odd positions, overblows) but doesn't use it to improvise. I suspect he's listened to a lot of Celtic music because his phrases often carry that feel even though the rest of the music may be in a different style. He often plays unison or harmonies with either the guitar, the flute or the clarinet.
Anyway, it's hard to express how Kwak's concert made me feel, it was just huge. I know that most of the people I discussed it with felt the same. I came out of that evening of music with a huge smile on my face, and only attended the midnight jam briefly - enough to jam with Steve Baker, which was quite cool!)
I've become a Kwak fan now. I want more! If you want a short taste, there's a clip on Youtube from their concert at La Maroquinerie last year:
