Re: [Harp-L] French Canadian Harp

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- James <wasabileo@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> The previous discussion about French Canadian Harp Players. Can
> anyone provide me with more information about players, music sites
> anything would be appreciated.

Ok, let's start with a website I put up for the purpose:

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/harmonicanuck

Then you can listen to hundreds of historical folk recordings at the
Virtual Gramophone website courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.

I'd also suggest if you want to listen to some of the more current trad
harmonica being played, browsing through Thirty Below's online catalog:

http://www.trentesouszero.com/

YOu can browse the vast collections at the Virtual Gramophone, or you
can take this little guided tour through some of the harmonica
highlights of not only the Virtual Gramophone but also the holdings of
teh Bibliothèque Nationale de Québec

At the Virtual Gramophone:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/gramophone/index-e.html

You can do a search or browse through alphabetical lists by artist or
title of old 78 rpm records and listen or download (the mp3 format
files are downloadable).

There is another archive, not as large but containing things that are
omitted in the Virtual Gramophone. The Virtual Gramophone is hosted by
Library and Archives Canada, while the Bibliothèque et Archives
Nationales de Québec (BNQ) has its own archive of online 78s:

http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/musique_78trs/accueil.htm


Here are some of the historical Québécois harmonica artists I would
recommend:

Louis Blanchette

Mary Bolduc (aka Madame Bolduc, Mme. Edouard Bolduc, la Bolduc)

Henri Lacroix

Joseph Lalonde

Adélard St-Louis

=====Here are some specific recordings:

===Adélard St-Louis

=La petite Hélène (St-Louis accompanying Boromée Bernaquez)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13450.mp3

Listen to St-Louis' rhythmic chording. You may recognize this as a
version of the Jenny Lind Polka.

=Marche des braves (St-Louis)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/18880.mp3

A bravura performance, using a diatonic-tuned chromatic

===Louis Blanchette

=Reel de Bagot (Blanchette)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/14034.mp3

A very different take on the Jenny Lind Polka

=Reel des noces d'or (Blanchette)
http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/musique_78trs/ram/501244.ram

This is one of Louis Blanchette's most famous tunes, probably an
original. This and others are not available at the Virtual Gramophone
for copyright reasons. One that is hidden at the site, Reel des
Finacailles,  is remarkable for the fact that he alternates
complementary mini-lines out of the right and left sides of his mouth:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13580.mp3

Louis Blanchette's recordings are not all that numerous and I would
encourage you to listen to all of them. Many are uniquely crooked
versions of tunes well-known in Québécois and celtic traditions.

===Mary Bolduc

=La bouteille de rhum (Eugène Daignault) 
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13286.mp3

accompanied by Mme. Bolduc on harmonica and a fiddler - listen to how
she augments the fiddler's melody with chords.

A coupl eof Mme. Bolduc's rare instrumental recordings:

=Valse Denise (Mary Bolduc)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13400.mp3

=Reel de la Goelette (Mary Bolduc)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13401.mp3

A couple of Mme. Bolduc's vocal performances with some harmonica:

=Le sauvage du nord
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13570.mp3

=La Bastringue
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/14421.mp3


===Henri Lacroix

=Paul Jones
http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/musique_78trs/ram/501573b.ram

A Paul Jones in Québec alternates two dances (in this case a waltz and
a grand chain). This may be the first Paul Jones ever recorded, and is
the best version of the three that Lacroix committed to wax. Listen to
his chording technique and how he uses staccato in combination with
chording. The Grand Chain tune is a Scottish pipe tune called the
Barren Rocks of Aden. I don't know the identity of the waltz.

=Quadrille Francais
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13937.mp3

Lacroix' energetic take on My Love is But a Lassie Yet, with a cool
chromatically descending bass line in the left hand of the piano.

= Reel à quatre (accompanying John Lajoie)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/12773.mp3

In Québec this is not called a jig; it's a six-huit  (literally,
six-eight - the time signature). Lacroix starts out on bird whistle
then switches to harmonica. Switching back and forth among harmonica,
jaw harp, and bird whistle was something that both he and Mary Bolduc
often did when accompanying.

=Buck Reel de Cascapedia
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/14834.mp3

A rare harmonica duet, with higher-pitched tremolo (probably Lacroix)
and a lower-pitched single-reed harmonica playing chords and melody.
Don't who the other harmonica player is, though the record is credited
to one Félix Picotte and not to Lacroix at all.

=Le Bucheron (the lumberjack)
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/12603.mp3

Marvellous staccato technique

=Buck de papier
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/12682.mp3

Cheeky ragtime-like piece with banjo

===Joseph Lalonde

Born in 1860 and playing in public by 1872, Lalonde did not record
until 1926 after his return from several decades in Chicago.

=Gigue double
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/15654.mp3

=Jigues: potpourri. 2ème partie
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/16336.mp3

=Jigues: potpourri, 1ère partie
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/16335.mp3


===Pit Paré

=Clog Dance
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/13221.mp3

An early example of fourth position.

===Tommy Duchesne

Duchesne was an accordionist and bandleader who often used harmonica
subtly to reinforce both accordion and fiddle, sometimes at the octave,
with an occasional solo spot.

=Quadrille du Canada
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/14039.mp3

=Valse Denise
http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/musique_78trs/ram/500724.ram


===Fortunat Savard

Quadrille des Montagnards
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/m2/f7/14599.mp3

Compare this with the same tune played on accordion by Donat Lafleur,
but with a third part added, borrowed from the song "Vive la
Canadienne"

===Donat Lafleur

=La Tounne (the tune)
http://bibnum2.banq.qc.ca/bna/musique_78trs/ram/501365b.ram

Winslow




 
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