Re: [Harp-L] Irish/celtic harmonica

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Blunt White" wrote:
<I am looking for suggestions on CD's to purchase so I can learn some
<irish 
<tunes.  Been playing blues for over 30 years and looking for a new 
<direction.  I have checked out Brendan Power's site.  Not sure which CD
<to 
<purchase.  I need an easy one to start with.  Any celtic/irish style
<harp 
<players have a suggestion?

Not sure which Power CD is best for your purposes.  Why don't you email
Brendan and ask him?

No one interested in playing Irish music on the harmonica -- in fact no
one at all -- should be without Chicago-based James Conway's first CD
(whose title escapes me).  It's brilliantly played and recorded, with
excellent support from other instrumentalists, including Howard Levy on
occasional second harmonica.  The recorded sound of the ensembles and
harmonica is luminous.  It's a classic disk and a milestone in the
genre.

Tony Eyers's bluegrass CD is well worth the money too. It's not
necessarily the best guide to beginning Irish harmonica, both because
it's more bluegrass than Irish, and because Eyers plays specially-tuned
harmonicas, which is something beginners aren't likely to try.  But
those tunings solve a lot of technical problems in playing this music,
as Eyers's playing makes clear, and so should be of interest to harp
players in general.

regards, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com