[Harp-L] harmonica in B

["Mox Gowland" <mox.g@xxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Bonfiglio wrote :

I have always had a couple of sets of plates that I tuned down a half step to B with silver solder on the end of each reed. <snip> in order to take advantage of the blow F and Draw C and therefore I can play most all trills and turns.

As Winston explained :

Irish accordionists figured this out decades ago. They play a push-pull button accordion with one row of buttons tuned to B major and the other to C major. So they have a lot of smooth same-direction note sequences in the common keys of D, A, and G. But more recently players like Jackie Daly have gone to a C#-D box, because they LIKE the punchy sound they get when changing bellows direction.


Another man to mention:

MICK KINSELLA


Harmonica (own label CD)



Mick, a Dubliner with Wexford roots, is a superb all-around harmonica player who has mastered traditional blues style, Howard Levy-style overblows, jazz improvisation and the Eddie Clarke approach to Irish music on the chromatic harmonica. Mick often uses an instrument with reed plates in B and C to play in any key, a truly chromatic approach that mirrors that of B/C button accordionists. His solo recording includes traditional Irish tunes as well as original melodies, jazz, blues and Balkan music. He also appears as a guest artist on recordings by Altan, Niamh Parsons and others. His disc can be purchased from Claddagh's website - www.claddaghrecords.com.



EDDIE CLARKE 

Crossroads with Joe Ryan (Green Linnet cassette CSIF 1030; 1981)
Sailing into Walpole's Marsh with Seán Corcoran, Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill and Maeve Donnelly (Green Linnet cassette CSIF 1004; 1983) - note the misprint of Eddie's name on the cassette liner.  


A Dublin resident originally from Virginia, County Cavan, Clarke pioneered the system of playing a C Hohner Chromonica from the higher-pitched reed C sharp reed plate, which allowed him to use the instrument's slide to play snappy triplet ornaments. On his recordings Eddie generally played in second position and held the slide in with his thumb, releasing it briefly for the triplets. So he's most often playing in G# or related modal scales on a C harmonica. In his duets with Clare fiddler Joe Ryan, he matched Ryan's style so closely that it's hard to separate the sound of the two instruments. Sailing into Walpole's Marsh includes a couple of solo tracks and two duets with east Galway fiddler Maeve Donnelly. (Sadly, Eddie died in 2004.)

& now from 

http://claddaghrecords.com/WWW/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=12&products_id=3005

A beautiful 4CD collection of harmonica music with a large booklet.

'Eddie Clarke Unheard' is the result of a four year journey to uncover rare and unheard recordings of the music and song of Eddie Clarke.

I hope my copy will arrive for Christmas

Bíonn dhá insint ar scéal agus dhá leagan déag ar amhrán

Slán agus beannacht leat

Mhox





http://www.youtube.com/user/hokumsheik  

Française
http://www.myspace.com/mox_gowland  
http://www.myspace.com/newhokumsheiks   

English
 http://www.myspace.com/moxgowland    
http://www.myspace.com/newhokumshieks   

Française / English / Polski / Deutsch / Magyar
http://harmopoint.com