Grant: There are a few French/Belgian (of course leading off with the one
and only Toots Thielemans) harmonica players with their best
(subjectively) works on the Inspirations album produced by Jean Jacques Milteau...Great
album.
Michel Herblin's 'Voice', Thierry Crommen's 'Mellow Man', Olivier Ker
Ourio's 'Sur le Ciel de Paris', 'Moody' by Greg Szlapczynski...with songs by
others of JJ's choices: Stevie Wonder, Sonny Boy Williamson, Charlie McCoy,
James Cotton, Magic Dick, Deford Bailey, Sonny Terry, Walter Horton and
others...you can't go wrong with this album.
here's a link where you can also hear clips:
_http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/5508552/a/ Inspiration:+22+Gre
at+Harmonica+Performances.htm_
(http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/5508552/a/ Inspiration:+22+Great+Harmonica+Performances.htm)
or its tiny url:
_http://tinyurl.com/ykag4r4_ (http://tinyurl.com/ykag4r4)
I'm not knocking at all the diatonic playing of Black Orpheus since the guy
here plays it very well indeed (I never have believed in putting down one
harmonica player in order to promote another)...
...but personally my preference is for Black Orpheus on chromatic as in Rob
Paparozzi's cool interpretation here:
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCKE3rVVthM_ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCKE3rVVthM)
mainly because he hones just a bit closer to the jazzy 'Jobim' sound
someone else mentions too on the youtube...I think this song plays 'better'
(better being purely subjective for my ears, anyway), and I find Rob's version
melodious and jazzy. Perhaps it's also purely because I'm a chromatic
player although Rob's also a dynamite diatonic player and did play other numbers
in his set that night on diatonic. I was present for this show...very
close to the front so got to hear it upclose and personal...without filtering
through the camera's audio pickup. It was really good.
Either way, it's a great tune on harmonica.
Elizabeth