Ceird an Cheoil

Toots Thielemans

I had the honnor to meet Toots Thielemans in Harmoliège festival in 2008, in Belgium. Everyone wanted to have a picture with him, so I had to take more than 100 ; but I didn't ask for one together with him, since I already received lots of big smiles ... The main important for me is this souvenir today of, a legend yes, BUT a Great Man, very simple and so nice and sweet to everyone... I didn't know which video to illustrate him, so I am choosing one with its most famous tune. Don't forget that Toots is a great guitar player before the harmonica, but so precious to harmonica than for us...

Today the 29th of April 2012 : VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Monsieur Thielemans !!!...

Toots Thielemans is also the Godfather of Croch'ASBL, the more active association of Harmonica in Belgium (which the creator is Emile Grégoire, next to him)...

Joan Pau Cumellas

Joan Pau is one of the Best Harmonica player from Spain and a very sweet guy ! Vidéos displaying him playing his instrument are quite rare... but here is one for you which may help you a lot to discover him ...In case you want to have him to your festival ... Every Year I spend one week with him and Greg Szlapczynski in Roses (Spain) for a great week of Workshop...

I am an enthusiast of acoustical and electro-acoustical music mainly. I am also learning to play the mandolin in the register of Celtic musics thanks to the Irish association of Paris (France)... The violin, the Didgeridoo and the "Thin Wistle" are other instruments that I would love to learn.

But I am also a harmonica player since 1996, amator, friant of all meetings, practice, Jam sessions, events where the harmonica is often present even central. Rich of all that, I acquired a very good knowledge of this domain, and international network of knowledge.

This instrument proves to be :

1. 1 the most popular though often taken to be a toy and curiously well misread...
2. 2 most sold (more than 1.5 billion since 1820) and curiously so seldom visible...
3. 3 subject to many misconceptions:
   1. Yes the harmonica of Bob Dylan is well productive in its pieces, except that Bob Dylan never uses the harmonica in a way which allows to discover its truths melodic possibilities which will be able to ruffle to you up the pleasure hair, to touch you indeed...
   2. Yes the harmonica is famous in westerns but such as "Les enfants du Marais" are seldom thought of films, "Jean de Florette" and famous films from your country etc, in incidental musics in many advertising, in success titles however known where it is taken for the accordion to see the violin...
4. 4 transportable everywhere: the very first played in space (voice taken appart) etc etc etc...
5. 5 well described here (english speaking)...
   

However people are very often divested facing the lack of information on this instrument: where to play it, with whom to teach, which family of harmonicas, with which share (alone isolated in a village with no guess that there is somebody in the same situation in the neighborhood).

Finally why not sharing any serious links of my point of view, who could help these people in lack of information, who have either no possibility of travelling as me, of discover this "family" as I could make it until then...

Roughly what I would like, is to :

1. 1 Offer a list of links classified by topic where to go shopping at the market, and I hope for it of unexpected discoveries (so that you still have hair by leaving my blog, or so that you are not found lost died of hunger there and of thirst in the search of an information such sand grain wanted in a desert and however I did not drink!).
2. 2 Favour meetings over the world (And that already works in France !)
3. 3 Make understand any individual passing through what point this small thing deserves well the "Instrument" title: useful in all musical registers including in the symphonic orchestras...

Be please conscious, that I am far from showing all that deserves attention... I hope that my blog gives you desire to search farther !
Of course I do not feel invested with a mission, but I feel great with having a feeling that I can help others !... It is necessary to confess that it is really great to know that it is so possible to please somebody since music is a sharing...
Please also have a look to the left at the list  'Maps of Players by family...' and the one more general of my mate Paul Lassey. In few words, rather than complaining of the miss around the harmonica world  I am just trying do something ...

Patrice Rayon

PS: Excuse my crap english... My mother langage is the french, and I do not have not enough time to manage all that so I must often make very quickly...

PPS: A small lonely initiative seems often miserable, almost useless but if people does want to believe a bit in it, it is not killed and this does possibly lead to nice things, even more !...