Although once only the domain of chromatic harmonica players, new harmonica technologies and techniques like overblows have made it possible for diatonic players to make great music in the world of jazz.
Website for jazz diatonic harmonica monster Howard Levy, plenty of great information at this site, including samples, transcriptions of Howard's solos, etc. Levy is one of the most influential players of the last 20 years; this site is a good place to go for more information on him and his work. "Howard Levy is unanimously considered a pioneer of modern harmonica. He plays diatonic harp like a chromatic instrument and many say he formalized the overblow technique."
"This web site for harmonica players and fans is provided by Richard Hunter, world-class harmonica player, author of Jazz Harp (Oak Publications, NYC, 1980), and composer of original works for harmonica, including
The Act of Being Free in One Act, the first full-length CD of works for unaccompanied harmonica ever recorded, and The Second Act of Free Being, the brand-new CD that takes solo harmonica to a new level."
"Chris Michalek employs the diatonic harmonica to create an original
and lyrical embrace that synergizes Indian, Arabic, Jazz,Classical,
Gypsy and Blues styles into an idiom that is dynamic and
other-worldly."
"Karl Madis won the first prize on the 2002 Baltic-Nordic Harmonica Festival by playing the chromatic harmonica.
One of his solo projects, the most important and popular was the first ever CD with harmonica-music called "Lahe muusika" (Sound from the Sea), which was made in collaboration with Margus Martmaa and other top estonian musicians."
"Jazz harmonica player Tinus Koorn is a student of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and one of the few diatonic harmonica players that take the radical approach of playing everything on a
single diatonic harmonica. Also see his instructional site for the overblow technique: www.overblow.com"
"David Herzhaft is one of the best diatonic harmonica players around. He plays blues, bluesgrass, country-music, pop and a lot of jazz too only on the diatonic. He wrote several methods on blues, beginners, celtic, country harmonica playing. He is one of the new generation harmonica players following Howard Levy's approach."
"French-born harmonicist Frederic Yonnet is one of a handful of musicians to successfully demonstrate the diatonic harmonicaŐs versatility as a lead instrument. By default, YonnetŐs music is categorized as jazz but after listening to his sound youŐll note that it canŐt be contained in a box. It funks. It rocks. It hips and hops. It grooves. It sways. It testifies. It prays. It has a reverence for blues and jazz while appealing to a generation raised on pop-rock and hip-hop. The attention he has garnered from such popular generational icons as Dave Chappelle has helped to expose him and the harmonica to a wide and diverse audience. Check out his web site for videos that feature Yonnet with Chappelle, neo-soul artist Erykah Badu, and others."
If you have a harmonica-related website and would like it listed here, please email us with the web address, site title (or player's name), brief description, and the page it should be included on. Also, if you find any 'dead' links or have changed the URL to your site, let us know so we can make the update.
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Dave explains the value of not just learning a scale up and down, but dividing it into smaller "bite-size" chunks, which can then be used as blues riffs.
Here are Dave Gage's sons, Brody and Alex, now called the Brothers Gage, back when they were 10 and 12 year old kids. This video shot in 2015, is an unedited take playing an improvised blues and country based jam and having a bunch of fun.
One plays rhythm beatbox harmonica while the other takes a solo. They are both playing a standard key of "C" 10-hole diatonic in 2nd Position (which is also known as "Crossharp"). They both learned to play harmonica around age 5 and now also sing, play guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. The key to getting good is consistency. They still practice every single day.
