Inspiration - 22 Great Harmonica Performances

SSC3007 2003-01-21

Track List

Gymnopedie N 1 - 4:52
Lost John - 3:07
Tour De Taille - 2:58
Alfie - 3:12
Christine - 4:01
La Companera - 3:14
Voice - 4:47
Freight Train Blues - 3:04
Trust My Baby - 2:41
Sous Le Ciel De Paris - 6:38
Whammer Jammer - 2:42
The Ballygow Reel And The Trip To Cullenstown - 2:17
Moody - 2:19
You Don'T Have To Go - 2:49
On The Loose - 2:37
Mellow Man - 1:59
Orange Blossom Special - 3:42
Intro - 2:42
My Drivin' Wheel - 2:55
That'S It - 3:11
Body And Soul - 3:05
Ice Water Blues - 3:17

Musicians

Toots Thielemans, Sonny Terry, Mark Graham, Eivets Rednow, Big Walter Horton, Hugo Diaz, Michel Herblin, Jimmie Riddle, Sonny Boy WIlliamson, Oliver Ker Ourio, Magic Dick, Greg Szlapczynski, James Cotton, Borrah Minevitch, Thierry Crommen - harmonica

The full story on each tune

Selected by Jean Jacques Milteau

About this project…
More than high-flown terms like "tribute" or "admiration," the word "tenderness" naturally comes to my mind when I think of the harmonica players present on this recording. Some were professional musicians and creators, others were migrants, cotton pickers or songsters, but they all blew me away with their imaginative playing.
I was a teenager by the time I became aware that the harmonica had the power to fight injustice and defend freedom. When I first heard Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie or Sonny Terry, I realized that the expression of the inner self depended more on the depth of emotions than on the size of the instrument itself. Later on, I discovered Sonny Boy Williamson's sensibility, Little Walter's flamboyance, Stevie Wonder's inventiveness…
To this day, I am still convinced that the excellence of a harp player doesn't rest with his virtuosity, but with his capacity to remain both ingenuous and visionary. There may not be harmonica heroes as there are guitar heroes, but each one of the artists present on this CD has given audiences over the world their full share of happiness. And precisely because the harmonica is surprisingly productive regardless of its apparent humility, I wish to dedicate this album to all of the artists who could not be included here - often for reasons beyond my reach - and to those who've ever felt the need to cup a harmonica in their hands to warm up their hearts on a lonely day…

J.J. Milteau