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Quebecers are viewed as pioneers when it comes to freestyle skiing and synchronized swimming… And now they lead the way for harmonica ensembles?! Indeed, these types of bands are rare on the planet, but we can now count on our group to save the day : an awesome foursome of guys, passionate for the warbles of the chord harmonica, bass harmonica, diatonic and chromatic harmonicas and even the harmonetta, an unusual harmonica that resembles parts of an accordion because of its extra buttons.
D’Harmo is composed of Lévy Bourbonnais, Jason Rosenblatt, Pascal «Per» Veillette and Samüel Caron. At best, D’Harmo can evoke a distant cousin of jazz. We prefer this semantic shift to better explain; more like a type of passé composé applied to our musical approach that consists of taking the already existing forms of old folk songs, a supply of French-Canadian Celtic and Ashkenazy Jewish (Eastern European) inspiration, and dashes of classical music and contemporary jazz. Literally, it’s a goldmine of harmonizing harmonicists..
Alain Brunet, Lapresse
Four harmonica players harmonize and improvise brilliantly across Jewish traditions, jazz, rag, minimalist music, minuet, waltz, tango, reel and beyond. But this foursome always expands on the original form of the genres it leverages. Then there is blowing, breathing, the exchange of roles and the instruments . . . The music swings and wails, ultimately influenced by dance tunes of the 2010s for big finishers. The combination is lush.
— Yves Bernard, Le Devoir
“Oh, forebears of mine,” as mushy-jazz-destroyer Boris Vian would have said, “how beautiful an album this is.” While the harmonica is barely heard in the world of jazz – maybe except for the works of tutelary figure Toots Thielemans, Howard Levy, Stevie Wonder from time to time, and the youngest of them all, Grégoire Maret – blues and traditional music are reaping their part of the lion’s share. In a certain way, D’Harmo creates a bridge between all of these styles with the small free-reed instrument . . . An ever-beautiful trek. A bit of jazz, but mostly evocative poetry. Exhilarating!
— Christophe Rodriguez, Sortie Jazz Night
