Im Rahmen des World Harmonica Festivals 2013 in Trossingen entstand eine Reihe von Künstlerportraits und Testimonials, bei welchen wir – neben tatkräftiger Unterstützung bei den Aufzeichnungen – mit viel Freude die Postproduktion übernommen haben.

Rachelle Plas – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

A girl, her harmonica and her voice. Rachelle Plas is one of the most promising young harmonica talents from France. Initially teached by the great Greg Zlap, she developed very quickly her own unique style between Blues, Jazz, Country and Gospel.
During the World Harmonica Festival 2009 she surprised the international harp scene with her extraordinary playing skills and became popular as a highly talented Newcomer.
In the video portrait Rachelle talks about her music and her songs, about women in the harmonica scene and her times as „Judo Vice World Champion“.

Yen Ming Emery Chen – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

The SIRIUS Ensemble is an amazing young harmonica quintet from Taiwan with a very fresh and modern approach to harmonica ensemble music. In the video portrait mastermind Yen-Ming Chen talks about the situation of harmonica ensembles today, using electronic devices and effects on harmonica and about the new Hohner Chord 48.

Steven De bruyn – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

Steven De bruyn is the wizard of weird harmonica sounds. He prepares his instruments with special tunings, among them quarter tone scales and exotic scales from foreign cultures that he got to know when travelling the world as a musician. Steven extensively uses effects and a loop station to build his innovative soundscapes and hence expands considerably the possibilities of the harmonica. In 2014 HOHNER honors his great work by choosing Steven as the face of the new ROCKET harmonica, the latest addition to the „Progressive Line“.

Rick Estrin – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

Rick Estrin ranks among the very best harp players, singers and songwriters in the blues world. His work on the reeds is deep in the tradition of harmonica masters Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter Jacobs, while at the same time pushing that tradition forward. The Associated Press calls his harp playing „endlessly impressive.“
Estrin won the 1994 Blues Music Award for his composition My Next Ex-Wife and has written songs for a growing legion of other musicians. Three of his songs found their way onto Grammy-nominated albums.

Bill Barrett – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

Bill is an uniquely talented chromatic harmonica player and vocalist who lives and plays in Los Angeles.

Bill grew up in Florida and got his start on the harmonica there. Following an abbreviated stint in the Navy he moved to LA in 1984 and started infiltrating the jazz and blues scene there. Over the years Bill has become involved in a seemingly dizzying variety of recording and performance projects. Early projects included El Groupo Saxo and The Reluctant Toby, the later resulting in a 1987 release titled „The Ultimate Hobby“ (New Alliance Records).

Today he’s one of the most talented and most popular harmonica players of the US.

In the video he talks about his beginnings, his existence as a homeless harmonica player and how he started to live on music. Furthermore he tells us something about Hazmat Modine, chromatic harmonicas and the strange sounds and effects that you can play with such an instrument.

Franco Luciani – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

Franco Luciani was born in Rosario (Santa Fe, Argentina), in 1981. He is an exponent of Argentine popular music, both rural and urban (folk music and tango, respectively) among other music.
In the video he talks about his beginnings, the Argentinian Sound, Musical Influences and HOHNER Harmonicas.

Cy Leo – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

Cheuk Yin HO is a young talented chromatic player from Hong Kong.
Cy Leo — so called today – began studying the chromatic harmonica at the age of 6.
A graduate of Hong Kong’s renowned Kings College Secondary School, he was for years a mainstay of the school’s Harmonica Band and has subsequently won numerous awards at contests all over Asia as well as excelling at the World Harmonica Festival 2009 in Trossingen, where he gained first place in the youth Solo and Duo competitions. Leo is also lead chromatic player in the VELOZ harmonica quartet, with which he has given several successful European concerts as well as performing in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore.
In the video he talks about his Beginnings and his teachers, different Music Styles, the instrument Harmonica in his country and being a musician in Hong Kong.

Keith Dunn – HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

Keith Dunn is a singer of blues and soul and is a harmonica player, songwriter, recording session producer, harmonica teacher and music lecturer.
Keith performs solo, just his harmonica and vocals, with his unique, „Alone With The Blues“ show. He also gives concerts with the Keith Dunn Band as well as a special guest with other artist and is a studio harmonica player for hire. Keith is also available as a song consultant, recording project coach and harmonica teacher.

Rocky Lok: HOHNER Masters of the Harmonica

Rocky Lok is a very talented and famous Asian Harmonica Player. He plays together with four others in the King’s Harmonica Quintet and he is also President of the Hong Kong Harmonica Association and has been Vice President of the Organising Committee of the Hong Kong Harmonica Festival 2003 and the fifth Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival 2004.
In the new video he talks about his beginnings, organizations of Harmonica Festivals in Hong Kong as well as the harmonica movement there.
Furthermore he speaks about the Guinness World Record on 13th of November 2009, where more than 6000 people played harmonica together.

Special Harmonica Tunings & Sounds with Steven De bruyn

Steven De bruyn is a real wizard of innovative harmonica tunings and sounds. In this video he explains his philosophy about chromatic and diatonic harmonicas and introduces numerous exotic tunings like Spanish Tuning, Quarter Notes, Major Seven Tuning or the Chinese Sheng Tuning. Enjoy Steven’s sophisticated explanations and amazing sound samples.

Customizing Joe Filisko

Joe Filisko is one of the most famous American blues harmonica players and maker of customized harmonicas based in Chicago, Illinois. In 2001 he was named „Harmonica Player of the Year“ by the SPAH.
Joe began working on his own harmonicas shortly after he began playing them.
In the video you can see how started his amazing work.