This is cool. I think I'd like to do something like this one day, if I can find some folks to play with. Anyone else know of any GOOD examples of applying blues harp technique to genres like reggea, ska, etc.?
woah! that worked really well. t'was an interesting blend. I would also second the request for people to post more harmonica mixed in with different genres.
Yeah preston, I saw that clip... I think that's Ziggy Marley that's singing with him. Could be Steve, the voice sounds like Steve, but I think it's Ziggy. Steve's voice is the best of the Marley children. He sounds the most like his dad. I've seen Ziggy and Steve on stage together several times (with the melody makers), but it was cool to see him jam with popper. I'mnot a huge popper fan, that high end fast stuff kind of annoys me after a while, but this is a pretty cool version.
It's funny, my very very first YouTube harp video was me playing redemption song. I got the tab off of HarpTabs.com. It's one of the only Bob Marley tabs on that site that seems like it was preperly done... I should dig it out and give it another go. I'm sure I'd sound LOADS better now than I did back then (two years ago)!
there are a few reggae tunes with harp. i cant think of any at the moment but i know there probobly on my ipod some where. not covers like this though new stuff.
I asked the same thing a while back and someone kindly pointed me towards this site http://jamminjasounds.blogspot.com/2007/05/harmonica-in-jamaican-music.html which tells you just about everything you need and has a downloadable mp3 mix. I can particularly recommend the tracks by Big Youth - very bluesey 2nd pos. playing on that. (Try and hunt down the album "Dreadlocks Dread" - there's harp on loads of the tracks) My favourite reggae track with harp has to be Toots and the Maytals "Reggae Got Soul". The harp work is pretty basic, but the whole song has a wonderful, uptempo, feel-good vibe to it.
Issac, I feel the same way about Popper. At first I was blown away by him, but he stays too high for too long. It's like he crescendo's to early in the solo, and then just stay's up there. By the way, have you heard his stuff with DJ Logic and The John Popper Project? It is really different than Blues Traveler. I do not own the CD, but there are several Youtubes of them playing. He has slowed way down and come down to the low end of the harp from what I can tell.
Verylongname... that's avery cool site! I had not come across that yet. It's a great resource, and I'm definatly gonna use that mix! I'll check out the album you mentioned. Reggae Got Soul is the reason I am asking about Harmonica in reggae. It's been one of my favorite songs since even before I thought to play harp... I was just working on the horns in A Message To You Rudy, it works pretty darn well. Ska music has TONS of horn lines, and these should translate pretty well to harp... It's definately somthing I'm gonna keep going after.
I really like the way Popper starts his solo, and his vocals are quite well suited to the style.
I like to play "three little birds" with an echo harp, all the keyboard parts are available and sound good. The melody from Beatles "I've Just Seen a Face" sounds pretty good with a reggae beat.. got that from some jazz album in the 80's
a lot of Reggae is in minor keys , so brushing up on your third position ( something I need to do ) is recommended. I recorded a version of Java by Augustus Pablo using a minor tuned Lee Oskar which follows the Melodica line . The Melodica is a great instrument, sounds like a Chromatic in the higher register. There is Fire by Black Uhuru has some great harp on it , also Street 66 by Linton Kwesi Johnson.
