Where: Sooki Lounge
Belgrave
3160
Australia
Melbourne
What: Harry Manx @ Sooki Lounge
When:
Harry Manx is returning to Australia with a brand new album to share!The New York Times called him ‘deliciously addictive’ and said when you listen to Harry Manx ‘you are listening to an original.’ Seven time Maple Blues award winner, Folk Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, six Juno nominations…..welcome to the Harry Zone. Harry Manx has spent years fusing eastern musical traditions with the blues, switching effortlessly between conventional guitars, harmonica, and banjo and the decidedly different Mohan veena, a 20-stringed instrument invented by Manx’ Indian mentor Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. Manx is often referred to as the “Mysticssippi” Blues Man because musically Harry lives where the depth of Indian music meets the deep groove of the Blues. Blend Indian folk melodies with slide guitar blues, add a sprinkle of gospel and some compelling grooves and you’ll get Manx’s unique “mysticssippi” flavour. It’s hard to resist and keeps audiences coming back for more.Downbeat Magazine said that “Manx’s real talent lies in creating a place where Blues and Indian Classical are a seamless fit”.Billboard Magazine called Harry “Canada’s most expressive Blues player”.“Watching Harry play tonight I feel like I learned something new …. ” Bruce Springsteen (after seeing Harry perform “I’m On Fire” at the International Guitar Festival in NYC)“Harry’s real skill lays in creating a rare musical place where blues, country, folk and Indian classical music co-exist as some spirit force” Frank Hadley, Downbeat Magazinehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uiYpUDbYzgDoors: 6:30pmHarry Manx: 7:00pm - 7:45pmHarry Manx: 8:15pm - 9:15pm
How Much:
www.bandsintown.com InStockBelgrave
3160
Australia
Who: Harry Manx
Folk
Harry forged this distinctive style by studying at the feet of the masters, first as a sound man in the blues clubs of Toronto during his formative years and then under a rigorous five-year tutelage with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt in India. Bhatt is the inventor of the 20-stringed Mohan Veena, which has become Harry’s signature instrument.
Even though he had played slide guitar for many years before arriving in India, he started back at the beginning under Bhatt’s tutelage, even re-learning how to hold the bar. From there, Manx learned Eastern scales and eventually ragas, deceptively complex and regimented musical patterns that form the basis of Indian composition.
He spent three to four hours each morning practicing in Bhatt’s home before returning that evening for a jam session with the tutor, his sons and various other fellow musicians. “Sometimes I’d throw in some blues licks in the middle,” he says, “and everyone would fall over laughing and enjoying themselves. And I thought if I can get Indian people to enjoy Western music like that, then maybe I could get Westerners to enjoy Indian music, too.” Harry decided to explore this thread of connection between the two musical traditions.
His signature style follows in the footsteps of such pioneering work as that of Joe Harriott and John Mayer and their Indo-Jazz Fusions in the 60s, John McLaughlin’s work with Shakti in the 70s, and Ashwan Batish’s innovative Sitar Power debut in 1987. Manx’s Indo-blues hybrid seems destined to be the most universally appealing yet.
Born on the Isle of Man, Manx immigrated to Ontario with his parents when he was six years old. He started doing sound at age 15 and gradually worked his way up to becoming a regular sound man at the well-known El Mocambo club in Toronto, where he worked with a slew of blues legends. While Manx doesn’t consider himself to be a blues artist per se, he does admit that blues is at the heart of much of his work. “I’ve always had one foot in the blues from those days … what I got from those artists is a groove that’s fairly similar to theirs. That’s what I’m particularly interested in … the groove, and that’s the way I play blues today”