Carlos Del JUNCO - Blues Mongrel 2005

Carlos Del JUNCO - Blues Mongrel 2005

Blues

Harpist Carlos del Junco accentuates carefully placed golden melodies and lounge-tenor vocals that will give his southern American bandleader counterparts a listening ear. As a harmonica player, del Junco has a wonderful understanding of traditional music styles. His knowledge of Latin rhythms and percussion leads to abrupt stops and key changes mid-tune, and he has been known to "split" his harmonica at times during solos. Kevin Breit, the album's bottleneck and guitar player, shines on this record with dirty and drunken bottleneck rhythms. Breit fills the dozen tracks with whiskey fuzz and hammer-down tube-amp drawls that mimic none other than Lightnin' Hopkins himself; with de-tuned low strings and lollygagging slide. This record is recommended for fans of Rod Piazza, and the James Harman Band.
By Brett Lemke.
**
Harp player extraordinaire Del Junco is another Cuban taken under the wing of NorthernBlues. This is his sixth album but the first for the excellent Canadian label. He opens with Little Walter's Blues With A Feeling which has a fractured heavy blues start and has a contemporary feel as well as paying historical dues. Right from the beginning his harmonica playing is top class and it's not hard to see why he has won awards for his playing all over the globe. He has a novel way of playing - he plays chromatically by using an 'overblow' technique on a ten hole diatonic harmonica. He has a good voice too!

"No Particular Place shows he has lungs of steel. Great interplay between the harp and Kevin Breit's guitar on this blues/jazz instrumental. Plain Old (Down Home) Blues has a little Tex-Mex influence and although his vocal is a little too pronounced there's no disputing his harp playing. Skatoon is a dual-layered instrumental with ska overtones and Don't Bring Me Down has Breit on slide guitar. This tends towards traditional country but just slightly on the alt. side. This is a favourite of mine.

"The Jerry Goldsmith song Our Man Flint may seem like a strange choice but Carlos's ethereal beginning opens out into a swing beat and his harmonica breezes through the melody. The old favourite Run Me Down is jazzier than the The Notting Hillbillies version and the rockabilly guitar solo is excellent. Add to that another lung bursting harmonica solo and there you have it. Let's Mambo gives it all away in the title and there's a militaristic beginning to Long Highway. Carlos's laconic vocal adds to a mixture of styles.

"The title track is another fractured blues but the now commonplace interplay between guitar and harp is still strong. This instrumental probably has the best harmonica playing on the album. Sonny Boy Williamson's Nine Below Zero is treated well as Carlos snorts his way through the track. He turns acoustic for the first time on the closing track Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Head. This has a cowboy feeling and is just another facet to Carlos Del Junco. Don't believe what it says on the cover, this boy is pedigree."
By David Blue.
**
01. Blues With A Feeling 5:28
02. No Particular Place 4:26
03. Plain Old Blues 5:53
04. Skatoon 5:00
05. Don't Bring Me Down 5:28
06. Our Man Flint 5:20  
07. Run Me Down 5:13  
08. Let's Mambo 3:17
09. Long Highway 3:19
10. Blues Mongrel 3:52
11. Nine Below Zero 5:20
12. Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Head 4:40
**
Jorn Andersen- (Percussion),(Drums),
Henry Heillig- (Bass),
Kevin Breit- (Guitar), (Mandolin),
Carlos del Junco- (Harmonica),(Vocals),
Arturo Avalos- (Percussion), (Drums),
**
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Carlos Del JUNCO Band - Live Just Your Fool 1999

Carlos Del JUNCO Band - Live Just Your Fool 1999

Blues

Harmonica virtuoso Carlos del Junco takes his instrument to new heights on this set of blues standards and originals. Whatever the genre in music, if you're the best, let's hear it!. When del Junco puts that harmonica to his mouth, you know there are few harmonica players anywhere past or present that can drag blues around like this gifted young man can.
By Eleanor Koldofsky.
**
1997 - 2009 Harmonica Player of the Year - SEVEN times out of the Canadian Maple Blues Award's TWELVE year history
2005 "Best Blues" Award- NOW Magazine, Toronto, ON
1998 JUNO NOMINATION for BIG BOY cd
1996 Blues Musician of the Year Award
Jazz Report Magazine
1993 Hohner World Harmonica Championship – Trossingen, Germany Two Gold Medals in both diatonic blues and diatonic jazz

Born in Havana, Cuba, del Junco (loosely translated "of the reeds") immigrated with his family at the age of one. He bent his first note on a harmonica when he was fourteen, making his debut with his high school math teacher at a student talent night. In his early 20's del Junco was immersed in a visual arts career; he graduated with honours from a four year program, majoring in sculpture at the Ontario College of Art. Sculpture has definitely had an influence on his outlook on music: "Music is just a different way of creating textures and shapes."
Carlos is certainly not your straight ahead blues harmonica player. Carlos' influences are far and wide and can quickly stray from a straight ahead blues groove into more adventurous roots related territory which may include, jazzy, Latin, New Orleans second line grooves, or ska. He will occasionally take a blues standard and flip it upside down to breath new life into it. He has recorded with Bruce Cockburn, Kim Mitchell, Oliver Schroer, Zappacosta, and has also worked with Dutch Mason, Hoc Walsh (Downchild Blues Band) and Holly Cole.
Playing a ten hole diatonic harmonica, Carlos has developed the unique ability to play chromatically by using a recently developed "overblow" technique taught to him by jazz virtuoso Howard Levy. Overall, this approach to the diatonic harmonica, although much more difficult to achieve, is in many ways more expressive and communicative than the mechanized tone produced by the chromatic harmonica . Carlos is one of the few pioneers of this overblow method, bringing musical credibility to what has still been considered by many in the music industry - a fringe folk instrument. The sophisticated sound produced by del Junco is at once sensitive, soulful, and sexy while never forgetting the rawness inherent in blues music.
With the late Bill Kinnear, Carlos del Junco released his first CD, Blues on independent label, Big Reed Records in November 1993. The rich collection of blues classics was a collaborative effort with Kinnear playing acoustic and dobro guitars and handling lead vocals. Five out of six reviewers in the Toronto Blues Society, selected Blues for their top ten releases of 1993.
In March/April 1995 del Junco travelled to Chicago with a Canada Council grant to study with Howard Levy. This year saw the release of of the critically acclaimed Just Your Fool a sizzling live session with Kevin Breit on guitar, Al Duffy on bass, and Geoff Arsenault on drums. It was this CD and the collaborative effort with Thom "Champagne Charlie" Roberts Big Road Blues, that won Carlos the 1996 Blues Musician Of The Year Award...
...del Junco continues to produce an eclectic palette of music on Steady Movin', his (2008) 5th recording in a band setting and his second CD for Northern Blues. It features a mostly acoustic set with 3 solo showcases of Carlos harmonica wizardry. Remarkable guitar work by Kevin Breit, one of the most sought-after session players in Canada and now in the U.S. thanks in large part to his work with Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson, adds beautiful textures to the 11 track collection.
Carlos has toured Canada regularly since 1996 and tours often in Europe and the United States. He has played all the major jazz, blues, and folk festivals across Canada.
**
Kevin Breit- Dobro, Guitar, Finger Snaps
Carlos del Junco- Harmonica, Main Performer, Finger Snaps, Vocals
Denis Keldie- Finger Snaps
Al Duffy- Bass
Jordan John- Drums
**
01. B Thing - Intro (4:11)
02. Just Your Fool (6:04)
03. Up The Line (3:28)
04. Key To The Highway (5:50)
05. Rocket 88 (5:18)
06. Forty Four (4:32)
07. Walkin' Blues (5:07)
08. I Know Your Wig Is Gone (3:25)
09. Quiet Whiskey (2:41)
10. Just Your Fool (fast version) (5:38)
11. B Thing - Outro (2:12)
12. Harpin' On A Riff (2:56)
13. Jersey Bounce (4:45)
**
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Carlos Del JUNCO - Steady Movin' 2008

Carlos Del JUNCO - Steady Movin' 2008

Blues

Look no further than the woodcut styled painting of a flaming harmonica on the cover of Carlos Del Junco's album to get the gist of his approach. Unlike such "more notes per second" harp players as John Popper, Del Junco uses his dexterity as a means to an end. He developed his distinctive style on the ten-hole diatonic harp to play it chromatically, basically sounding like a far more bluesy Stevie Wonder. That gives him a unique sound on an instrument that seldom gets taken as seriously as it should. Here he uses it to terrific effect on Tiny Bradshaw's big-band standard "Jersey Bounce," a song Del Junco has already tackled on his 1999 live album. The disc jumps out of the blocks with three terrific instrumentals that mix blues and jazz. The surfy "Dull Blade" even finds Del Junco's harp tackling the James Bond theme for a few notes. But the momentum hits a snag when Del Junco's somewhat strained vocals appear on his own "Mashed Potatoes Canada," a tribute to James Brown, according to the liner notes. Fellow Canadian Kevin Breit is also along for the ride here and his contributions on guitar and occasionally banjo push this already adventurous music almost into experimental territory. But this is truly Del Junco's showcase, especially on the unaccompanied pieces such as a cover of Sonny Boy Williamson ll's obscure "Movin' Down the River Rhine" and a take on "Will the Circle be Unbroken" that starts out traditional before moving into blues and beyond until the initial tune is nearly unrecognizable, then circling back, ending with his harp sounding like bagpipes. The closing stripped-down walking bass, percussion, and banjo accompanied "Doodle It" could well be the theme for the Andy Griffith Show until Del Junco shifts into jazz mode, diving into his nimble solo, followed by Breit's banjo. As you can tell, he's all over the place stylistically, but it's a classy collection and Del Junco is moving steadily in directions most other harmonica players don't even consider.
By Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide.
**
One of the most distinctive and adventurous virtuosos on the harmonica, Carlos del Junco has forged a vast array of styles, including blues, jazz, country, rock and gospel, into one seamless whole. His mastery of an incredibly difficult blowing technique has yielded a magnificently expressive tone, and afforded him the capacity of exploring a broad range of ideas. As with his other critically acclaimed releases, the mainly instrumental Steady Movin’ defies categorization, but its eclecticism and diversity set it apart from the pack. Carlos’ muse is in full flight and the ebb-and-flow dynamics are thrilling, making this CD one absorbing listening experience.
Guitar savant extraordinaire Kevin Breit, Norah Jones’ guitarist, is the perfect sideman/collaborator and his presence is crucial to the CD’s overall flow. With their free-wheeling imaginations in flight, both Carlos and Kevin seem like twins sailing on similar musical seas. They sure push those boundaries in ways that will tickle your fancy.  “Dull Blade,” composed by Breit, is rather evocative of Blade Runner with its futurist, quirky vibes that swirl about like a neon rainbow. Both gents can swing with ease, as is royally apparent on Tiny Bradshaw’s “Jersey Bounce.”
Carlos provides a deeply moving reading of “The Simple Life,” elegantly capturing the myriad harmonic and melodic riches of this jazz standard. It’s as haunting as anything I’ve heard in years. On “Mashed Potatoes Canada,” the late great James Brown gets feted with guest blues shouter John Dickie and laying down some lowdown and funky vocals. It’s an adaptation of Soul Brother Number One’s “Night Train,” except Canadian cities are called out instead of American ones.  Funky and fascinating!
Mention must be made of Carlos’ discipline, breath control, and intense concentration, which allow for an easygoing assimilation of all the inflections, shades, and tones inherent in Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Movin’ Down The River Rhine”.  Carlos carries it all off brilliantly (Sonny Boy 2 must be smiling from above). Then there’s “Amazing Grace” and it’s another stunning tour-de-force (certain passages sound exactly like bagpipes). Carlos deconstructs this sacred chestnut in ways that are glorious to behold. Few harmonica players have the chops to even contemplate pulling this one off. He goes solo on “Bailey’s Bounce” (inspired by early blues harmonica great and country music legend Deford Bailey) and it chugs along smartly, just like a freight train in full throttle.
The band members deserve full accolades, and beside Breit, include Marc Rogers (basses), Denis Keldie (keyboards), Matt Brubeck (cello), and Jorn Juul Andersen (drums). There are such plentiful rewarding riches throughout the entirety of Steady Movin that even the most finicky audiophile couldn’t ask fro more. Carlos del Junco’s place alongside such greats as Toots Thiellmans,, Paul Butterfield and Howard Levy is beyond doubt. Steady Movin simply belongs at the very top of your “must-buy” list this year.
By Gary Tate.
**
01. Diddle It (5:10)
02. Dull Blade (4:32)
03. Jersey Bounce (4:52)
04. Mashed Potatoes Canada (2:52)
05. Movin' Down the River Rhine (3:58)
06. Paradise (5:25)
07. Amazing Grace (5:16)
08. The Simple Life (5:50)
09. Bailey's Bounce (3:54)
10. Bye For Now (3:07)
11. Doodle It (4:26)
**
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