Laurent Maur interview

Laurent Maur joins me on episode 75.

Laurent is a jazz chromatic player from France. He first started learning diatonic before moving on to the chromatic to pursue his love of jazz music. He had some lessons with the French classical chromatic player, Claude Garden, helping to advance his technique. Laurent played with a few different bands, touring and recording albums with them before releasing two albums under his own name, and two with the Youpi Quartet. Laurent teamed up with the flute player from this quartet to release his most recent album, of duets with flute. 

Laurent makes use of different harmonicas beyond the chromatic and occasional diatonic, playing the recently released Suzuki bass and chord harmonicas as well as being one of the leading exponents of the DM48 midi chromatic harmonica.

Links:

Laurent’s website:
https://www.laurentmaur.com/

JJ Milteau Method for Diatonic and Chromatic Harmonica tuition book:
https://www.melbay.com/Products/20588BCD/method-for-diatonic-and-chromatic-harmonica.aspx

Suzuki SSCH-56: Compact Chord & S-48B (Bass):
http://www.suzukimusic.co.uk/products/harmonica/orchestral.html

Children’s show: The true Story of the Tchepperpou
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghtZ7VOmcus

Midi controller foot pedal:
https://www.keithmcmillen.com/products/softstep/

Videos:

La Cambiada with Orlando Pole:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJEKPe64BH8&list=PL027E88A8BFFE8871

Duo with Emilie Calme in Sunside Jazz Club, Paris:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t63za4K1Kw

Tuition video on using the Dorian scale:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A4_M-LNy30

Roland Mobile Cube amp:
https://www.roland.com/au/products/mobile_cube/

Children’s show teaser:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghtZ7VOmcus

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com  or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway.com/

Chapters

• 1:33 Laurent is a jazz chromatic player, originally from Paris, now living in Burgundy, France
• 2:37 First influence of jazz harmonica was through the Toots Thielemans and Bill Evans album, Affinity, given to him by a maths teacher
• 3:32 Bought first harmonica age 17 with Sugar Blue the first blues player he loved
• 4:22 JJ Milteau Diatonic and Chromatic Method book was first instructional material he used to learn diatonic
• 5:13 Started listening to the other diatonic players: with Sugar Blue and Big Walter his favourites
• 5:28 Blues scene in France was mainly in Paris, but he met two harmonica players in his town, including Dutch chromatic player Tim Welvaars
• 6:40 Spent a lot of time transcribing and essentials needed to learn jazz
• 7:44 Decision to switch over to focus on chromatic harmonica age 24
• 8:24 Blues is more accessible than jazz due to simpler chord structures
• 9:11 Busked and was in several bands playing diatonic from age 19 to 24
• 9:26 Switched to playing chromatic to learn jazz music
• 10:16 Learning curve the chromatic from being a diatonic player
• 10:42 Went to a jazz school in Paris
• 11:36 Practised a lot to make rapid progress and was living on the breadline as a musician
• 13:15 Moved from Paris to Bordeaux where he was able to perform more with jazz chromatic well received by jazz musicians
• 14:58 Playing in different types of bands in Bordeaux helped develop skills
• 15:32 Went to Trossingen in 2000 or 2001, winning the solo harmonica and jazz harmonica competitions
• 15:58 First recording was with the Francis Lockwood trio, harmonica with strings, after playing in a big band
• 17:10 Sent the album to Toots and JJ MIlteau and received encouraging responses back from both
• 18:03 After attending another jazz school, started playing with Orlando Pole in an Afro Venezuelan Latin jazz quintet
• 20:16 Playing with other bands, including Clem Cardenas and Yves Carbonne
• 21:47 Plays some Gypsy Jazz with Mayo Hubert and approach to playing this on chromatic
• 22:59 French player Vincent Bucher plays a lot with African musicians
• 23:28 Spent some years in China and Korea after financial crash of 2008
• 25:07 Popularity of people playing harmonica in China
• 25:46 Spent time in Korea and problematic pollution in Beijing
• 26:23 Played with a great Italian pianist in China and corporate gigs
• 27:46 Laurent played at a Jazz club in Beijing where he found his confidence and voice to play the music he wanted to play
• 29:03 Returned from the east and started releasing albums under his own name and with Youpi quartet
• 29:45 The Last Dance album, recorded live
• 30:23 Second live album: Chef Larry, with both albums including some French songs
• 31:40 How Laurent developed his fast playing
• 32:17 Had lessons with classical chromatic player Claude Garden, teaching him to use the pure sound with air, without lips or throat use
• 33:35 Recoded two albums with the Youpi Quartet
• 35:08 Great interaction between chromatic and flute
• 35:19 Latest album from Laurent is a duo with Emilie on flute: Fantaisie Improbable Pour Flutes et Harmonicas
• 35:38 Uses DM48 on this album
• 36:12 Also plays the Suzuki SSCH-56 (Compact Chord) and S-48B bass harmonica on the album
• 37:48 Plays harmonetta now
• 38:01 More on the DM48, with Laurent playing synthesised sounds, rather than instrument emulators
• 41:07 Has released some tuition videos on YouTube
• 41:34 Next album to be released recorded in Greece
• 43:42 10 minute question
• 45:45 How did he split his practise regime when practising 8 hours per day
• 46:39 Switching from 12 hole to 16 hole chromatic, which was a challenge
• 47:44 Advantages of 16 hole over 12 include playing octaves, making it sound like another instrument
• 49:30 Chromatic of choice is Suzuki Fabulous, also the Sirius
• 49:54 Still plays a little diatonic
• 50:09 Has a show for children where he plays some diatonic
• 51:02 Only plays C chromatics
• 51:22 Embouchre: mostly puckers but working on tongue switching
• 52:10 Amp used is a Roland Mobile Cube
• 54:03 Set-up when performing with DM48
• 54:29 Mic of choice is wireless Shure
• 54:59 Effects and Ableton Live
• 55:26 Future plans
• 56:21 Wants to explore DM48 using a foot pedal

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Lauren Moore joins me on episode 75. Lauren is a jazz chromatic player from France. He first started learning diatonic before moving on to the chromatic to pursue his love of jazz. He had some lessons with the French classical chromatic player Claude Gordon, helping to advance his technique. Lauren played with a few different bands, touring and recording albums with them before releasing two albums under his own name and two with the UP Quartet. Lauren teamed up with a flute player from this quartet to release his most recent album of duets with flute. Lauren makes use of different harmonicas beyond the chromatic and occasional diatonic, playing the reed and released Suzuki bass and chord harmonicas, as well as being one of the leading exponents of the DM-48 MIDI chromatic harmonica. This podcast is sponsored by Zeidel Harmonicas. Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.zeidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zeidel Harmonicas.

UNKNOWN: 1:01

Music

SPEAKER_02: 1:27

Hello, Lauren Moore, and welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_03: 1:30

Hello, Neil. Thanks to invite me.

SPEAKER_02: 1:33

So, Lauren, you're mainly a jazz chromatic player, and you're living in Paris now,

SPEAKER_03: 1:38

yeah? No, I live in Burgundy. Not that far, but like two hour and a half drive by car from Paris, southeast. Okay. Are

SPEAKER_02: 1:47

you originally from Paris? I was

SPEAKER_03: 1:50

born there. and then I had different spots in my childhood and I lived in the south west of France and then Paris and then I went to I moved to Bordeaux and then went back to Paris a little and then I went to China for a while and came back to Paris and now Burgundy for I think till the end

SPEAKER_02: 2:15

So yes we'll definitely touch on your time in China so yeah you moved around but clearly you're as we mentioned you're a jazz chromatic player mainly. And Paris is quite well known for its jazz scene. So was that something you drew on when you were younger, when you were getting interested in jazz?

SPEAKER_03: 2:29

No, because I was living in the south at that time. I moved really, really quick. I moved to the south of France. My meeting, if you can say, with the jazz is like with the Toots and Billy Vance through the record Affinity.

UNKNOWN: 2:50

piano plays

SPEAKER_03: 2:57

And so I was interested in harmonica. And I said that to a friend of my mother, who was my math teacher. And he brought me the week after for the math lesson, he brought me a cassette. with Billy Evans and Toots recorded on it.

SPEAKER_02: 3:12

Great. So I think before you got interested in jazz, you were playing diatonic, yeah?

SPEAKER_03: 3:17

I listened to this music, so I was really interested in harmonica. I don't know why, but each time I was in a movie or in advertising or something, harmonica, it was like a dog, you know?

SPEAKER_02: 3:30

Yeah, the ears pricked up.

SPEAKER_03: 3:32

Yeah, and I bought my first harmonica, I guess I was maybe 17, and it was a Daytonic. And I bought also some, my first LP record was Sugar Blue, Crossroads. I felt in love with Sugar Blue. I already had two worlds, like the jazz world with Toots and the blues world with Sugar Blue.

SPEAKER_02: 4:05

Two very high standard plays. You set the bar very high to start off with.

SPEAKER_03: 4:09

Yeah, I was listening to that. Playing was not my... I had an harmonica, but I was just fooling around, trying to play, but didn't understand nothing because I didn't have a musical background. The first real thing came with the Jean-Jacques Miltaud method. The very first one, the one is called, I don't know if it's known abroad, but in France it was released maybe in the 78, 80s. I was 16, no, 17, because I bought Harmonica and then I bought Method.

SPEAKER_02: 4:44

Yeah, John Jack Milto is a fantastic player. So you learned your chops on diatonic and you were learning mainly blues at this time, were you?

SPEAKER_03: 5:06

Yeah, in that method, a lot of information, a lot of good licks, good information on the players also. So I moved to, you know, Little Walter, Sonny Boy, also Charlie McCoy, Terry McMillan, you know, this kind of guy, and Big Walter. On diatonic, my two favorite players are Sugar Blue and Big Walter.

SPEAKER_02: 5:28

Yeah, and so, you know, what's the blues, you know, sort of scene like in France I think, you know, there's a lot of really good players in France, isn't there? But outside of the country, you know, what's your kind of exposure to American blues? Sounds like it was very available.

SPEAKER_03: 5:40

To buy records at that time, it was like very, very easy. But the blues scene was mainly in Paris. I mean, I was in countryside and I couldn't really hear or see players around my town. I was living in a little town called Carpentras near Avignon. There were like pubs there they were they were doing like live music and i was around 18 and i met i don't know if you know that guy he's from marseille his name is ange amadi great country player and i also met team welfare chromatic jazz player dutch dutchland and very good very good player so But he was playing chromatic and jazz already at that time. That's the two guys I met when I was in my hometown. Were

SPEAKER_02: 6:34

you starting to perform live at their stage?

SPEAKER_03: 6:37

I was doing some jam and learning mainly stay in my bedroom and studying like the greats. Transcribing Big Walter, Sugar Blue, Little Walter, Butterfield. I transcribed a lot of guys. And Jean-Jacques also. Jean-Jacques I transcribed and mainly two or three albums completely, everything by heart. It was a good school to do that.

SPEAKER_02: 7:02

Yeah, transcribing is one of the greatest ways to learn, isn't it? And doing it yourself, I think, rather than learning from books or other sources.

SPEAKER_03: 7:09

Yeah, it's the same in jazz. In jazz, you have to get some musical knowledge also, because if you transcribe, you can transcribe, but if you don't know what the guy is playing, you will never really understand how it's going on. how the music works etc so you have to I think you have to transcribe for sure but you have also to learn in the books or in the schools or workshops or something like that like how to play on a chord what is a chord how it is working like the basic of the harmony

SPEAKER_02: 7:44

You then switched over to chromatic I think not until you were about 24 yeah?

SPEAKER_03: 7:48

Oh yes I mean I had chromatic but I could not use it because I didn't have at that time some musical background so it was like a mystery i was listening to toots i had this this is a cassette like called harmonica jazz you know from 58 like so it's an amazing record so For me, it was like something beyond my... I could not reach that. And blues is, in a way, is very good for that because you don't have to get so much musical knowledge. Once you know there is a 1, the 4, and the 5 for the chords, it's a 12-bar blues. You have some minor blues, okay, but if you transcribe and you try to play and you experience, I think it's enough. You don't have to get a musical background.

SPEAKER_02: 8:46

You're certainly more accessible, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 8:48

So that's why... I waited so long to go to the chromatic. I didn't have any clue about chords, about nothing. I was just playing by ear and blues was easy to do that. And jazz, chromatic, it was another system, another instrument. So I moved to the chromatic because I finished my learning on the blues. From 19 to 24, I was basking mainly. And then I had several bands. and I did several bands with more and more good players in Paris. I was living in Paris at that time.

SPEAKER_02: 9:26

Yeah, so then you switched over to chromatic then to learn jazz. I take it was the main driver there.

SPEAKER_03: 9:32

Yeah, and also I wanted to, I was like watching and listening to and also Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, etc. I discovered a lot of music after that because once you put the finger, you know, you discover a whole new world with a lot of players, Stan Getz, I mean, so many great players and I wanted to be able to play that music.

SPEAKER_02: 10:10

And like you say, you were in Paris at this time. So did you then start tapping into the Paris jazz scene?

SPEAKER_03: 10:16

No, because I was really like the beginner, you know, the chromatic. When you switch to chromatic, you are like a beginner on the chromatic.

SPEAKER_02: 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 10:25

Even if you can play, you know, a good level on the diatonic, chromatic is another story. So it took me time to understand the mechanic of the chromatic and also the mechanics of the music, the harmony, etc. So I went to a school in 1994 Four. I went to a school in the CIM, it was a jazz school, and I did a course for maybe six months. I had one hour harmony per week, one hour piano, one hour instrument, and I had a saxophone player as a teacher, and one hour like in workshop, you know, with the band, with the double bass and drummer, piano and guitar and harmonica and some trumpet player, etc. And so this is how it started for me.

SPEAKER_02: 11:19

So you say you started about the age of 24 in chromatic and listening to your music, Laurent, you got to a great standard in that time. So how did you improve? So did you, you know, did you improve really quickly when you started learning and going to the jazz school and jumping into the jazz?

SPEAKER_03: 11:36

I practiced a lot. Once I started the chromatic, I knew I was like late for my age. You know, 24, you're almost grown and I was a beginner. So I had to work like I worked maybe eight, 10 hours a day for a long time, very long time. It was my goal. I was only focused on that. And so when you work that time, you spend a lot of time with your instrument. You develop kind of affinity with it and with the music also. And so you can catch up the time.

SPEAKER_02: 12:12

Did you have a day job at this point?

SPEAKER_03: 12:14

No, I was basking till 25. Then I had some things from the French government, like the minimum to live, you know, and I had like a little room in Paris. Maybe it was six or seven square meters. No shower, no bathroom, no toilets. Toilets were downstairs on the restaurant, you know, when it was cold in the winter, it was like very tough. It was very cheap, but very basic. I was basking also, but I did also some summer job to get some money to be more comfortable with the money and just have to focus on music.

SPEAKER_02: 13:01

yeah fantastic yeah and of course Paris is not a cheap place to live so you did well no you got good you got very good on the chromatic you know so then you started I think recording with other musicians were you playing around Paris with them and then got invited to play and record with them

SPEAKER_03: 13:15

actually I moved from Paris to Bordeaux in 97 yeah because I had my first boy he was born in 1994 and I moved to join my father mother in 97 and then I began to play more because in Paris the level is very high I was like a good beginner if you want but still a beginner and I didn't have the level to play with the cats you know it was like very very high standard and in Bordeaux it was like pretty big city less musician and the level was less high but you could find some good musician and so an harmonica player you know it's always like people likes Toots they like Brazilian music with Toots they like the sound of it the jazz man I mean jazz man generally they like if you come and you say hey man I play harmonica but I play chromatic they say you're welcome play something with us because they like the instrument they like basically what Toots did with it

SPEAKER_02: 14:21

yeah and I think you know I think they quite like the different sound only because there's obviously a lot of saxophones and you know and trumpets and things it's nice to get that different sound isn't it sure so yeah so it's good to hear you work received. Bordeaux, of course, is on the west coast of France. It's quite a touristy place. Did that help you getting some gigs around there? Was there quite a lot going on in

SPEAKER_03: 14:40

Bordeaux? Yeah. Much restaurants and not so much musicians. I could play maybe two or three days a week easily from 1997 to 2000 and let's say 2008. It helped me a lot to develop my skills and My music, because I played in different contexts. I played in the Latin jazz octet. I played in a big band. I played quartet, in trio, in duet. I did a lot of stuff with a lot of musicians. So I think my musicianship was growing. Apart from my work, my daily work, practice, I was facing a lot of new music, new material, music to play, et cetera. And so it was really good. good for me.

SPEAKER_02: 15:32

And did you go to Trossingen and take part in the competition

SPEAKER_03: 15:35

there? Ah yes, I went there in 2000 or 2001, I don't remember. It was a great time because I saw a lot of good players. I met Brendan Power there.

SPEAKER_02: 15:44

Okay, so did you win one of the competitions at Trossingen?

SPEAKER_03: 15:48

Yes, I won the solo harmonica and the jazz harmonica.

SPEAKER_02: 15:55

And this is when you started recording with other people, yeah? What was your first recording on an album

SPEAKER_03: 16:00

I did some maquettes, some demos, and my first album was in 2001, Mano a Mano. Mano a Mano can't find it anymore but I want to put it on YouTube

SPEAKER_02: 16:28

so this is with the Francis Lockwood trio yeah so what was the setup there

SPEAKER_03: 16:33

I told you I was playing in a big band, and the arranger of the big band, the conductor, told me once, Laurent, I think you should record something, and if you want to do that, I can help you. I can write music for a string quartet, and I got a good trio in Paris. I can make them come down to Bordeaux, and we can find a cheap studio. Actually, it was not a studio. We recorded in a bar, but arranged in a studio, you know, like fixed to be able to record. and with the percussion also. It was like a very, very nice project and we had a lot of fun doing that.

SPEAKER_02: 17:10

Have I got it right that you were encouraged to make this album by Toots Tillmans?

SPEAKER_03: 17:15

Yeah, I sent it to him. My first album, I had to.

SPEAKER_02: 17:20

After you recorded it, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 17:22

Yeah, I sent it to Toots and I sent it to Jean-Jacques also. And both, they called me back and they said to me, it's very nice, good music, good arranger, you play very good. I was very happy because it was my first thing, you know. And actually, when I listened to it, I think it's pretty okay. Pretty nice album.

UNKNOWN: 17:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 17:53

The sound is not great, but the music my friend wrote at that time is very nice. And the trio, the jazz trio is very nice. I did the job.

SPEAKER_02: 18:03

And then a couple of years later, you started playing with Orlando Paul and you were playing sort of Afro-Venezuelan, Latin, you know, sort of mixture genres.

SPEAKER_03: 18:13

Actually, the story is like in 2005, no, 2003, I was like a little fed up with my playing and my knowledge. I wanted to, I wanted more. So I did another jazz school, you know, the jazz school, DJ Local opened maybe three or four years before. And I went to that school for six months. And then there, I did a lot of stuff. It was very, very complete and very high level also. I met some people and a lot of people went to do some workshop and to show us how to play, etc. And there, I met Orlando and he invited me to come and jam to one of his gigs. And then after a while, he phoned me and he sent me a If you want, I'm doing a project, a new project, and I would like you to play in it. And so I said, yes, of course.

SPEAKER_02: 19:25

And so there's quite African sort of influence music, some of

SPEAKER_03: 19:29

it. Yeah, I mean, South American, but based on the African percussion legacy. And I learned a lot with those guys because there were two Cubans, like Luc Mil Perez Herrera on the drums, Felipe Cabrera on the bass. They are two amazing players, still in France, playing with everybody. Gerardo Di Giusto on the piano, an Argentine guy, and Orlando on the percussion. and it was like a great school for me because I didn't have no clue about that music, you know, the percussion chords, etc. I still like, I'm not a specialist, but Orlando gave me some kind of keys, you know, some tricks, you know, and some ways to listen to that and to understand how it works and so on.

SPEAKER_02: 20:16

And then you then played with some other, again, appeared on different people's albums. I've got Clem Cardenas.

SPEAKER_01: 20:22

Ah, yes. Let us shine, sweet Albion. Just know first that my kiss is easy wine.

SPEAKER_03: 20:33

Actually, at the same period, we were playing a gig with Orlando and Felipe. We were playing in Paris, in the French Embassy or something like that. And the girlfriend of Felipe saw the show and she said, I want Laurent to come and play on my album. And so that's how it started. and after we played a lot of gigs with that band

SPEAKER_02: 20:55

and then with Yves Carbon

SPEAKER_03: 20:58

Yves Carbon yes we recorded an album in duet we never released it really we recorded it it's very nice and I think all those the old stuff I should dig out those things and put it on YouTube because nobody listened to that and it's a shame because it's good music I guess Yves Carbon is like an amazing bass player

SPEAKER_01: 21:21

I

SPEAKER_03: 21:22

think

SPEAKER_01: 21:22

so

SPEAKER_02: 21:29

yeah so as well as the steward album then um they released a couple of albums which you played on as well so And then you started playing some gypsy jazz with Mayo Hubert.

SPEAKER_03: 21:50

Yeah, it was a very nice project. Amazing music because Mayo is an amazing composer. We had a lot of fun. But after a while, we did the record, but it was not really, really well promoted. The producer was okay because he had the money, he paid for all the stuff, but it was not really his job to promote people and to promote artists. And we both know that if you release an album, if you don't know how to put it on the national radio or to send it to the good person on the press, it's like throwing a bottle in the sea, you know?

SPEAKER_02: 22:30

you know, how did you take to playing gypsy jazz music as opposed to playing, you know, sort of more straight ahead jazz?

SPEAKER_03: 22:35

It's great. And harmonica fits right in.

UNKNOWN: 22:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 22:51

I mean, harmonica generally could be diatonic or chromatic, but harmonica fits in a lot of music, actually. You know Vincent Boucher? Vincent Boucher is a diatonic player from France, and he plays a lot with African guys, Boubacar Traoué, and music from the Mali, etc. And it's amazing what he's doing. It's very nice. And it's African music, you know, harmonica. But it works.

SPEAKER_02: 23:24

So then I think around 2011 or so, after you played with Mayor Hubert, you mentioned early on you went to spend some time in China and Korea.

SPEAKER_03: 23:37

Yes, because after the 2009-8 crisis, you know, Like in Bordeaux, we really felt the difference. Like restaurants were shutting down, no more clubs. It was like very difficult to make a living on music. And so I was like looking for solutions and I was looking to China and it was like it's crisis here, but there it's like it's a big boom economically. And so when you are a musician, you have to follow the money in a way.

SPEAKER_02: 24:12

Definitely, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 24:13

Because if you are in a country where everything goes well, like business is good, et cetera, you know, hire an orchestra or band. It's like always fun and it's easy. It's fine. Okay, let's bring a gypsy band or jazz band. It's cool. And so I went there. We went there with my girlfriend, Emily. And just to check, you know, we took three months tourist visa. And the first week we began to go there to jam and we met a lot of musicians and after it went very well for us because the music seemed to please people there and there were no flute players or harmonica players at that time in Beijing so we were welcome.

UNKNOWN: 24:59

piano plays

SPEAKER_02: 25:07

Yeah, but the harmonica is very popular in the East, isn't it? Did you find that? Were there a lot of other players, local players rather than foreign?

SPEAKER_03: 25:16

You can see a lot of old people from Mao era playing in the parks. and they gather and they play like old revolutionary songs but like they maybe are 60 70 you see it's like tradition from that era but you can you cannot find really popular jazzman or bluesman player there

SPEAKER_02: 25:42

you spent a few years then in what China and other places around the east

SPEAKER_03: 25:46

yeah I went to Korea also I spent a lot of time there and great time because I met a good musicians and good friends. Food is also great. Because in China, in Beijing, it was a lot of fun, but it was like the pollution was like something very, very problematic. Yeah, you had to wear a mask. In Beijing, it was like you couldn't find your way. It was dark.

SPEAKER_02: 26:15

Not good for a harmonica player to have all that pollution.

SPEAKER_03: 26:18

No, for sure. For no one, for nobody.

SPEAKER_02: 26:21

Breathing it all in, yeah, deeply, yeah. but yeah it sounds like you um you know you got a lot more um exposure gigging there and then playing and playing about in the east there

SPEAKER_03: 26:29

yeah but i mean in beijing i had a good chance to meet very very great piano player called moreno moreno donadel and that guy was like living there since like maybe 15 years and he's a great player he's from italy but he is also a master of kung fu so he went there with the national team italian to train on kung fu he decided to settle there. And it was like a kind of boring musically because when you go to Beijing at that time, the scene was like you had small gigs for jazz. I mean, artistic gigs was like small. But if you want to make money, you have to do like event, corporate gigs. And it's not the same story. You know, you play one song between the magician and the juggler. And they say, stop, stop, stop. Okay, stop. Now the magician. Okay. Okay. go go go you play you play you play the singer the singer you know it's like entertaining like people who don't care very rich people so you are very well paid but when you go back to your home you say i didn't sign for that you know

SPEAKER_01: 27:38

yeah yeah

SPEAKER_03: 27:39

i'm making money but what's the point i just play like with bad musicians who are just only interested by money but there were like kind of a nice spot in beijing called east shore donha east shore is like the old jazz club in Beijing and there it was like a cheap gig but you could do whatever music you wanted to and the audience were very very hot and it was full every night and Moreno had a gig there every Sunday and he told me Laurent every Sunday I have a gig if you want to join me and you do the repertoire and you are in charge of the repertoire because I don't I'm not motivated anymore to find music and I see you are like kind of hunger to play etc so please help me I hire you on the gig and you do the stuff. And so for a long time, I was transcribing songs I would like to play or some composition or some arrangement. By that way, I developed a lot my leadership and I defined what I want to play really. because at some point when you are musician and jazz musician but at some point you have to talk and to play what you want to play deeply and so to find the repertoire find the song you really want to explore etc and so I did that by that way thanks to you Moreno

SPEAKER_02: 29:02

and then you came back from China Korea and then you started releasing you know some more albums so you got some albums out with the with the UP quartet but also you Did you release some by yourself as well?

SPEAKER_03: 29:14

Yeah, all that experience from China and Korea gave me some confidence to manage my own music and my projects.

SPEAKER_02: 29:24

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SPEAKER_00: 29:28

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SPEAKER_02: 29:45

Was the first one The Last Dance? Is that the first album you released when you came back?

SPEAKER_03: 30:04

Yeah, it was recorded live near Bordeaux, in the south of France, with Mario Canonge, a really nice player from Antigua. And Felipe, still my old fellow man on the double bass. And Pierre-Alain Tocanier, a really fine drummer. We did the first one. Two years after that, we did another live album, Chef Larry. It was broadcasted on Mezzo, the video, and you can find some samples on YouTube, on my channel.

SPEAKER_02: 30:48

And on the Chef Larry album, there's some French songs on there, yeah?

SPEAKER_03: 30:52

Yeah, always. Even on the first one, I played like some Galliano stuff, some Birrelli La Grene. On Chef Larry, there is La Javanese and also Indifference, like really, really old valses.

SPEAKER_02: 31:09

And the title of the album, Chef Larry, that refers to you serving up the music, does it?

SPEAKER_03: 31:24

No, no, not at all. Actually, Larry, it was a tribute to a friend of mine who passed away. He was a cook from, he was a chef. He was from Chicago, Larry Spieth. And this album is like dedicated to him.

SPEAKER_02: 31:40

So there's some tremendous fast playing from you on these two albums. How did you develop that high speed and fluency?

SPEAKER_03: 32:01

I mean when you play jazz I mean you develop a lot of technique because you have to know all the scales, etc. And so I think it helps to play faster. And I didn't mention my first and last real teacher on the chromatic when I began when I was 24. I met Claude Gardin.

SPEAKER_02: 32:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 32:26

So Claude was an amazing, amazing player, like classical player. He could play jazz and so

SPEAKER_01: 32:32

on.

SPEAKER_03: 32:46

It was very expensive, the lesson with him. But I don't regret it because I took maybe six months. Like I went there like twice a month. for six months and he gave me some keys about the air column, you know, and the way to play really the sound, etc. Yeah,

SPEAKER_02: 33:06

did he really help with your technique, you know, coming from a classical background, did he?

SPEAKER_03: 33:11

Yes, because I was a blues player, so I was used to use my throat, my tongue, etc. And he told me, you should not do that with a chromatic. You have to learn to use nothing except your lips. And after, if you want to do some effects, you can from time to time use your tongue or something. But first you have to get the pure sound.

SPEAKER_02: 33:35

And then you also play with a quartet called UP.

SPEAKER_03: 33:39

UP Quartet, yes.

SPEAKER_02: 33:40

So this is with your girlfriend Emily who plays flute.

SPEAKER_03: 33:44

Yeah, indeed. And like an amazing rhythm section. So Curtis on the drums with like a groove machine and Oriel on the bass with also a groove machine and an amazing musician. And it's more like this band is a real band. We all compose equally. But unfortunately, Auriel cannot play anymore because of injury on the shoulder and the arm. And so UP Quartet is like going a little down now, which I regret. I regret it because it's very difficult for him because he had to stop music totally. It's very sad. And also, by the same way, the UP Quartet is kind of finished not refinished because we found another player but you know when you have a real band like that it's difficult to find the same thing

SPEAKER_02: 34:48

Some fantastic music from that band the two albums I've listened to really are it's really tremendous great interaction between you and and emily on the on the chromatic and the flute there's there's quite a lot of unison playing isn't there you're playing yeah yeah it's really effective isn't it uh that sound together your latest album is a it's just a duo album with emily isn't it just you and her on on flute yeah

SPEAKER_01: 35:25

yeah so It's

SPEAKER_02: 35:36

just the two of you playing on that, is

SPEAKER_03: 35:38

there? Yeah, and I play also the GM48. Yeah. So it helps to change the mood and the sound because I play like some background, you know, and she plays like Bansuri and I do some stuff there, some chords with a lot of reverb and it's like a synthesizer.

UNKNOWN: 36:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 36:09

And she plays Bansuri, she plays alto flute, and I play bass harmonica from Suzuki. I play chord harmonica also, the SCH-X48, I guess. And always my 16-hole, my good old 16-hole.

SPEAKER_02: 36:25

And then, like you say, you're playing the... Suzuki bass and the chord harmonicas the two different harmonicas from Suzuki which are in the form of a chromatic harmonica not the old orchestra bass and chords

SPEAKER_03: 36:39

yes the bass is like that it's like a 12-hole regular except it's like two octaves below so it's like a cello same range as a cello and works very good and the other one the chord harmonica is like a 14-hole with a totally new way of tuning and you can get like every chord in all tonalities so it's very interesting difficult but very interesting it's not in a key the most low note is a B flat so you could say it's in B flat but not really it's very interesting and the people who did that very very clever because you can effectively on 14 holes have all the chords simple chords and even some more tricky chords chord. You can listen to it on... I play it on Madame Chaperon. But nowadays, I'm more into harmonica. I bought an harmonica. It's tricky also, but so fun to play rhythm and chords. It's like, wow.

SPEAKER_02: 38:00

Yeah. And you mentioned there, obviously, that you play the DM-48 and you've recorded it on a few of the albums, as you've said there. So, obviously, you had an episode about the DM-48 a few episodes back. So, you're another leading player on the DM-48. So, how are you getting on with the DM-48 and what sort of potential do you think it has?

SPEAKER_03: 38:17

I think it's... It's a great instrument. The potential is limited by your imagination. It's like you can do whatever you want with it because it's like a synthesizer. And you play with the computer and now the music with computers is like really, really high level and the possibilities are endless.

SPEAKER_02: 38:40

So which software do you use with your DM-48? I

SPEAKER_03: 38:44

use it with ReZone and Ableton Live

SPEAKER_02: 38:48

Right, so you don't use a swarm of instruments through iPads?

SPEAKER_03: 38:52

Not really. I have some, but so far, playing an acoustic instrument, for me, what interests me more in synthesized music is to play the synthesized sound. It's my taste, you know, but I can change. I will change, for sure.

UNKNOWN: 39:18

so

SPEAKER_02: 39:23

So you're not playing then sort of other instruments like a saxophone, say, or a trumpet? No. You prefer the kind of synthesized sound?

SPEAKER_03: 39:31

Yeah, I mean, but I think I will change because I think it's interesting when I see what Jason Keane is doing with it because it's very nice. For instance, it's not my path.

SPEAKER_02: 39:43

I have one. After speaking to Jason and Eric, I have a DM-48 myself and I do love it. It's amazing potential, but I find that it's, I think I maybe have to improve on it, but I find it's hard to make it really fluent you know on certain instrument like a saxophone you can kind of hear gaps between the notes that you wouldn't get playing a normal chromatic and i know you can adjust all the settings so that you know how sensitive it is but i still can't really play in the same fluent way that i can a normal chromatic on certain instruments on some instruments it's better like the trumpet works really well i use i'm using the swarm instruments

SPEAKER_03: 40:16

with the ipad

SPEAKER_02: 40:18

yeah with the ipad yeah so i find that you know it's not really as fluid as i'd like it to be on mostly instruments, although it's still very effective and I do love it. It's got amazing potential and I think I've got to improve on it.

SPEAKER_03: 40:29

Ah, cool. I think it's like the invention of the decades or the century for harmonica player. It's like, it's incredible like what Eric

SPEAKER_02: 40:41

Lecombe did with that. It is incredible, yeah, and I think everyone should own one. The way I use it is that, yeah, you wouldn't use it on every song and absolutely, you still want to play chromatic or diatonic if you play diatonic, but to use it on some songs, it's just incredible. to have that tool in your armory

SPEAKER_03: 40:57

sure to the audience also it's very nice to change the sound and even for you it changes your inspiration

SPEAKER_02: 41:05

so ok so we'll move on a bit from your recording so you've released a few tuition videos on YouTube I think you've got one playing over a major 7th chord another one playing a Dorian scale so have you done much teaching is that something you're interested in doing more of

SPEAKER_03: 41:19

yes I do it like sometimes because I want to help people but I don't do it regularly. Maybe I should, but...

SPEAKER_02: 41:28

You've toured quite a lot around Europe, haven't you, with the different acts that we mentioned above and you played around various countries?

SPEAKER_03: 41:33

Yes, my next album actually was recorded in Greece, in Athens. I think we will release it in 2023. It's with a Greek trio with a great, great player named George Kontrafouris, piano player and organ player, but on this one plays only piano and double bass and drums and i think it's very very nice album We did that in one day and we did a couple of gigs before and we went to studio one day and we recorded a very nice album. The sound is beautiful. The songs are great. It's a mix between Yorgos' compositions and mine and I'm very happy with it.

SPEAKER_02: 42:32

So how did you meet up with the musicians in Athens?

SPEAKER_03: 42:35

Wow, Yorgos is a long story because I met him in 2000, maybe three or four. in bordeaux there were a jazz festival there an american he was playing there with uh with rick margitza which is a great tenor saxophone player a trumpet player from america didn't get the visa or i mean he was in trouble to come to france and so uh the friend of mine who were doing the the gig at the double bass told me if you want we can do something with you and the saxophone and we we could play some song from affinity and and so that's what we did i was so being you know the trumpet player and we changed a little the repertoire and I met Yorgos and then I went to Greece maybe in 2011 or something like that and we played together also there and we had fun he's an amazing amazing character amazing people and so he told me two years ago he called me he said hey we should we should play together and we should record something just come to Athens and we

SPEAKER_02: 43:41

do that so a question I ask each time Laurent is if you had 10 minutes to practice what would you spend those 10 minutes doing?

SPEAKER_03: 43:48

I think it depends on where you are in the music because each period each era in your musical learning is different and appeals for different type of work of practice so if you are a beginner you should practice on simple things like major scale minor scale I mean if you want to play jazz it depends on what you want to play also

SPEAKER_02: 44:16

yeah sure yeah

SPEAKER_03: 44:17

and and rhythm and like try to mix the the work of the scale and both with the rhythm playing if you if you do like metronome metronome is like that the beat is there like that It's cool, but rhythmically you play which is not really fun. But if you change, if you do you change the accent instead of doing the first If you do it it's on the beat, but if you do it after Thank you. You start to play rhythm. You play groove. So I think when you are a beginner and even an advanced player, you should practice the scale. And a good way to have fun when you practice scale is to practice it with rhythms and good rhythms. And so when you are just practicing practicing a basic scale, you groove, you know, and you have the body is moving and you have something is happening. And I think it's a good way to approach the basic work.

SPEAKER_02: 45:41

Yeah, make it more interesting, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03: 45:43

And to have fun doing it.

SPEAKER_02: 45:45

Yeah, great. So, I mean, you talked about, you know, when you went through periods where you're sort of playing eight hours a day. So when you were practicing, you know, that much, you know, how were you breaking up that sort of practice regime?

SPEAKER_03: 45:56

I mean, there were a lot of topics. At that time, I was like doing some 20 minutes sessions for a topic. After 20 minutes, I stopped and doing a little break. So when I was doing like eight hours a day, it took me like very long time. And I was playing like everything, you know, transcribing, learn new songs, scales, break the scales, rhythm, and trying ways to play rhythm and scales together, composing also. And I think you're good if you do that. You're on the good path.

SPEAKER_02: 46:29

Yeah, it's good. As you say, if you're practicing for so much, you cover a lot of different topics, don't you? That's one of the benefits of being able to practice so much. Let's get into the last section now, which is talking about gear. So you mentioned there's your... you play Suzuki's yeah I think 16 holes is it

SPEAKER_03: 46:45

yeah I switched to 16 holes in 2000 maybe 10 or 11

SPEAKER_02: 46:53

okay so quite recently then so how did you find the switch to 16

SPEAKER_03: 46:58

holes it was tough

SPEAKER_02: 47:00

yeah it is tough yeah I play 12 hole myself

SPEAKER_03: 47:02

16 when you go from one to the other it's like very very I was like switching from one to the other at some point I said okay now I don't play 12 I just go to the 16

SPEAKER_02: 47:15

hole

SPEAKER_03: 47:16

because otherwise I will never be able to be confident with it it was very stressful because I was already playing gigs and good gigs and important gigs but for me it was the only way to be like very extreme and only play that

SPEAKER_02: 47:31

one.

SPEAKER_03: 47:32

So I did a lot of mistakes. I was very stressed because starting a gig. But now it's my instrument. The 16 is very in my body and

SPEAKER_02: 47:43

my

SPEAKER_03: 47:43

brain.

SPEAKER_02: 47:44

So apart from obviously having an extra octave on the bottom end, what do you think the 16-hole gives you?

SPEAKER_03: 47:49

It gives you a lot because I don't play so much the extra octave. I mean, sometimes when it's quiet, because if you play with drums and bass, etc., It's very difficult to play it like if it's going, a lot of things are going on. It's difficult to get heard because the low register is very low. But when you play octaves, you have the real benefit of it. It's like an accordion. If you play it from a... like another instrument.

SPEAKER_02: 48:42

Yeah, and I noticed you do use a lot of octaves on your later albums, don't you? They're on the 16th hole, yeah?

SPEAKER_03: 48:49

Yeah, because it's the same as the DM-48. It changes the thing, you know?

UNKNOWN: 0:00

......

SPEAKER_03: 49:11

for example, you play the two A's, like in single note, and for the B, up octaves, something is happening, you know, the sound changed, and you switch from bandoneon kind of to harmonica to bandoneon, so it's always interesting, I think,

SPEAKER_02: 49:29

to do that. Which model of Suzuki do you play?

SPEAKER_03: 49:32

I play, I have a Fabulous, which is fabulous. It's expensive, but worth it, because in the eyes, like, the sound is So crystal. And the serious are very, very serious also. It's a very nice instrument. I practice a lot on Sayus and play gigs with

SPEAKER_02: 49:53

Fabulous. And do you play any diatonic harmonica still?

SPEAKER_03: 49:57

Yes, I play from time to time. I play on any kind. I have some Suzuki, some Oder.

SPEAKER_02: 50:04

Do you perform on the

SPEAKER_03: 50:05

diatonics? Yes, I perform. We have a show for kids with my girlfriend. It's like an act, 45-minute story. Only music. We don't talk. And there is a scenario, etc. it's a kind of a chaplain you know kind of silent movie yeah silent movie yes but with music we do the music ourselves and we play it like a lot we played maybe 300 concerts with that show and it's very interesting because we play it in front of kids like maybe from 200 to 500 kids in front of us and discovering music and harmonica and flute and the story so it's very very fun to do that and so in that act I play at the beginning I am the blues player on the bench in the street Back

SPEAKER_02: 51:02

to chromatics do you only play a C chromatic or do you play different keys?

SPEAKER_03: 51:07

Yes, I play C chromatic. I mean, when you play 12 holes, I understand you want to get some lower register. But when you play 16 holes, there's no point to get some other keys. It's a chromatic, right?

SPEAKER_02: 51:21

Yeah. And so you're embouchure... understand you're mostly a puckerer

SPEAKER_03: 51:27

uh yes but i'm working on the switch corner and i do it on the last album there is a there is a song uh composed by emily and i uh and i do the backing with uh on switchcorning it's the first

SPEAKER_01: 51:40

song so

SPEAKER_03: 51:51

it's very interesting and I think switch corner it's like an amazing technique it was like when I switched to the 16-0 it's like brand new for me when you are a poker player like playing with the tongue like that it's like it's a mess but I still I still work on it I'm not a specialist but I use it

SPEAKER_02: 52:10

and so I mean when you're performing again what about amplification what amplification do you like to use and microphones and so

SPEAKER_03: 52:17

I use exclusively the Roland Mobil Cube amplifier. It's an amazing amplifier for a harmonica player. It's like very cheap, maybe 130 euros. It's amazing. The sound is amazing on this thing. I sold my AER. I used to play on AER. Yeah. But I sold it once because I found it was a little heavy, etc. And I wanted some batteries. And so I bought that thing, that very, very little thing. It's like a radio, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 52:49

There

SPEAKER_03: 52:49

are two HP, which is very weird because it's like 2 HP and it's written like 2.5 watts each but if I play with a drummer you can hear me with that piece

SPEAKER_02: 53:06

put a microphone in front of it do you to pick it up if you're performing in a band yeah

SPEAKER_03: 53:09

also if i do a big stage there is a microphone on the in front of my uh my my radio but

SPEAKER_02: 53:16

you're always using the roller the roller microcube

SPEAKER_03: 53:19

yeah

SPEAKER_02: 53:19

yeah wow yeah yeah yeah

SPEAKER_03: 53:21

every everything you you you hear recently it's like recorded with that with that amp

SPEAKER_02: 53:26

well i'll have to try one of those i have a little practice vox um battery sort of amplifier which is similar but yeah i'll have to try the roller microcube it's the sound of it you like is it you think it really works with the chromatic well

SPEAKER_03: 53:37

yeah and I think it works for both if you put it low low the sound is very natural very warm and natural and if you put it a little more loud there is big enough crunch which I like also because I have a blues background and so it fits for my test it's the best combination so far I mean this one is my I have my sound on it so I'm really happy

SPEAKER_02: 54:03

yeah and what about when you're performing with the DM-40A what's your setup with that

SPEAKER_03: 54:07

it comes from the computer

SPEAKER_02: 54:09

yeah so you're playing through the laptop and then you're plugging that into what into the PA

SPEAKER_03: 54:14

yeah and some people a lot of sound engineers said to me you should bring a sound card because it's more safe than the plug you know the jack in the ear plug of the laptop but I don't do it because so far I didn't have no issue and what about your

SPEAKER_02: 54:30

microphone of choice

SPEAKER_03: 54:31

I took wireless sure because wireless is very very convenient and the Shure is like it's not expensive I know I tried I think it's Sennheiser

SPEAKER_02: 54:45

yeah

SPEAKER_03: 54:46

and I think or AKG I don't remember but there is a brand which defines more the details of what you play but I still play the Shure wow It suits me. It's okay.

SPEAKER_02: 54:59

And do you use any effects?

SPEAKER_03: 55:01

Nowadays, not so much, but I want to explore it more with Ableton Live. I think it's amazing what you can do with the effect track. Amazing tool for musicians. You can create all the effects and chain of effects. And so I want to explore that with Acoustic Chromatic to expand a lot more sound design with harmonica.

SPEAKER_02: 55:26

so final question then just about your future plans obviously you've mentioned that you're going to release an album next year with the piano player the Athens piano player yeah anything else lined up coming out

SPEAKER_03: 55:37

I think I will record also with Gerardo Di Giusto next year I guess some composition from him and from myself like a duet I guess maybe trio with a percussion player I would like also to record something with guitar but I have to find the right person to do it and we are going to do the following opus of the duet with Emily so we want to do like a little more covers like French songs or songs we are working on the repertoire

SPEAKER_02: 56:13

and any plans to explore the DM48 anymore

SPEAKER_03: 56:17

no the same I mean the DM48 I still have now I want to explore it with a foot pedal you know midi controller but by foot so far I do it with like with the hand but it's not really convenient I have a controller you know and I can switch from one sound to other or declench or switch but I want to do it with by foot like guitar player

SPEAKER_02: 56:40

yeah it's interesting I was talking to Jason Keane about that you know he uses a hand one doesn't he he kind of sticks on the bottom of his chromatic yeah yeah I was tempted to get one but I've held off so far it's interesting to think a foot one as well I'd be interested to hear what you get on that Lauren because I'd quite like a foot one might be more convenient yeah

SPEAKER_03: 56:57

it's like it's a little expensive but it works very very well it's a little difficult to program I mean if you want if you want to get to deeper in the in the sanitizer world you have to to be like more like a technician

SPEAKER_01: 57:15

yeah

SPEAKER_03: 57:15

because it's very very accurate etc and you know you have to know what to do etc so you have to learn a lot about how it works and so this one is called Soft Step by Macmillan. Kiss Macmillan. And it's like maybe 300 euros.

SPEAKER_02: 57:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 57:33

And it's very, very nice. But to program it, you have to dive in it.

SPEAKER_02: 57:38

Yeah, sure. Yeah, it's quite a learning curve. So thanks so much for joining me today, Laurent Moore.

SPEAKER_03: 57:43

No problem. Thank you, Neil, to invite me. And I'm very happy to answer to your question.

SPEAKER_02: 57:49

Thanks to Zydle for sponsoring the podcast. And be sure to check out the great range of harmonicas and products at www.zidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zidel Harmonicas. Thanks to Lauren for joining me today. He's got to a great level in chromatic and I look forward to hearing what he comes up with on the DM-48. Thanks all for listening again, and please remember to check out the website happyhourharmonica.com and the Spotify playlist which contains most of the songs from the episodes. All these are linked on the podcast page. And now it's over to Lauren to play us out with one of his songs with the Yuppie Quartet, Newpie.

UNKNOWN: 58:33

Newpie