Yeore Kim interview

Yeore Kim joins me on episode 119.
Yeore is from South Korea, where she first picked up the tremolo harmonica at the age of six. Her mother is a piano teacher, so she also learnt piano and other instruments, including trumpet, before focusing on the chromatic harmonica from age 18.
Yeore has released two albums of duets with different pianists.
She moved to France in 2018 after meeting her guitarist husband, Antoine Boyer, with whom she has released an album, Tangram. This contains a great mix of jazz, world music and interpretations of pop songs.
Yeore is currently working on a duo album with her husband, due to released later in 2024, and to be followed by a tour in 2025 to promote the album.

Videos:

YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfFkS5hmOn6BCgU1FCO_IEQ

Japanese player Nobuo Tokunaga:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33t6gCajgyw

7AM duet with pianist Mia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA2INoVumc0

Oasis song: Don’t Look Back In Anger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGiQuyXSN7Y

HUK interview with Sam Spranger:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSKLp_di5uw&t=98s

European Tour blog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaQmcObOMiU


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
--------------------------------
Blue Moon Harmonicas: https://bluemoonharmonicas.com

Chapters

• 1:45 Yeore is from South Korea, now living in France
• 2:02 Harmonica is not that popular in South Korea
• 2:29 Started learning music due to influence of mother, who is a piano teacher
• 2:46 Tremolo was first harmonica started playing, at age six
• 3:02 Tremolo is the most commonly played harmonica in Korea, playing classical music pieces usually on it
• 4:26 Mother is a piano teacher
• 4:52 Learnt harmonica in a music academy
• 5:14 Yeore is now a chromatic harmonica player, switching to the instrument age 18, having lessons for six months before self-learning
• 5:46 Applied knowledge of music from other instruments to the chromatic
• 6:22 Mainly plays jazz on the chromatic, initially inspired by Japanese player Tokunaga Nobuo and Toots Thielemans
• 7:07 Musical links between South Korea and Japan, but now the world has opened up with online resources
• 7:32 The influence of Toots and transcribing his music
• 8:57 The Brazil Project albums are Yeore’s favourites, and so she likes to play Brazilian styles of jazz
• 9:53 Yeore studied jazz at Seoul University and plays a diverse range of jazz styles now
• 10:13 Studied trumpet as main instrument on the university music course, but could also use the chromatic on the course
• 11:20 Similarities between trumpet and chromatic harmonica
• 12:21 Can you play same musical lines on trumpet and chromatic
• 14:00 Doesn’t perform on other instruments now, only harmonica
• 14:46 Plays some piano still, but not to perform on
• 15:08 Played with Filip Jers in a guitar workshop in Sweden
• 16:46 Yeore’s husband (Antoine Boyer) is a great guitar player, and she performs and tours with him
• 17:34 Didn’t play gypsy jazz before meeting her gypsy jazz guitarist husband, and still doesn’t
• 18:31 Moved to France in 2018, not being able to speak French of English, and similarity of learning music and languages
• 19:41 Based in Paris but also spends time in Dijon, France
• 20:22 Recorded an album with Antoine: Tangram, which means a Chinese puzzle
• 22:33 One of strengths of harmonica is the dynamic range
• 23:19 Uses some effects pedals to raise the intensity of the chromatic
• 24:53 Composed a song with a brass section from experience of playing the trumpet
• 26:23 Composed other songs on the album
• 26:43 Blackbird song chosen as harmonica is similar to a bird sound
• 28:11 Yeore played Bye Bye Blackbird with Jens Bunge at the Seoul Harmonica Festival in 2018
• 28:30 Does some duets with Antoine on the album
• 29:41 Classical piece on the album: Valse L, from Yeore’s experience of playing classical music when younger
• 30:38 Sings on one of the songs on the Tangram album
• 31:38 Planning to make a new duo album with Antoine soon
• 33:47 Recorded album with pianist Mia in 2023, a university friend from South Korea
• 34:42 Antoine and other musicians appear on Eutopia song
• 35:58 7AM song from album
• 37:14 Alone song from Eutopia album
• 38:12 Breeze is a samba song on the album
• 39:04 Recorded an album with a Korean pianist, Sunhang Lee, in 2014, Year’s first jazz album recording
• 40:17 Recording of Oasis song, Don’t Look Back In Anger, on YouTube, and approach to playing pop songs
• 42:01 Blog of European tour
• 43:01 Used jazz trumpet and saxophone tutorial material to learn jazz on chromatic
• 44:12 Teacher at university was a saxophone player
• 44:48 Placed third in the harmonica competition at the harmonica festival in Seoul with Antonio Serrano and Gregoire Maret as the judges
• 45:44 Performed a gig in India to a crowd of over 500,000 people, getting the gig through yoga
• 47:09 Has taught some tremolo previously, but focusing on performing at the moment
• 47:29 Ten minute question
• 49:08 Hohner Super 64 black model is chromatic of choice, also using Super 64X Performance
• 49:36 Uses low octave on 16 hole models to provide accompaniment to Antoine on guitar
• 50:44 Doesn’t play any diatonic or any tremolo any more
• 51:03 Has played some bass and chord harmonica
• 51:42 Plays chromatic only in key of C
• 52:07 Does some basic maintenance, but sends off to a technician for more major work
• 52:48 Embouchre is tongue blocking
• 53:11 How applies vibrato
• 53:26 Usually plays with mic in hand
• 53:47 Mic of choice is the Beyer Dynamic 88
• 53:58 Uses PA for amplification
• 54:13 Effects uses Line 6 multi-effects pedal
• 55:09 Future plans include recording the new album with Antoine
• 56:17 Going to Australia tomorrow and giving a harmonica workshop in South Korea in December
• 57:13 Why there aren’t more female harmonica players

Transcript

SPEAKER_04: 0:00

Yore Kim joins me on episode 119. Yore is from South Korea, where she first picked up the tremolo harmonica at the age of six. Her mother is a piano teacher, so she also learned piano and other instruments, including trumpet, before focusing on the chromatic harmonica from age 18. Yore has released two albums of duets with different pianists. She moved to France in 2018 after meeting her guitarist husband, Anton Boyet, with whom she has released an album, Tangram. This contains a great mix of jazz, world music and interpretations of pop songs. Yore is currently working on a duo album with her husband, due to be released later in 2024, and to be followed by a tour in 2025 to promote the albums. This podcast is sponsored by Seidel Harmonicas. Visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seidel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Seidel Harmonicas. Hello, Yorei Kim, and welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_02: 1:41

Hello, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_04: 1:44

Great to speak to you, Yorei. So you are a South Korean harmonica player, and you are currently based in France, but you're originally from South Korea.

SPEAKER_02: 1:54

Yes, I was born in South Korea, and now I live in Paris.

SPEAKER_04: 1:59

Excellent. Very exciting place to live. So great. So tell us about South Korea and what's the harmonica scene like there?

SPEAKER_02: 2:07

In Korea, there is really few of the harmonica player. It's really rare. Yeah, it's pretty good to play harmonica because there is not many harmonica players in Korea.

SPEAKER_04: 2:22

Yeah, not much competition then, eh? That's always good.

SPEAKER_02: 2:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 2:27

So what got you into playing the harmonica?

SPEAKER_02: 2:29

So I started playing music because of my mother, who is a piano teacher. First I learned piano, then cello and drum, trumpet, etc. And she gave me a lot of music experiences. When I was six years old, I started playing tremolo harmonica from a music academy near my home. In that class, I realized that I'm good at playing the instrument with my breath in, and I really like to play it.

SPEAKER_04: 3:02

So you started on the tremolo. So is that the most common harmonica in Korea?

SPEAKER_02: 3:07

Yes, tremolo is common.

SPEAKER_04: 3:10

And so what sort of music are they playing on the tremolo there in Korea?

SPEAKER_02: 3:15

Kind of classic pieces.

SPEAKER_04: 3:18

Classical music on a tremolo, is that?

SPEAKER_02: 3:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 3:21

How does that sound?

SPEAKER_02: 3:23

Yeah, normally. In Europe or in America, there is no... You don't play classical pieces with tremolo harmonica?

SPEAKER_04: 3:33

No, it's mainly used for folk music, traditional sort of pieces. Because a tremolo, of course, isn't chromatic, is it? So it'd be interesting to hear how you could play classical music on a tremolo.

SPEAKER_02: 3:49

Really? Okay. I don't know. I learned tremolo harmonica with classical pieces. Yeah, you know this piece?

SPEAKER_04: 4:04

The William Tell Overture?

SPEAKER_02: 4:05

Yeah, kind of these tunes I played with G tremolo and 3D front key tremolo harmonica I used.

SPEAKER_04: 4:16

Oh, you would switch between the three to play the song?

SPEAKER_02: 4:19

Yeah, exactly. Ah,

SPEAKER_04: 4:20

excellent. Did you say age six when you started playing the tremolo?

SPEAKER_02: 4:24

Yeah, when I was six.

SPEAKER_04: 4:26

Great. And then were you also playing the piano at this stage?

SPEAKER_02: 4:30

Yeah, because my mom is a piano teacher. Naturally, I learned piano from my mother. And after, yeah, she asked me also, why don't you play harmonica? So I played.

SPEAKER_04: 4:45

So when you were playing at a young age on the tremolo harmonica, was your mother playing the piano with you? No,

SPEAKER_02: 4:52

because I learned in music academy. So, you know, there is teacher. With her, I played harmonica only. Ah, the teacher, she played the guitar. together with me

SPEAKER_04: 5:06

great so you went to this academy what from the age of six that you're learning this wow that's a young age to be uh starting on the on the harmonica yeah so you're mainly a chromatic harmonica player now let's establish that so that that's correct yeah

SPEAKER_02: 5:19

yes right

SPEAKER_04: 5:21

so when did you switch over to the chromatic harmonica

SPEAKER_02: 5:24

after tremolo harmonica i've been playing the harmonica as a hobby and i started playing chromatic harmonica when i was 18. i had lessons for about six months. After that, I found myself.

SPEAKER_04: 5:39

But you played the other instruments that you mentioned.

SPEAKER_02: 5:42

Trumpet, yeah, drum, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 5:46

How did you feel you could apply your knowledge of music from the other instruments to the chromatic? Was that very helpful?

SPEAKER_02: 5:53

Yeah, of course. It was really helpful about the harmony and chords, changes. Yeah, it's really helpful for me.

SPEAKER_04: 6:05

So when you started playing chromatic harmonica at age 18, what sort of music were you then learning on the chromatic?

SPEAKER_02: 6:28

Probably jazz.

SPEAKER_04: 6:29

You were inspired by Toot Sealmans, were you?

SPEAKER_02: 6:32

yeah of course and i'm not sure you know this name the japanese chromatic harmonica player tokunaga nobu He influenced me a lot, actually.

SPEAKER_04: 7:07

So clearly, South Korea and Japan are quite closely aligned. So you were listening to music from Japan, and is that how you discovered him?

SPEAKER_02: 7:17

Yes, right. Now we can listen every kind of music. We can listen on YouTube or Spotify. So it's so very helpful a lot for me, YouTube and albums.

SPEAKER_04: 7:32

Did you find the Japanese player before you found Toots?

SPEAKER_02: 7:35

Oh, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_04: 7:36

Toots is first. Toots first, yeah. Yeah, of course. And so is Toots what got you into playing jazz?

SPEAKER_02: 7:45

I learned jazz language by Tuch's music, and I transcribed a lot of his albums.

SPEAKER_04: 7:55

How did you go about transcribing his albums? Did you do that on the computer? Did you write them out onto music scores?

SPEAKER_02: 8:01

I found the video of Tuch on YouTube, and I listened to that, and I transcribed it on the music note.

SPEAKER_04: 8:11

So you wrote it onto paper?

SPEAKER_02: 8:13

Yes, right.

SPEAKER_04: 8:15

Yeah, so that transcribing is a very valuable way to learn here. So that's one of the main ways you learned how to play the jazz chromatic.

SPEAKER_02: 8:23

Yeah, I agree. It's a really good way. Sometimes I use an application. The name is Transcript Plus. So in this application, I can... I can make the speed slow down and speed up and all of the key, I can change it. So it's really practical for transcribing.

SPEAKER_04: 8:51

Yeah, and they're amazing tools, aren't they? So what's one of your favorite Toots Tillman songs?

SPEAKER_02: 8:58

My favorite album, actually, it is Brazil Project. This album is really fantastic. Especially, I really like the album Brazil Project 2.

SPEAKER_04: 9:27

So does that mean you were interested in playing Brazilian music initially and Bossa Novas and these styles of Brazilian music?

SPEAKER_02: 9:35

Yeah, Bossa Novas and Samba and even Cuban. I really like Latin music also.

SPEAKER_04: 9:44

So is that the style of jazz you like to play now or is it initially just, have you moved away from the Brazilian styles?

SPEAKER_02: 9:53

then i started learning about jazz in university so i have a opportunity to play all of the genre the music yeah yeah so that's why

SPEAKER_04: 10:07

so you studied a music degree in university there did you

SPEAKER_02: 10:12

yeah i i entered when i was I entered Seoul Art University as a trumpet player because I studied trumpet when I was 19. So as a trumpet player, I entered and I learned jazz and all the different types of music there.

SPEAKER_04: 10:33

And were you able to use the chromatic harmonica on that jazz course?

SPEAKER_02: 10:39

Yeah, of course. Sometimes I played jazz. harmonica with my friends, college friends. But mainly I choose a trumpet in this moment. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 10:52

Because often these courses don't accept the harmonica as an instrument. They want another better established instrument.

SPEAKER_02: 11:01

Ah, yeah, it's true, yeah. Because, I mean, that's why I learned trumpet. because it is so hard to enter the university in Seoul as a harmonica player. So that's why I started to play trumpet.

SPEAKER_04: 11:20

And so what about the similarities between playing trumpet and chromatic harmonica? Are you able to use some of the same techniques on both? What's similar and different between the two instruments?

SPEAKER_02: 11:35

Similar thing is just one thing. We use the mouth, our mouth. But the other thing is completely different. And plus, with mouth, harmonica, we use, how I can say, we use the other part of mouth. I mean, when we play trumpet, we have to vibrate. like this like this we have to make sound with mouth but with harmonica no we just blow and harmonica he just play with my breath so it is different

SPEAKER_04: 12:21

So what about the musical lines that you're playing, say, on a trumpet? That's what you learnt in your course. Are you able to play the same lines on the chromatic harmonica? How would you approach that?

SPEAKER_02: 12:34

Yeah, I started learning about just trumpeter music then, so like Lee Morgan and Chad Baker, Kenny Doran, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, of course. So I learned a lot from those of artists. So when I copy, I mean transcribe, trumpeter music, I try with harmonica, with same thing.

SPEAKER_04: 13:01

And do you think that those, you know, the Lee Morgan and Miles Davis, etc., you know, does that fit well on the harmonica?

SPEAKER_02: 13:10

Sometimes yes, but sometimes no. So I can choose the pieces that…

SPEAKER_04: 13:18

That fit on the harmonica.

SPEAKER_02: 13:20

Yeah, yeah, right. So that's why I like the Latin music or Bossa Nova and Brazilian because you're really good with harmonica normally.

SPEAKER_04: 13:30

So what makes the pieces good for the chromatic harmonica, do you think? Is it maybe when the breath direction, you know, you don't have to change the breath direction between blowing out and breathing in. Is that what makes it fit well on the harmonica?

SPEAKER_02: 13:47

Yeah, it's right, it's right. Also, the trumpet tone is really... It is not thin. Harmonica tone is really little... Thin. Yeah, thin.

SPEAKER_04: 14:01

So do you still perform on the trumpet as well as the harmonica?

SPEAKER_02: 14:05

I don't play the trumpet now. I love the sound of trumpets, but harmonica was more attractive to me. It was physically hard to play the trumpet. And there are not many players who play harmonica, so it is one of the reasons that I choose harmonica.

SPEAKER_04: 14:39

And do you play any other instruments, like still the piano, or any of the other instruments to perform with?

SPEAKER_02: 14:46

Yeah, I play piano sometimes, but my level is not so professional, so I just enjoy,

SPEAKER_04: 14:53

yeah. So the chromatic harmonica is what you perform

SPEAKER_02: 14:57

on? Yeah, mainly I'm focusing on the chromatic harmonica, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 15:02

No, fantastic. That's great to hear on this podcast. Okay, so... I understand Philip Gers was another influence on you. How did you meet Philip, and how did he influence your harmonica playing?

SPEAKER_02: 15:16

With Philip, we met in Sweden. It was in a guitar festival. Usually I'm touring a lot with my husband, who is a guitarist, and he is pretty famous in the guitar world, so there is no lot of... harmonica festival in the world so we touring a lot for the festival guitar so yeah in sweden there are the festival guitar festival I think it was Uppsala yes it was in Uppsala we met in Uppsala guitar festival and he came the concert and we met and we jammed some tunes. Yeah, it was really cool. He was really kind and I learned so much things from him.

SPEAKER_04: 16:16

Yeah, he's a great player,

SPEAKER_02: 16:19

yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 16:36

Yeah, he's coming to the UK, Harmonica UK festival at the end of October this year. So yeah, he's going to be around these parts. So I hope to see him there. And so you mentioned your husband there, who's called?

SPEAKER_02: 16:49

Yeah, in French, we called Antoine Boyer.

SPEAKER_04: 16:55

So he's French and you're married, as you say. So that was the reason for moving to France, was it?

SPEAKER_02: 17:01

Yes, exactly. We met in 2018. I just participated in Gypsy Jazz Festival in Taiwan. So we met in there, and Antoine, he came there to give a master class and concert. And we just recognized each other and then I moved my life to France.

SPEAKER_04: 17:26

Great. So were you playing gypsy jazz on the harmonica before you went to that festival?

SPEAKER_02: 17:32

Actually, I really, I don't know about gypsy jazz. I just wanted to go and feel and I wanted to, yeah, learn.

SPEAKER_04: 17:45

Yeah, sure, and meet your husband there, so that turned out well.

SPEAKER_02: 17:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 17:51

Anton, he plays mainly gypsy jazz, does he, on the guitar?

SPEAKER_02: 17:56

Mm-hmm, he plays gypsy jazz, but now he's trying to play kind of jazz and world music.

SPEAKER_04: 18:06

Yeah, so you've got him to branch out from gypsy jazz. That's good to hear.

UNKNOWN: 18:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 18:21

So you moved to France, I think, six years ago, was it?

SPEAKER_02: 18:34

Yes, exactly, six years ago.

SPEAKER_04: 18:38

And at that point, I understood you couldn't speak English or French. So you're doing very well with your English. How's your French?

SPEAKER_02: 18:48

It's better than my English now.

SPEAKER_04: 18:52

That's good in France. So, yeah, as well as learning the music, you're having to learn lots of languages.

SPEAKER_02: 19:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 19:03

Well, people often say there's a similarity between learning languages and learning music. Do you see a similarity?

SPEAKER_02: 19:09

Yeah, I completely agree. Because it's like, for example, the phrase of jazz. It's like the sentence of when I say something. so yeah it's really similar to stay something and run the rengis and run some music yeah

SPEAKER_04: 19:34

yeah so maybe it's helping your your music uh learning languages so yeah that's uh interesting so you're living in in paris now uh and you're based there yeah

SPEAKER_02: 19:46

yes i live in paris but just six months ago i moved in dijon so actually we are home is in dijon but Anyway in Paris we have small room for stay because we are touring a lot so take the plane or take the train we need the place like a bus stop So in Paris, we have one small room. So I stay here now.

SPEAKER_04: 20:21

Very nice. So with Anton, you have recorded an album in 2020, I think during the COVID pandemic, yes?

SPEAKER_02: 20:31

Yes, during the pandemic, yes.

SPEAKER_04: 20:33

Yeah, and this album is called Tangram. What does that name mean, Tangram?

SPEAKER_02: 20:39

Yeah, it's a Chinese puzzle with seven pieces. So we can create whatever we want with it.

SPEAKER_04: 20:49

Right. And is that the album cover? Because it's kind of like a puzzle on the album cover. Is that what the Tangram is on there?

SPEAKER_02: 20:56

Yes, exactly. So in our album Tangram, we are seven musicians and we created our own from like puzzle.

SPEAKER_04: 21:05

right great so yeah a really interesting album and listening to it ahead of talking to you and some really quite intense music on there and and a great setting for the harmonica where you're playing in some it's quite diverse the music you're playing you know different sorts of songs and again quite intense music in places so yeah some great use of the harmonica on there so So the song Melodia is a song which starts off quite slow and then melodic, but then it ramps up the intensity and the harmonica really comes in again at this intense level. That's an approach you were trying to get on the album,

SPEAKER_02: 22:30

yeah? Yes. The advantage of harmonica is kind of dynamic. I mean, we can be so easily be intense than the other instrument because it is the closest instrument to human voice. So I can express various emotions with it. So it's really easy to be intense.

SPEAKER_04: 23:03

Yeah, no, absolutely. But as you said earlier on, the chromatic maybe can sound a little thin. It's maybe not as powerful sounding in some ways as, say, the diatonic. So are you playing the chromatic quite hard to get that intensity out of it, or are you using maybe some effects to help with that, some effects pedals or anything like that?

SPEAKER_02: 23:26

Yeah, I tried some pedals in this album. First, I tried to use a disto pedal in Radiohead's Exic Music. With this pedal, I can make my tone a little more powerful and a little more violin.

SPEAKER_04: 24:27

And again, that is also very intense, yeah? Like you say, using effects on there, and you're really getting a lot of really interesting sounds out of the chromatic harmonica.

SPEAKER_02: 24:36

Yeah, with Antoine, I tried so a lot of the effects. Because, you know, harmonica is an instrument that has quite limitations.

SPEAKER_04: 24:53

and then there's a song called the waltz on you can dance um where there's lots lots going on on there lots of horns and guitar and lots of movements on that song so So can you tell us about that song?

SPEAKER_02: 25:33

Yeah, this song, the idea about the brass, I play the trumpet, so I was sure it worked really good with harmonica and with brass. So I asked Antoine, maybe we can play... with brass players. But you

SPEAKER_04: 26:00

didn't play trumpet yourself?

SPEAKER_02: 26:03

No, it's not possible because I had to play harmonica on my own. I played in a big band for 2-3 years. So I know the kind of section and the feeling of the big band.

SPEAKER_04: 26:23

So did you compose some of the album yourself with Anton and these songs that you've written?

SPEAKER_02: 26:29

Yeah, I composed this album at the first. And after Anton, he put some rich harmony and... Yeah, let's work like this.

SPEAKER_04: 26:42

Great, yeah. And so some of the songs are original songs and obviously there are some cover songs. So you do Blackbird by The Beatles.

SPEAKER_02: 26:52

Ah, yes.

UNKNOWN: 27:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 27:10

That's a very well-known song and very beautifully played, a nice interpretation. So, yeah, tell us about the Blackbird song.

SPEAKER_02: 27:27

Blackbird, because I think... But the song of the harmonica is like, it's really similar with bird sound. So I think it's really good with this song. And he really liked this song already. So we tried, yeah, we tried to record.

SPEAKER_04: 27:50

And of course, Toots Tillmans plays Bye Bye Blackbird. Do you also play that song?

SPEAKER_02: 28:11

Oh yeah, I really like that. In 20... 18, maybe? In Seoul, there is International Harmonica Festival. Jens Brunier, you know Jens Brunier?

SPEAKER_03: 28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 28:25

He was there, and we played together this song.

SPEAKER_04: 28:30

As well as having, like you say, seven members of the band on the album, you also do just some duets with Antonin Guitart, such as Imaginer, so a much more gentle duet with Guitart, which is a nice contrast.

SPEAKER_02: 28:45

Ah, yes, as you know, when we play a lot of people together, we don't have to be really aware, how I can say, I mean, if we are just a duo right if we play just a duo for example me and antoine guitar and harmonica we have to be really conscious and of course the sound can be more sensitive and yeah more Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_04: 29:35

Yeah, it's nice. But again, a nice contrast to some of the other more forceful songs on the album. So that's great. And you also do a classical piece, the Vols L. So yeah, you get some classical music on there too.

SPEAKER_02: 30:02

Mm-hmm. Because I started classical music by my mother, so I know classical pieces a little. And Antoine, he studied a lot of classical music. So yeah, we play this song.

SPEAKER_04: 30:20

So when you're playing classical music on the harmonica, are you reading them from music scores? Do you still read a lot when you're playing?

SPEAKER_02: 30:29

Now, no. Now I'm just focusing on the world music, kinds of jazz like this.

SPEAKER_04: 30:39

and um there's a song on there called mother to the world uh yeah is that you singing on there

SPEAKER_02: 30:46

yes because i studied improvisation free in paris actually during two years yeah yeah

UNKNOWN: 31:05

Thank you

SPEAKER_04: 31:20

Right, so that is a Tangram album, which again is really interesting and they're very varied and you're getting all sorts of different varied sounds out of the chromatic, as we've said. So it's really interesting and some really interesting playing on there.

SPEAKER_02: 31:34

Thank you.

SPEAKER_04: 31:34

Well done on that album with Anton. And I think you're planning on putting together another album with Anton. Are you in the near future?

SPEAKER_02: 31:47

Yes, we are... going to recording new duo album now it's not the band we just trying to record our own duo album yes This year we will record, and next year it will be released.

SPEAKER_04: 32:09

Great, and what sort of music genres will be on that one? Will it be different music genres again, or because it's a duo, it will be more jazz?

SPEAKER_02: 32:19

It's a mix of our own composition and some popular songs, so it's similar. We are going to record beautiful songs that are easy to listen to, but can be immersed in.

SPEAKER_04: 32:33

Any more singing from you on that Euray?

SPEAKER_02: 32:36

Singing? Not really. No, not really. I do love to, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 32:44

And also, there's some songs which don't have harmonica on. Obviously, there's some guitar, but do you play any other instruments on the album?

SPEAKER_02: 32:53

No, I just, yeah, I just play harmonica, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 33:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 33:12

Hey, what's happening, y'all? Jason Ritchie from Blue Moon Harmonicas, and I'm here to tell you that Blue Moon Harmonicas are the way. You can customize them yourself, or you can get Tom to do them. The website is a rabbit hole. We're talking about custom combs, custom cover plates, throwbacks, refurbished pre-wars, double reed plates, anything you can imagine, aluminum, ABS, plastic, phenolic resin, wood, any kind of comb you want, any kind of Then you

SPEAKER_04: 33:47

do have another release out, which is called Utopia, which is an EP, which has got six songs on, with a pianist called Mia, who I think is one of your friends from Korea, university friends.

SPEAKER_02: 34:00

Yeah, my university friends. Thirteen years ago, we met in university in Korea. We put this album, pop and jazz with some Korean atmosphere.

SPEAKER_04: 34:14

What year is this album from?

SPEAKER_02: 34:16

Just last year. Yeah, last December, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 34:20

Yeah, so this is a more recent album. And so it's just you and piano, yeah? Yeah, it's just a duo album. She still lives in Korea, Mia, does she?

SPEAKER_02: 34:30

Yeah, she lives in Korea, but she really loves Paris. So she wants to come to Paris really often.

SPEAKER_04: 34:42

Yeah. There is one song with a... Yes, actually it's

SPEAKER_02: 35:13

called Utopia. As we know, utopia means we can't reach it, but e-utopia is an ideal society that we can actually realize. So we put our thought on e-utopia in this album, in this song.

SPEAKER_04: 35:32

Great. And who's playing the classical guitar? It's not Anton.

SPEAKER_02: 35:36

Ah, yeah, of course it's Anton. And yeah, it is Anton. And there is contrabassist and violinist. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 35:46

Right. Yeah. Great. So yeah, I've got some other musicians on that song. Yeah. But the other songs are duo with the piano.

SPEAKER_02: 35:54

Yes, mainly just piano and chromatic harmonica. Yes.

SPEAKER_04: 35:58

And there's a nice video of 7am of you playing the song with Mia on YouTube that people can find. I'll put a link onto that onto the podcast page. So... What is that 7 a.m. song about?

SPEAKER_02: 36:31

Yeah, 7 a.m. is about the morning when I wake up in the morning at 7 a.m. But you didn't sleep well because in your head there is some thoughts and worries everywhere in your head, so... you couldn't sleep well so you just lay down on the on the bed and after you you wake up at 7am, so that's why the title is 7am.

SPEAKER_04: 37:11

Another song you did on the album is the song Alone, which is a sort of slow and mournful song, and that's with Mia on piano, yeah?

UNKNOWN: 37:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 37:36

Yes, it is Mia who composed this song. She is a really good composer. With harmonica, it's really good. It's kind of a classical song and I really love it.

SPEAKER_04: 38:00

And the chromatic harmonica and the piano, I always think, go so well together, don't they?

SPEAKER_02: 38:05

Yeah, yeah, usually it really goes well.

SPEAKER_04: 38:09

Yeah, they're sort of similar voicing, aren't they, I think. And then we have Breeze, which is a much faster song on the album.

SPEAKER_02: 38:17

Yeah, it's the fastest song in this album. It's like samba. But we didn't improve. We don't improve in this song. We just fix it. every note and yeah we played like this so

SPEAKER_04: 38:59

Excellent stuff, yeah. So, some good recording there with Mia. So, you also, earlier on, I think, did a recording with another pianist in Korea called Seung Hang Lee. You've got a recording on YouTube called Romantic Song.

SPEAKER_02: 39:14

Yeah, I think it was 2014. Yeah, it's a long time ago when I lived in Korea. Yeah, with her I recorded, we recorded her album, her own album.

SPEAKER_04: 39:32

So was that your first album you recorded with Sun Hang?

SPEAKER_02: 39:35

Yeah, first jazz album, I think.

UNKNOWN: 39:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 40:05

And after Romantic Song with Anton, we really love this song, so we will re-record this song in our new duo album.

SPEAKER_04: 40:17

Other videos you've got on YouTube, you've got a good active YouTube channel. You've also got the Oasis song, Don't Look Back in Anger. So that's a pop song. Yes, you like to record some pop songs too.

SPEAKER_02: 40:49

Yeah, I really like to play popular songs with harmonica. Already harmonica tone is quite special, so with popular song, harmonica, it really goes well.

SPEAKER_04: 41:07

Yeah, so do you approach playing a pop song differently than you do, say, a jazz song?

SPEAKER_02: 41:13

yes I like jazz song but sometimes I feel a little difficult to listen and play also so I try to play popular song and K-pop and every kind of song yeah

SPEAKER_04: 41:28

yeah great and you may have heard that Oasis have just announced that they're doing a tour together after being split up for a number of years so maybe they'll call on you to play some harmonica with them

SPEAKER_02: 41:39

yeah I hope I really I'd love you'll

SPEAKER_04: 41:43

have to send them a recording of Don't Look Back in Anger I have had Mark Felton previously on the podcast and he did record some songs and played some live gigs over Oasis so he might get the call first but yeah Okay You also have a blog of you doing a European tour with Anton called Fast Jazz Euro Tour so that's a travel diary with you playing and travelling around with Anton around Europe yeah

SPEAKER_02: 42:17

yeah I usually I like to try something new and I'm touring a lot with Antoine so I just thought that yeah maybe I can film what I interest my life this kind of vlog so I can show my life and yeah but it was just two episodes and just I tried and then it finished

SPEAKER_04: 42:46

It's good, it's very interesting and it's quite short as well so it's quite a nice way to get a flavour of what it's like touring around and doing some concerts. Yeah, it's an interesting watch. I'll put the link to the podcast page onto that video. Looking into how you learnt when you were younger, I saw that when you were learning jazz you used lots of trumpet and saxophone tuition books to learn to play on the chromatic harmonica, jazz on the chromatic harmonica.

SPEAKER_02: 43:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 43:14

Yeah, that's something you needed because the wasn't too much material for the harmonica

SPEAKER_02: 43:18

it's true yeah there are no lot of things for harmonica player for jazz so i learned about jazz a lot from charlie parker omni book for example yeah there is so many education books for saxophonist and trumpetist I learned a lot from this.

SPEAKER_04: 43:41

Yeah, yeah, definitely learned that jazz language from the Charlie Parker Omnibook. So did you learn to play Donnelly on the chromatic harmonica?

SPEAKER_02: 43:50

Yeah, I transcribed, you know, the solos of Charlie Parker's and yeah, B-bar and hard bar, but it's not my things, I think.

SPEAKER_04: 44:02

Yeah, certainly a challenge transcribing Charlie Parker. So yeah, you know, he plays a lot of notes very fast. So, yeah. Yeah, amazing. And your teacher at university, he was a saxophone player, I think, wasn't he?

SPEAKER_02: 44:17

Yeah, I was saxophone teacher. So, he just gave me the advice, but he don't know. really don't know about harmonica. And at that time, I was a trumpet player. In major, I played trumpet. Anyway, it doesn't matter about the instrument. If you want to learn jazz language, we can just accept every method.

SPEAKER_04: 44:47

So, talking about your appearances at different festivals, you played in the festival there in Korea. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02: 44:57

and festivals our harmonica festival i guess

SPEAKER_03: 45:02

yeah

SPEAKER_02: 45:02

it was 2018 i think i met there i participated in solo part in jazz and maybe i got third prize there and the jury was Antonio Serrano and Mare

SPEAKER_04: 45:24

Gregoire Moray.

SPEAKER_02: 45:25

Yes, Gregoire Moray. Yes, so I met them and I am really fan of them, so I asked to take the photo with them. Yeah, I remember that.

SPEAKER_04: 45:41

Yeah, two great judges. Yeah, fantastic. And you played some gigs in some interesting foreign countries, so you played a big gig in India to a huge audience.

SPEAKER_02: 45:53

Yeah, it was really huge festival in India. It's one of the huge festival in India. There were more than 500,000 people. So the energy. Wow, in the crowds. Yeah, it was huge. So the energy I felt there was incredible, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 46:13

So how did you get that gig in India?

SPEAKER_02: 46:15

Because I've been doing the yoga two, three years. ago so we know some guru the name is sadguru and he created foundation of yoga is called isha center so we we went with antoine and we went to isha center several times and after we meet the group of isha so the code is sound of isha So we met this musician from India and we know each other after they invite us for the festival.

SPEAKER_04: 46:55

Nice. So doing yoga got you a gig. That's good to hear.

SPEAKER_01: 46:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 47:00

I do some yoga myself. I haven't got any gigs out of it yet. I'll have to try that. Yeah, it's a good way. And do you do any teaching of the harmonica at all yourself?

SPEAKER_02: 47:14

Yeah, when I was 20 years or 20, 25, I gave a lot of lessons, but now I'm just focusing on to be a performer now.

SPEAKER_04: 47:29

So a question I ask each time, Yoriz, if you had 10 minutes to practice, what would you spend those 10 minutes doing?

SPEAKER_02: 47:35

If I have 10 minutes to practice, I practice the song I'm going to play. The things I need to remember in detail, the melody of the song to be played at the upcoming concert, or the chord changes that I was confused about, or the section.

SPEAKER_04: 47:56

Yeah, sure, yeah, so you're focusing on the difficult parts of the songs, yeah. And what about if you haven't got a, you know, songs to learn for a gig or an album?

SPEAKER_02: 48:07

Usually I practice the song while I feel it is beautiful. So I choose the tune that I thought it is beautiful. For example, recently I transcribed the song, our Spanish love song from Charlie Hayden. And I transcribed the solo of Pat Metheny in this tune. And I repeat over and over, over and over in my head, and yeah. And it's really good to learn completely different language from the other solo.

SPEAKER_04: 48:53

Yeah, and from different instruments like guitar and from Pat Metheny, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 48:57

Yeah, guitar and piano and every whatever.

SPEAKER_04: 49:02

Great stuff. Yeah, so we'll get into the last section now and talk about the gear that you use. So I understand you like to use a Hohner Super 64 as a 16-hole four-octave chromatics.

SPEAKER_02: 49:15

Mm-hmm. I prefer Hohner Super X64 black model, and I enjoy playing also Super 64X performance because it has really natural sound for me. Maybe some people could say it's too tough, compared to the other models, but I'm so used to this model.

SPEAKER_04: 49:36

So, have you always played 16-hole chromatics?

SPEAKER_02: 49:41

Because, as you know, in harmonica, there is a little bit of a limit. So, for accompaniment, for example, for me, I usually work with guitarist Antoine. So, when he wants to Doing solo, I should do the accompaniment. Yeah, I really like to play 16th chorus harmonic.

SPEAKER_04: 50:12

Yeah, to get the low notes for the accompaniment. Yeah, makes sense. And you're playing what, bass lines in the bottom octave and all the sort of chord arpeggios and things like that?

SPEAKER_02: 50:24

Yeah, I try, yeah. I try bass line or some line, not only bass, but also some includes, yeah, some plays that I feel interested, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 50:44

And so you don't play any diatonic harmonica at all?

SPEAKER_02: 50:48

No, not at all. I'd like to try, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 50:52

And do you still play any tremolo harmonica?

SPEAKER_02: 50:55

No. I don't know why, but there's no opportunity to play tremolo.

SPEAKER_04: 51:04

And what about the orchestral harmonicas, such as a bass and chord harmonicas?

SPEAKER_02: 51:09

Yeah, I played a bass and chord harmonica, but I think my personality is still more about the list. So...

SPEAKER_04: 51:25

And do you play the chromatic just in the key of C?

SPEAKER_02: 51:45

Yeah, just C. Because if you have every tonality, I mean every scale, to have keys in your head, just to see chromatic harmonica is really practical to play.

SPEAKER_04: 52:02

Yeah, you know where you are if the notes are all in the same place. Yes, do you do any repair or maintenance on your chromatico monicas?

SPEAKER_02: 52:13

Yeah, I learned a little bit about repair, but I'm not a professional, so I can raise or lower the note a little bit, and I can change the reed, but yeah, I do myself when I'm in a hurry, when I'm touring, but... usually send, if I have time, I usually send it to the expert to repair.

SPEAKER_04: 52:38

And which expert do you use to repair your harmonicas?

SPEAKER_02: 52:42

Oh, I usually send Michel, who is an expert in France.

SPEAKER_04: 52:48

Yeah. And what embouchure do you like to use? Are you puckering, tongue-blocking?

SPEAKER_02: 52:53

Yeah, tongue-blocking. I use always tongue-blocking. Because, yeah, I feel... It makes me feel a stable feeling and give a rich tone, I feel. And when I use tongue blocking, I feel it's my own tone.

SPEAKER_04: 53:11

What about applying vibrato to the chromatic harmonica? How do you do that? I

SPEAKER_02: 53:15

use my hands usually. As I use tongue blocking, I play usually with microphone. In my hands, so if I do the vibration with hands, there is limit. So when I can't use my hand, I use my tongue and my neck muscles.

SPEAKER_04: 53:47

And so you mentioned your microphone there. What microphone do you like to use?

SPEAKER_02: 53:52

I use the Beyer Dynamic M 80A microphone.

SPEAKER_04: 53:58

Do you use any amplifiers at all?

SPEAKER_02: 54:01

No, I don't use amp.

SPEAKER_04: 54:03

Go through the PA.

SPEAKER_02: 54:04

Yeah, so each concert hall has a different amplifier, so I usually adapt to the sound of the concert place.

SPEAKER_04: 54:13

And do you use any effects on the PA at all, like some reverb or anything like that?

SPEAKER_02: 54:20

Yeah, I use Line 6 HX Stomp. In this pedal, I put the reverb, harmony, and disto programs. Actually, you can put what you want.

SPEAKER_04: 54:32

Yeah, okay, so you use a Line 6 pedal, yeah, to go

SPEAKER_02: 54:35

through. Yeah, it's really efficient.

SPEAKER_04: 54:37

Yeah, nice and small and does lots of things, doesn't it? I had a Line 6 a long time ago, but it's been a long time since I used one, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 54:46

Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_04: 54:46

Oh, great. Okay, great. So yeah, so you use a little, like you say, a little reverb there and a couple of other things.

SPEAKER_02: 54:53

Yeah, when I play a ballad song, kind of ballad, I need really long reverb. Okay,

SPEAKER_04: 55:03

so you vary the effects a little for different songs.

SPEAKER_01: 55:07

yes

SPEAKER_04: 55:09

okay then so just about your future plans about what you've got coming up you've already mentioned you've got uh you're going to record an album with uh with anton what this year so um yeah where is that going to be recorded it

SPEAKER_02: 55:21

will be at home actually because we we have already what we need so there's mike

SPEAKER_04: 55:32

and

SPEAKER_02: 55:33

Every amp and light, everything. So we just try to record at home in Dijon.

SPEAKER_04: 55:42

Nice. Well, it's nice to be at home and have all that time at home to do it. So yes. Is this a mixture of your own compositions and other songs, cover songs?

SPEAKER_02: 55:54

Yeah, it's going to record a duo album. It's a mix of our own compositions and some popular songs. that go well with harmonica and guitar.

SPEAKER_04: 56:06

Marvelous, yeah. And when do you think that'll be released?

SPEAKER_02: 56:09

It will be next year, summer, I think. Before summer,

SPEAKER_04: 56:15

yeah. Great stuff, yeah. I look forward to hearing that. And what else have you got planned? Are you doing some touring?

SPEAKER_02: 56:20

yeah we are going to australia tomorrow we

SPEAKER_04: 56:23

tomorrow

SPEAKER_02: 56:24

yeah tomorrow so we have two duo concerts there in adelaide and then we are going to have a couple of tours this year

SPEAKER_04: 56:34

yeah fantastic so um you're going uh well i think you're going back to korea at some point is that this year

SPEAKER_02: 56:39

in december we will go to korea and meet my family and we will be doing concert and workshop there

SPEAKER_04: 56:49

you'll be giving a harmonica workshop, will you?

SPEAKER_02: 56:51

Yes, harmonica and with improvisation free, what I

SPEAKER_04: 56:56

learned in Paris. Nice, yeah. So hopefully you'll be encouraging some more Korean harmonica players.

SPEAKER_02: 57:03

I hope, yeah. I'd love to.

SPEAKER_04: 57:06

And maybe some more female Korean harmonica players.

SPEAKER_02: 57:09

Yes, it's true. There are really, yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 57:13

There's not enough female harmonica players. Why do you think that is?

SPEAKER_02: 57:17

But you know, in every instrument, professional player, I think female player is less than...

SPEAKER_04: 57:30

The men, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 57:31

Yeah, it's not just only harmonica player, I think.

SPEAKER_04: 57:37

No, although you do get some wonderful musicians, female musicians on the other instruments, and obviously you get some wonderful harmonica players too, but there seem to be more women in the other ones. Okay, yeah, so, well, have a great time traveling to Australia tomorrow. I hope that's not too tiring a trip for you. So, yeah, it's been great to speak to you, Yura Kim.

SPEAKER_02: 57:56

Thank you, Nir. Thank you so much for inviting me.

SPEAKER_04: 58:00

Once again, thanks to Zydle for sponsoring the podcast. Be sure to check out their great range of harmonicas and products at www.zydle1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at Zydle Harmonicas. Thanks to Yore for joining me today. She's doing some really interesting work on the chromatic. Be sure to check out her tour in 2025 with Ace Guitare's husband, Anton Boye. And check out the links on the podcast page for more info on Yore. Also thanks to Richard Yems for the donation to the podcast. The next episode will be a retrospective, where I will have some expert guests discuss one of the great players who is no longer with us. This will be out in a couple of weeks' time. I'll sign out now with Yore playing us another track from her Tangram album. This one is called After the Storm. After the Storm

SPEAKER_01: 58:58

me me