Jim Zeller interview

Jim Zeller joins me on episode 121.
Jim is from Montreal, Canada, and first starting playing harmonica at age twelve after stealing one from a school friend. He ran away from home at age fifteen and learnt harmonica as he hitch-hiked around North America.
Jim has a very distinctive energetic style of playing on both the diatonic and chromatic harmonica. He developed this style by emulating guitar riffs and the percussive elements of Indian music.
He has played with and supported some famous blues names, appeared in a Bob Dylan movie and has had a stellar career in the Canadian blues scene, being nominated for Maple Blues awards and appearing at the Montreal Jazz Festival over thirty times.

Links:
Jim's website:
https://jimzeller.wixsite.com/jimzeller

Yonberg harmonicas:
https://www.yonberg-harmonica.com/en

Videos:
Fright Train:
https://youtu.be/ITftta0SXRY?si=pjJyN2ChsFPCCsds

The Man With The Harmonica:
https://youtu.be/fcHhRSIMSzU?si=MJJuVgbA3Dsc6Ode

Playing The Godfather live at the Montreal Jazz Festival:
https://youtu.be/ajypG_32ij8

Wild Life:
https://youtu.be/7Dr2J2CNbak?si=e38mCvAppGPqsItp

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
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Blue Moon Harmonicas: https://bluemoonharmonicas.com

Chapters

• 1:31 Jim is based in Montreal, Canada
• 1:36 Speaks English and French, but plays the harmonica in French
• 1:49 Started playing harmonica age 12, after ‘stealing’ a harmonica from a friend
• 3:57 Ran away from home age 15 after problems with father, and learnt music and the harmonica during this year and a half
• 4:24 Lots of travelling hitch-hiking, which was common in the early 1970s
• 4:44 Joined up with a hippy gang who had a circus, there was a blues musician there who taught Jim some stuff
• 5:50 Hitch-hiked to Alaska and was sitting with Indians on the Yukon river when he heard that Jimi Hendrix had died
• 7:30 Jim has started writing a book about his life and adventures
• 8:02 Jim wanted to be the ‘Jimi Hendrix of the harmonica’ and started using effects pedals
• 8:50 First effects used was an Echoplex pedal
• 9:14 Worked on harmonica to make it sound like a guitar, to fit in with the bands played with
• 10:21 Early influences were the greats such as Sonny Boy Williamson II, Little Walter and James Cotton
• 10:53 Did tours with Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon
• 10:58 Carey Bell was a mentor to Jim
• 11:28 Using effects has contributed to Jim’s aim of becoming the ‘Jimi Hendrix of the harmonica’
• 12:32 Other influences guitar led bands including Led Zeppelin and Cream
• 12:49 Had always sung but became lead singer and lead the band
• 14:41 Has a unique approach to the harmonica with varied genres with generally an undercurrent of rock blues
• 15:13 Started playing with Alan Gerber from the late 1970s
• 16:07 Jim moved to New York in 1977 at the beginning of the punk scene
• 16:16 Played sessions as a sideman, including with Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush
• 16:57 Would play more or less the same harmonica parts now as he did when he recorded them in the late 1970s
• 17:31 Wanted to play in a unique way, and not the typical blues riffs, but to re-invent the instrument
• 18:03 Appears in the Bob Dylan movie, Reynaldo and Clara
• 20:13 Played songs with Joni Mitchell
• 21:19 First album released under name was Cards on the Table, in 1979
• 25:10 Cards On The Table was recorded with Alan Gerber but was released under Jim’s name
• 27:11 Fire To The Wire album from 1995 featured the great chromatic instrumental, The Godfather theme
• 27:19 Has appeared at the Montreal Jazz festival thirty-two times
• 28:11 Jim first started playing the chromatic in his teens after seeing Larry Adler on television
• 29:19 Sent Larry Adler him a demo tape, and Larry replied
• 29:58 Jim felt he had to learn chromatic to be a complete harmonica player
• 30:10 How the chromatic differs from the diatonic
• 30:47 Has worked especially hard on chromatic since the pandemic
• 31:03 What Larry Adler said in his letter
• 31:25 Use of the 16 hole for cello like parts
• 31:58 Chromatic can play any melody you hear, which diatonic can’t quite manage
• 33:07 Blues From Another Planet album from 2019 has a version of The Man With The Harmonica played on chromatic
• 34:09 How to use the chromatic in a rock ’n roll band situation by using the drive from diatonic playing on chromatic
• 35:38 Carey Bell’s use of the chromatic isn’t just third position
• 36:44 Jim’s favourite three chromatic players are Larry Adler, Toots Thielemans and Steve Wonder
• 37:41 Jim’s diatonic playing was highly influenced by the percussive style of Indian music
• 40:08 The harmonica is an instrument of hyperventilation
• 40:19 Teaches his students to always leave a reserve of air
• 41:25 Most players neglect the top end of the harmonica, so Jim has always worked hard on that
• 42:05 Jim doesn’t use overblows as he plays chromatic for the ‘missing’ notes on diatonic
• 42:23 Jim uses all ten holes of the diatonic
• 43:34 Ten minute question
• 44:09 Playing popular songs on the diatonic to appeal to a younger audience
• 45:45 Harmonicas of choice: Suzuki SCX 12 and 16 hole chromatics
• 46:31 Used some diatonics from a company in France called Yonberg, where you can change the harmonica reedplates very easily
• 47:50 Likes Suzuki Bluesmaster diatonics
• 49:02 Plays many different positions
• 49:25 Embouchre
• 49:36 Jim’s comping is very percussive
• 50:28 Wrote a horn part to the song Bad Girl on harmonica
• 51:38 Tongue blocking on diatonic gives impression of a brass section
• 51:49 A saxophone combined with octaves on harmonica make it sound like three instruments
• 52:21 Uses a wireless Sennheiser mic
• 52:43 Pedal board contains distortion, chorus then octave pedal into a Boss copy of the Roland Space echo
• 54:21 Doesn’t use amps on the road, although does use amps in the studio
• 54:30 Sings into same mic as uses for harmonica
• 54:52 Has used a green bullet mic previously
• 55:40 Mic of choice in studio is SM57 which gives good bite on harmonica