Hermine Deurloo interview

Hermine Deurloo joins me on episode 42. 

Hermine is a Dutch female chromatic harmonica player who grew up to the sound of master jazz player Toots Thielemans. After studying saxophone at the Amsterdam Conservatory, she picked up the chromatic and transitioned over to the harmonica being her instrument of choice. 

Her first album was of Brazilian music, and she has gone on to record several jazz albums in her own name. Her more recent album, Riverbeast, delves into 70s funk. She has appeared as a guest artist on numerous albums and is famous in her native Netherlands for playing the advertisement music for sausages!

Hermine won the SPAH harmonica player of the year award in 2018 and hopes she can inspire other females to pick up the harmonica.

Links:
Website:
https://www.herminedeurloo.com/

Strangely In Love film music: The Stalker
https://soundcloud.com/awintory/dostoevsky-in-love-the-stalker?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fawintory%252Fdostoevsky-in-love-the-stalker

Ambleside festival:
https://www.amblesidedays.co.uk/

Saed Haddad harmonica composition, performed by Hermine:
https://soundcloud.com/dr-saed-haddad/melancholie-for-chromatic-harmonica-orch-extract-1-2017-18

Bernie Bray SPAH award winners:
https://www.spah.org/content.asp?contentid=61

Blows Me Away Productions harmonica equipment:
http://www.blowsmeaway.com/

Videos:
Studio work videos:
https://www.herminedeurloo.com/studio-work/

Sausage advert on Netherlands TV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghXe6Y75RGs


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

• 1:37 Hermine is a chromatic player from Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1:49 Originally played saxophone but put that down for the chromatic, and plays a little diatonic
• 2:22 Decision to drop saxophone for chromatic
• 3:31 Started playing chromatic at the end of saxophone jazz course Amsterdam Conservatory, inspired by Toots Thielemans
• 6:46 The transition from saxophone to chromatic
• 8:29 Hermine played with Toots as he sat-in at one of her concerts in the 1990s
• 9:01 Recorded first album in 1997, Brazilian music
• 11:12 Then joined avant-garde jazz band in Netherlands fir 12 years, playing saxophone while keeping up chromatic playing
• 11:49 2001 album I Say Jazz
• 12:30 Doesn’t play saxophone now as decided to focus on chromatic
• 13:29 Hermine isn’t a singer
• 13:46 Played on a famous advert in Netherlands, which is still well known 20 years later
• 15:12 First solo album in 2005, Crazy Clocks
• 15:51 Hermine spends a lot of time in New York, and has recorded there
• 17:35 Soundbites album released in 2007
• 20:14 Glass Fish album in 2012, with a modern jazz sound
• 22:30 How Hermine composes songs and need to learn a chordal instrument
• 25:15 Welling album in 2015 with jazz string quartet
• 27:50 Living Here album in 2016, influenced by Toots Thielemans and also baroque music
• 29:06 Hermine uses an SM58 to record in the studio, which Toots often did as well
• 31:00 The winning combination of chromatic with the piano
• 32:32 Most recent album is Riverbeast, from 2019, and playing harmonica underwater
• 36:36 Has written songs for various family members on the album
• 38:00 More recent albums have been a move away from jazz for Hermine
• 38:45 The appeal of instrumental harmonica albums
• 39:51 Approach to accompanying a singer
• 40:30 The place of albums in today’s music industry
• 41:47 Hermine played on Dutch Harmonica Band Fata Morgana’s album
• 43:11 Performed with Al Jarreau
• 43:31 Played with various orchestras, mainly of film music
• 45:09 Appeared at festivals around the world, and will be playing in UK this Autumn
• 45:43 Harmonica composition written for Hermine to play
• 46:56 Teaching at University of Rotterdam
• 47:18 Does other teaching
• 47:23 Won Bernie Bray Harmonica Player of the Year in 2018
• 47:30 How to get encourage more female harmonica players
• 49:19 Ten minute question
• 50:51 How Hermine developed her lyrical sound
• 52:41 Harmonica of choice is Hohner Toots models
• 53:26 Tried out Suzuki chromatics and some other models tried
• 53:44 Mainly plays 12 hole chromatics, but a little 16 hole
• 54:01 Embouchre is mainly pucker
• 54:16 Amp is mainly Fishman Loudbox mini amp
• 54:59 SM58 mic with volume control from Blows Me Away Productions
• 55:27 Future plans