The 51-year-old musician wants music lovers to learn that the harmonica is capable of far more than what Bob Dylan and Neil Young play.
“Dylan and Neil Young give harmonica playing a bad rap, as brilliant of songwriters as they are,” he said. “Their playing is down-homey... like a campfire. That‘s the only time you hear harmonica on the radio unless you turn to a blues show on campus radio. The instrument‘s considered a toy and it‘s capable of so much more.”
Heralded by the Edmonton Journal as “one of the finest blues/jazz harmonica players on the planet”, del Junco and his three-man band will play a pair of shows in Penticton this weekend.
Born in Havana, his family left Cuba when he was less than a year old and he attended high school in Toronto. He picked up a harmonica for the first time when he was 14 and played it endlessly often finding an old, stone stairwell at his high school. (“They had great echoes in those stairwells.”)
One day he was heard by his Math teacher and rather than get a detention, instead he was invited to play at the school‘s talent show with his teacher (who was on guitar) in what was his first public appearance.
Much has happened since as he‘s played in all 10 provinces, Europe and the western United States. He‘s recorded five CDs, collaborated on two others and has done session work for mainstream artists including Kim Mitchell, Holly Cole and Bruce Cockburn.
His most recent CD, Steady Movin‘, was just nominated for a Juno Award – the second nomination of his career. (He also received a nomination for 1998‘s Big Boy.)
“Every award nomination is great for your bio and it definitely helps gain exposure but with me, I love to play for people,” he said.
While his music has been embraced throughout the country he often receives the most bookings in British Columbia.
del Junco plays a 10-hole diatonic harmonica and brings 32 different harmonicas to a show.
The instrument sells for as cheaply as $30 but the ones he plays are often valued at $100.
“It‘s easy to play. You can pick up a couple of chordal melodies fairly easily but it‘s difficult to play even a single note because it‘s a tiny little hole. Harmonica is very difficult to master.”
In addition to blues and jazz, he‘s dabbled a bit in Latin music. Most of his songs are originals but if he does a cover, he offers a completely new take on it.
His band, the Blues Mongrels, features bassist Henry Heillig (who founded the nine-piece Latin band Manteca, was musical director for both the Genie and Gemini Award and toured with pianist Joe Sealy), guitarist Eric St. Laurent, and Mark Mariash on drums.
He plays Penticton‘s Dream Cafe on Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. each night.
