Tony's Music Pick of the Week - 16 Feb 2013

So – it is Saturday, 16th February which means it is time for my music pick of the week. The last 3 picks have been extreme fingerstyle guitarists, so I felt that a change of pace was necessary this week.
My pick is Harry Manx – one of the top three Mohan Veena players on the planet – the other two being classical musicians in India.
Harry has been called an “essential link” between the music of East and West, creating musical short stories that wed the tradition of the Blues with the depth of classical Indian ragas. He has created a unique sound that is hard to forget and deliciously addictive to listen to.

Harry forged his distinctive style by studying at the feet of the masters, first as a sound man in the blues clubs of Toronto during his formative years and then under a rigorous tutelage with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt in India. Bhatt is the inventor of the 20-stringed Mohan Veena, which has become Harry’s signature instrument.
Harry played slide guitar for many years before meeting Bhatt in Rajasthan,in fact he had been living in another part of India for many years already, but he started at the beginning under Bhatt’s tutelage, unlearning most of what he knew about playing a slide instrument. He learned Eastern scales and eventually ragas, deceptively complex and regimented musical patterns that form the basis of Indian composition. Learning the voicings of Indian music is a subtle art that comes with time. Harry spent most of twelve years in India learning that. It was later on that Harry decided to explore the connection between Indian ragas and blues scales which eventually led to the Indo-blues hybrid that has become his style.
Harry is one of the very few people to master the playing of the Mohan Veena. The Mohan veena is a stringed musical instrument used in Indian classical music. It derives its name from its inventor Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
The instrument is actually a modified Archtop guitar and consists of 20 strings - three melody strings, five drone strings strung to the peghead, and twelve sympathetic strings strung to the tuners mounted on the side of the neck.[1] A gourd (or the tumba) is screwed into the back of the neck for improved sound quality and vibration. It is held in the lap like a slide guitar. The Mohan veena is under tremendous tension; the total strings pull to be in excess of 500 pounds.[2]
Some of the popular performers include its inventor Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, fusion artist Harry Manx, former Counting Crows bassist Matt Malley, and Pandit Satish Khanwalkar.

Here are some links to Harry doing what he does best -

A quick intro here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCfZpSEH77Y

And 2 hours here -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QwIB5Hbs2w

Edited to add - Harry plays several stringed instruments - he uses the Mohan Veena about 12 minutes into this video - then several more times throughout the video.

I have met Harry several times and he is one of the nicest, down to earth guys that you could meet. I hope that you enjoy and appreciate his talent as much as I do.

Well, I went in thinking that this one was going to be a little too far “out there” for me, but I really liked it, Tony. The Indo-blues sound that Harry coaxes from the Mohan Veena is unique, but instantly enjoyable – I didn’t need any acclimation time at all.

Once one masters the veena, I guess one doesn’t even bother mentioning the other instruments that one plays, but Harry’s awfully good on the guitar, slide guitar, banjo, and harmonica as well. Oh, and I learned that he plays the “Ellis Stomp Box” too, which I now know all about, lol.

I had Harry and friends playing in the background while I finished up my income tax return this afternoon. I ended up listening to the whole two-hour program, and I’m happy to say that it made an unpleasant task much more bearable. Good stuff. Thanks for posting!

By the way, Tony, I’m thinking that I may reap other benefits from these weekly lessons besides the exposure to good music. Like, for instance, next time I’m at a party and some old fart (i.e., someone my age) is droning on endlessly about the unequalled guitar-playing skills of Hendrix (or Clapton, or Page, or Beck, or Allman, or Van Halen, or . . .), I’ll be able to sniffle condescendingly and say, “Yeah, he was pretty good, but it’s a shame he wasn’t quite good enough to master the veena.” End of conversation!!! Now, where’s the bar?

Really glad that you enjoyed it Jim. Here is a 6 minute clip that gives a little more insight into the man -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf7Qc9dHVFk
I do feature several major names in this series, and have a couple coming up, but the emphasis is always on technical ability - not star power or chart success.

Hey, sounds good to me. I'm enjoying your selections.