Page 19 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE MARCH 2014

He spent three to four hours each morning
practicing in Bhatt’s home before returning that
evening for a jam session with the tutor, his sons
and various other fellow musicians. “Sometimes
I’d throw in some blues licks in the middle,” he
says, “and everyone would fall over laughing and
enjoying themselves. And I thought if I can get
Indian people to enjoy Western music like that,
then maybe I could get Westerners to enjoy
Indian music, too.” Harry decided to explore this
thread of connection between the two musical
traditions. His signature style follows in the foot-
steps of such pioneering work as that of Joe
Harriott and John Mayer and their Indo-jazz
fusions in the '60s, John McLaughlin’s work with
Shakti in the 70s, and Ashwin Batish’s innovative
raga-rock hybrid Sitar Power in 1987. But Manx’s
own indo-blues fusion seems destined to be the
most universally appealing yet.
“I went to Europe when I was 20 and started
making money as a busker,” recalls Manx. “I’ve
worked only as a musician since then. Few peo-
ple know that I was actually a one-man band
with a drum-and-bass feel to my sound. I still
have that one-man-band sound.”
Much of Manx’s time in India was spent medi-
tating with different masters, which in turn has
imbued his music with an intangible spiritual
quality. “I always cloak my messages with inspi-
rational ideas in a story,” Harry explains. “I also
try and reach the listeners’ hearts rather than
their minds. With the mind, there’s always a fil-
tering of ‘I agree’ or ‘I don’t agree.’ I like to
engage people’s hearts. I’ve always had more
interest in my own development as a person
than I had in my music. I think my music has
done well partly as a result of my years of medi-
tation. I can’t take complete responsibility. My
songs are a synthesis of everything I’ve absorbed.
We’re the sum of all of our experiences.”
While Manx was a late bloomer, not releasing
his first album until he was in his mid-forties, he
is nevertheless a prolific artist, now releasing his
ninth solo album in a 12-year span (he's made
three more in collaboration and co-released with
Canadian guitarist Kevin Breit). He's received
seven Maple Blues Awards, six Juno nomina-
tions, the Canadian Folk Music Award in 2005 for
Best Solo Artist and won CBC Radio’s “Great
Canadian Blues Award” in 2007.
His 2009 album “Bread and Buddha” was
another melange of blues,
roots, world and folk
sounds. Harry spent
almost two years carefully
preparing the songs and
used full instrumentation including piano,
organ, drums, base, and scored strings. The
CD is a poignant exploration of the ephemer-
al nature of the human experience, and
received a Juno nomination for “Blues Album
of the Year”. Since then Harry has released a
compilation album called “Isle Of Manx”, his
bestselling album to date, as well as the
“Strictly Whatever” collaboration with long-
time friend Breit.
It was
with his
new band
l i n e - u p
that Harry
r e c o r d e d
his new
s t u d i o
album “Om
S u i t e
O h m ” ,
which fea-
t u r e s
mostly original songs with the members of
World Affairs. The album was produced by
distinguished musician/ producer/ engineer
Hans Christian (Daniel Lanois, Robbie
Robertson) and recorded between Wisconsin
and Australia.
Harry has already been nominated by the
Canadian Music Awards as Songwriter Of The
Year for his song “Carry My Tears”, featured
on “Om Suite Ohm”. The album also contains
an unusual cover of jazz giant John Coltrane’s
song “ A Love Supreme”. This album is a step
away from past Manx albums, and contains a
more electric Bollywood feel to it. If you
blend Indian folk melodies with slide guitar,
add a sprinkle of gospel and some compelling
grooves , you get a sound that goes down
easy and leaves you hungry for more. The sort
of sound that only Harry Manx can make.
This is a gig you don’t want to miss - Tickets
available from Robin Box Office or call 01902
401211
19 MAR