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Carlos del Junco with the Blue Mongrels
Saturday March 24, 2012 at 8 p.m.

To say he plays the harmonica is like saying "Jimi Hendrix plays guitar". He blows the blues harp through a prism -- suddenly it seems he's holding every color in the musical rainbow right there in his hands.

Simultaneously sophisticated and raw, his playing blurs the boundaries between blues and jazz (hence the name for his band “The Blues Mongrels”). The emphasis is on blues, but Carlos and his band are not afraid to merrily traipse off in other directions delivering a seamless fusion of New Orleans second line grooves, swing, Latin, hip-hop or ska melodies, to swampy roots rock. 

Born in Havana, Cuba, del Junco (loosely translated "of the reeds") immigrated with his family at the age of one. He bent his first note on a harmonica when he was fourteen, making his debut with his high school math teacher at a student talent night. In his early 20's del Junco was immersed in a visual arts career; he graduated with honours from a four year programme, majoring in sculpture at the Ontario College of Art. Sculpture has definitely had an influence on his outlook on music: "Music is just a different way of creating textures and shapes."

Playing a ten hole diatonic harmonica, Carlos has developed the unique ability to play chromatically by using a recently developed "overblow" technique taught to him by jazz virtuoso Howard Levy. Overall, this approach to the diatonic harmonica, although much more difficult to achieve, is in many ways more expressive and communicative than the mechanized tone produced by the chromatic harmonica . Carlos is one of the few pioneers of this overblow method, bringing musical credibility to what has still been considered by many in the music industry - a fringe folk instrument. The sophisticated sound produced by del Junco is at once sensitive, soulful, and sexy while never forgetting the rawness inherent in blues music.

During the 80's del Junco performed with many bands including Latin/reggae/r&b band "Eyelevel", "Ontario College of Art Swing Band" with Bill Grove and he had a 6 year stint with rhythm and blues group "The Buzz Upshaw Band". With Kevin Cooke in 1990 he formed a blues/jazz/fusion band, "The Delcomos". He has recorded with Bruce Cockburn, Kim Mitchell, Cassandra Vassick, Oliver Schroer, Zappacosta, and has also worked with Dutch Mason, Hoc Walsh (Downchild Blues Band) and Holly Cole.

In 1991 del Junco performed and composed the music for Tomson Highway's Dora award winning play Dry Lips Oughta Move To Kapuskasing. The production toured Canada and was held over for seven weeks at Toronto's Royal Alex Theatre.

In 1993 Carlos del Junco won two gold medals at the Hohner World Harmonica Championship held in Trossingen, Germany. He was judged world's best in both the diatonic blues category and the diatonic jazz category.

With the late Bill Kinnear, Carlos del Junco released his first CD, Blues on independent label, Big Reed Records in November 1993. The rich collection of blues classics was a collaborative effort with Kinnear playing acoustic and dobro guitars and handling lead vocals. Five out of six reviewers in the Toronto Blues Society, selected Blues for their top ten releases of 1993.

In March/April 1995 del Junco travelled to Chicago with a Canada Council grant to study with Howard Levy. This year saw the release of of the critically acclaimed Just Your Fool a sizzling live session with Kevin Breit on guitar, Al Duffy on bass, and Geoff Arsenault on drums. It was this CD and the collaborative effort with Thom "Champagne Charlie" Roberts Big Road Blues,that won Carlos the 1996 Blues Musician Of The Year Award...

...del Junco continues to produce an eclectic palette of music on Mongrel Mash, his 6th recording in a band setting on the BIG REED RECORD label. It features an energetic set with 3 straight up blues numbers and his usual hybrids of fun and quirky roots influenced instrumentals. This is an "almost live" CD that lets the band stretch out as they would in front of a live audience. Some jaw dropping harmonica work from Carlos. Remarkable guitar work by Kevin Breit, one of the most sought-after session players in Canada and now in the U.S. thanks in large part to his work with Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson, adds beautiful textures to the 9 track collection.

Carlos has toured Canada regularly since 1996 and tours often in Germany and the United States. He has played all the major jazz, blues, and folk festivals across Canada.

Tracks

Listen to tracks on Carlos' web site.

Reviews

Blues Mongrel pulls off the difficult trick of proving that music can be simultaneously sophisticated and raw, technically adept and highly emotional, serious as a heart attack and as much fun as a circus clown. Thanks to artists like Carlos del Junco and Kevin Breit, the blues will continue to live and breathe for the foreseeable future. •
Michael Ross - http://www.puremusic.com/carlos.html

Havana-born, Ontario raised del Junco has over the course of his six-CD, 15 year career elevated the status of the humble 10-hole diatonic mouth harp to the equivalent of a Stradivarius violin. Del Junco, a world champion harp player and winner of several national and international awards, has perfected Levy's difficult "overblow" technique, which gives the simple folk instrument full chromatic range and allows the musician to bend notes right out of shape, to find the dissonant tones and textures required in progressive blues and jazz, and to harmonize expressively with infinitely more sophisticated instruments. He's a marvel to listen to, a freak of nature who does to the harp what Bela Fleck does to the banjo, and, assisted by a crack band (including guitarist Kevin Breit, who composed many of the pieces, Denis Keldie on organ, bassist Henry Heillig, drummer Jorn Andersen, and percussionist Arturo Avalos), del Junco achieves an astonishingly complex yet seamless fusion of blues, country, funk, jazz, and swampy roots rock. This one's a classic, a ground breaker of a record that serious harp players will be studying for years to come.
The Toronto Star, February 10, 2005, By Greg Quill

Web Site

Carlos del Junco's Web Site

Online Tickets for Carlos del Junco and the Blue Mongrels

Saturday March 24, 2012 at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7pm

2011 - 2012 Season
Our 31st Season

Kellylee Evans
Feb. 25, 2012

Matinee at 3 pm

Carlos del Junco
with the
Blue Mongrels
March 24, 2012

Fri. April 20, 2012

All Alberata Artists
April 21, 2012
Evening Show

Matinee at 3 pm

Ron Sexsmith
May 12, 2012

Appeared Previously

Catherine MacLellan
Oct. 1, 2011 at 7:45pm
Opening: Youth
Singers of Calgary

Soaring Strings
Oct. 29, 2011

Madison Violet
Nov. 26, 2011