Neil Harrison - Guitar
by Sue Parish
An article on gypsy jazz
guitarist Neil Harrison written by Sue
Parish,
and reproduced by kind permission of the Lancaster
Guardian
Gypsy jazz guitarist Neil Harrison lives in Lancaster. But his musical heart is a world away, in the bars of Paris.
Neil was born locally to a Lancaster dad and a mum with French ancestry. And his passion is for music of equally exotic parentage - that of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.
He describes the style as "a strange combination of American jazz, French bal musette (French accordion music) and the sounds of Eastern Europe."
Neil found his specialist musical destiny in a roundabout way, helped by Lancaster's remarkable level of local talent. As a young rockabilly fan, he taught himself to play double bass. He was spotted practising at home by local trombone player, Matthew Woodhouse. Needing a bassist, Matthew knocked on the door and invited Neil to join his trad jazz band.
Says Neil: "That taught me to be a jazz player - and how to play from chord sheets and from dots." (Note to readers: "dots" is jazz slang for written music!)
During the early 1990's, Neil played bass with local rockabilly, blues and jump-jive groups, including Sound Investment, the Hustle, and the memorably named Risque Hughie and the Trouser Snakes. But he was discovering a new passion - the gypsy jazz of Europe. And a new instrument - the guitar.
"The guitar stuff was inspired by Django Reinhardt. I was told he only had two fingers, and thought 'well I've got four so I can play better in that style', but I was dreadfully wrong. Like all players who venture into Django music I didn't realise until I was well into it that the important bit is the rhythm style. It's very distinctive - it has a harsh edge to it, but you can still play it quietly."
Neil purchased an antique Gibson guitar and learnt as many jazz chords as he could. By 1996 he had teamed up with guitarist Michael Howard, bassist Colin Kaye, and other players, to form Parisian Swing. The band was a massive success, and people crowded into local venues to hear their joyous, foot-tapping performances - continental sophistication for a northern English audience.
Then a year or so later, fate stepped in again. "I was walking through town one day with my Django guitar under my arm and a guy with a southern accent stopped me and said "you're a Django player aren't you?". He turned out to Colin Cosimini (now one of the most famous Django players in the UK), and he invited me to this Gypsy jazz festival in France."
The festival takes place every year at Samois Sur Seine, a village where Django Reinhardt spent his final years until his untimely death in 1953. Neil made the pilgrimage, joining fans and players from across Europe to hear and join in with authentic gypsy players carrying on the tradition.
"That's when I started to understand and to play the music properly" he says. "There were little huddles of players all over the place, and you'd get invited into a session, and they'd watch, and then some French guy you've never met before would take you aside and spend an hour of his time teaching you. Because you're into their music, and like it enough to go to their festival they want to help you do it better."
In another fairtytale twist, one of Neil's impromptu tutors turned out to be the offspring of his musical idol: "Someone said afterwards: 'do you realise who you've just had a lesson off?' It was Babik Reinhardt - Django's own son."
Neil now spends every moment he can in France where bars host intensive sessions of gypsy music. "A gig there isn't two 45 minute sessions with a half hour beer break. It's from one in the afternoon until six p. m."
And his talent and dedication are increasingly being recognised. A little while ago Ninine Garcia, one of the finest gypsy players, was performing at La Chope des Puces , in the north of Paris. In the audience were many other guitarists, including established names on the scene. But it was Neil who was picked out to join the star onstage:
"He said: "Neil - jouez avec moi - play with me'. That signified to me that I was part of their culture at last. I'm not just a hobbyist any more. I'm a Djangologist at last."
Sue Parish