Episode 20-Roni Eytan: Jazz Harmonica Colossus

Strictly Jazz Sounds

Roni Eytan, a renowned Israeli-born, New York based jazz harmonica player, performs with a passion that differs from other harmonica artists. Perhaps it’s the region from which he derives-the Middle East and North Africa. His culture greatly influences his compositions and inspires his passions. Roni’s work is influenced by harmonica legend Toots Thielemans but only partially. The folk cultures that make up the regions and his spiritual influences mostly inspire his writing.

Roni Eytan stopped by my studio to talk about his harmonica work and how he got interested in this instrument. We talk about Roni's early fascination with music in Jerusalem, initially wanting to play the trumpet inspired by a film by a popular British band, the Beatles. After a short stint with the trumpet, he transitioned to the harmonica influenced by various sources, including friends and inspired by Israeli artists such as Yonathan Avishai and Avishai Cohen. Roni talks about his journey into jazz, mentioning significant influences like jazz legends Oscar Peterson and Charlie Parker as well as Toots Thielemans and the modern-day sound of French harmonica player Gregoire Maret. Educated at the Herbie Hancock Institute at UCLA in Los Angeles, California, Roni emphasizes the importance of mentorship and collaboration and how powerfully important to him and his work were Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. He also delves into different types of harmonicas, including diatonic, chromatic, and microtonal, and his innovative approach to microtonal harmonica playing for traditional music from his region. The history of the harmonica is fascinating, and I encourage you to delve into it. The conversation wraps up with Roni discussing his compositional process.

For this episode, three tracks are presented from the concert the Roni Eytan Quartet presented in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by A Tribe for Jazz. The quartet includes Roni Eytan-harmonica, Gadi Lehavi-piano, Simon Willson-bass, and Alon Benjamini-drums. These tracks are not compressed in any fashion. These are the raw tracks from the show in Columbus, Ohio at the Columbus Dance Theater, thanks to A Tribe for Jazz. The three tracks are respectively: "Winter Dance"-Duet between Roni Eytan and Alon Benjamini: 5:22; "Focus-Hymn"-3:08; and "Melody People"-11:14.

Thanks for listening. If you’re a subscriber, you’re one of the first ones to receive this episode. Subscribing gives you that honor. Following the opening track, Roni and I begin our conversation with how his interest in the harmonica started. I’m Steve Braunginn.

Photo by Stephen Braunginn.