Mike Turk interview

01:45 - Now living in Boston, originally from New York

02:38 - Mike got involved in the great music scene in Boston, playing with many of the great players there, including Bonnie Raitt and Hound Dog Taylor

03:21 - Was working as a janitor at a Cambridge, Massachusetts blues music club called Joe’s Place (which had a lot of brawls) and he sat in with a lot of bands

04:17 - Sat in a lot with Hound Dog Taylor and thought he would get hired to play with them but there was a big fight so Hound Dog Taylor never went back

04:49 - Mike’s father was a professional jazz vocalist and bass player, although Mike wasn’t that aware of this until later

05:27 - Lost half his little finger at age four, limiting his ability to play some instruments, and hence he choose the harmonica later

05:43 - Learnt saxophone when younger, but missing part of finger inhibited his playing, so he picked up the harmonica

06:21 - Discovered Paul Butterfield in the late 1960s

06:41 - Father had a music store, where Mike was able to obtain free harmonica

07:02 - Left New York and started playing in the coffee houses of Cambridge and Boston

07:27 - Met John Kolstadt and that’s when Mike started concentrating on the harmonica

08:28 - Was given a Paul Butterfield album at a dance, which is where he first discovered harmonica

09:42 - Started learning the harmonica by playing along with records

10:33 - When Mike started to play chromatic and how he made sense of it initially

11:55 - The moment of revelation for understanding the chromatic was listening to James Cotton play I’m Ready

12:41 - Then heard Little Walter playing a C chromatic in the key of G, opening up the idea that you can play different keys beyond D minor on the chromatic

13:26 - Playing blues on chromatic is a good entry point for diatonic players

13:58 - The influence of Toots on Mike after his father insisted he listen to one of his recordings

15:19 - First recording on a non-blues harmonica, using a Koch, was with Richard Johnson, Old Man Adams, which Richard Hunter included in his Jazz Harp book

16:37 - Released an album with John Kolstadt in 1975, Beans Taste Fine

18:32 - Joined a Country and Western band who had a violinist who was into jazz, and encouraged Mike in that direction

19:17 - Attended the Berklee School of Music from 1978-1980, where he had to play saxophone as they wouldn’t allow chromatic harmonica

19:43 - Had to transpose the Alto saxophone parts to the chromatic, which wasn’t easy

20:32 - Would join in music activities at Berklee playing the chromatic

21:08 - Anthology of recordings through the 1970s and early 1980s: The Mouth That Roared, when was doing sessions in New York

22:17 - Had to sight reading in the New York scene, with some intense competition, such as Robert Bonfiglio

23:52 - Donny Brooks was the really successful studio harmonica player in New York

24:23 - Donny Brooks was instrumental in creating the score for the musical Big River, which Mike later played in a Boston production

25:09 - Mike improved his sight reading abilities by studying with a saxophone educator

26:25 - Harmonica Salad, released in 1991, is the first collection of Mike’s solo work, including tracks with Ronnie Earl

28:28 - Turk’s Works was released in 1996, with a letter from Toots Thielemans as part of the album liner notes, who Mike got to know and hung out with him

29:31 - Toots gave Mike some general tips on playing the chromatic, but no actual lessons

31:23 - Recorded some albums in Europe after the success of the Harmonica Salad album over there and Mike toured with the band in Italy and Germany

33:47 - Reached a high-level in his jazz chromatic playing

34:18 - Very satisfied with The Italian Job album, which Mike produced himself

35:52 - Includes some diatonic on the later jazz albums, and how his jazz playing has influenced his approach to the diatonic

36:10 - Tin Sandwich Swing song (from Harmonica Salad album) sees Mike playing in the key of each chord, including use of overblows

37:31 - Mike started using overblows in the 1970s, having originally learnt about them from Richard Hunter, although Mike wouldn’t describe himself as an accomplished overblow player

38:56 - Use of overblows brings the diatonic closer to how the chromatic functions

39:02 - Charlie Musselwhite book which described how all the chromatic notes can be achieved on the diatonic

40:26 - Played a classical piece with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, although doesn’t consider himself a classical musician

42:33 - Mike used a Polyphonia to play the glissando part for the orchestra

43:01 - Has recorded two movie soundtracks

44:04 - 10 minute question

45:29 - Pandemic has limited playing abilities somewhat, although still has a monthly residency in Cambridge, which is broadcast on Facebook

47:19 - Diatonic of choice

47:44 - Joe Filisko used to maintain Mike’s chromatics

47:51 - Played the Hohner Toots model chromatics, and two of Joe Filisko’s custom Marine Bands

48:25 - Recently been playing the Hohner Crossover, which he likes

48:35 - How Mike started playing the Renaissance chromatic, created by Douglas Tate and his partner Bobby Giordano

49:16 - Douglas lent Mike a Renaissance to try at a SPH convention

50:18 - Can use any chromatic reed plate on the Renaissance, with Mike using Toots Hard Bopper or Mellow Tone plates on his

51:25 - Seydel manufactured the Renaissance for a few years, but this ended after their craftsman stopped making them by hand

51:49 - Fifty Renaissance chromatics were made by Douglas Tate

52:07 - Contact the podcast if own a Renaissance, or know someone who does

52:15 - Mike lost one of his Renaissance chromatics, which turned up on eBay, and he managed to retrieve it

53:39 - Amp of choice is a Gallien-Krueger studio monitor amplifier with an analogue Nanoverb pedal

54:23 - Uses a Peavey PVM45 microphone

54:53 - Experimented with the DM48 MIDI chromatic for a while

55:20 - Uses the Nanoverb for effects

56:03 - Likes to use his own equipment, as he knows how that sounds, and works

56:29 - Embouchre is mostly pucker, but uses some tongue blocking