Harper
This is a groovin’ CD. There are 12 tunes on “Day By Day” by Harper. It is all pretty straight-ahead, very cool, clear and hip. Harper plays a harp (imagine that) in the style of Little Walter on a bunch of these tracks, He also plays didgeridoo, from his native Australia. The way it growls along on “I’ll Go Home” makes for a very interesting and unique production. This is one of my favorite tunes on this CD.
The instrumentation on this album is really cool. Everything is on here that makes for a great, groovin’, funky bunch of tunes that will satisfy blues fans and fans of pop music alike and it is a radio-friendly record. Again, the didgeridoo is a little “out there” but is very cool. The keys throughout are laid back and very mellow. Guitars are used with great economy and placed in the right places. The rhythm section is solid, yet not overplayed, all the way through. “Feels Like Sunday Morning” is, in my opinion, the single from this release. It has the interesting double-time feel in the verse and a tasteful reso guitar playing a cool little brassy figure behind a very singable lyric. Ya’ got your distant slide guitar there too. The more I listen to this, the more I like it.
“I Must Be Dreaming” has a floating feel, relying on the tail-end of the downbeats and some cool vibrato guitar to get that “dreamy” feel across. The vocals on this are right on also. Though there are no spectacular fireworks or showman style antics in the vocals, the inflection and passion are there, and that is what makes it work.
The 11th cut, “You Can’t Hide” starts and end with the didgeridoo, and in between you get rippin’ harp and funkiness delivered in hip rock and roll fashion. Now I want to get a didgeridoo for myself and see what makes it tick. It is a really cool hipnotic sound. Maybe Harper will have the same influence with the didgeridoo on kids that the Beatles did with electric guitars. It could happen.
Harper also does the vocals on all the tunes. He does a great job. He is clear and soulful and has that”everyman” voice which makes the listener want to sing along with him. Very well-done throughout.
“Day By Day” is a very good piece of work. I am looking forward to speaking with Harper on the show and dig in a little more to his background and future plans. In the meantime, I suggest you get this disk and give it a spin.
- Lone Lee