I must admit I'd had my eye on Jean Daniel long before arranging a rendez-vous with him before his gig at the Bleu Est Noir bar. He caught my attention last year playing harmonica and singing on the stages of Lion D'Or, La Place À Côté and The Medley for Urgence Noël. His enthusiastic performances convinced me he probably had an interesting story to tell.
Jean Daniel, or, JD as he is more affectionately known, approaches life with laughter and lightheartedness. Confirming our meeting by telephone, he warned me I was in for a surprise. He announced, "I'm now a fun-lovin' blonde." And the fun didn't stop there. JD believes, "Life is a joke." He recounted the story of his conception, in detail, and proudly announced he is the product of a "night of love" that happened during the summer of love - 1969.
A mélange of Huron, Irish, Scottish and French heritages, JD, 31, was born in Valleyfield and raised in the greater Montréal region extending from Rivière Baudette to Sorel. The ‘baby brother' in a family with four older sisters, he was turned onto music with their incessant playing of 8-track recordings of Pink Floyd and Super Tramp. "As a teenager, I was into the rock'pop scene. I was a Beatles man and loved Jethro Tull." he explained. "My father gave me that symbolic father-son "slap on the back" when he bought me my first guitar and encouraged me to go out and play music."
From 1992 to 1996, JD played guitar and sang with the band, Brunante, a Québécois expression meaning, Dusk. The pop-rock band played the French-language music circuit winning several band contests and opening for Kevin Parent and for Plume Latraverse. In 1995, JD started playing alone on the Québec chansonnier scene from Granby to Chibougamau.
Two important influences led him to the harmonica. Continuing to compose songs, several that were performed by Brunante, JD wrote one with some harmonica in it. As no-one else in the band played harp, so he went to Archambault, picked out the cheapest harmonica and, to his surprise, began playing it right out of the box.
Around the same time, JD attended a live concert of Les Colocs. He recalled, "That night, I was smitten with the harmonica. It was the harp solo of the late Patrick Esposito DiNapoli that really did it for me. His playing had a big influence on me. I was very sadden by his passing in 1995."
In the music business now for almost 10 years, JD can play guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, saxophone, flute and mandolin, but on the blues scene, he is seen more often as a harp player and singer. He has performed with veterans, Carl Tremblay, Jim Zeller, Kenny Dupree, Bob Walsh and Bob Harrisson, and freshmen, Nick Payne and Carlos Veiga at several festivals and in Montréal bars.
Calling himself a "straight" harp player, he blows cleanly and strongly without upstaging or overblowing. He attributes his musical ability to his ability to listen. "I listen and learn. I try to communicate as well in my life as I do in music." Stating he was essentially "shy," he didn't hesitate to harp out a few quotes from an original Blue tune during our interview. Later that, he definitely didn't shy away from having fun with the rest of the band. During the last set of the gig that had Nick Payne on guitar, Marc Duschenes, on bass, and Bob Harrisson, on drums, JD and Nick laid on the bar floor to play out the last half of the tune, Teenie Weenie Bit.
I'm sure this new 'kid' will continue to surprise us. That's right, his hair was green at Carl's Harmonica Festival on April 3rd. You can contact JD at harmonica007@hotmail.com.
Interesting Facts about JD
1. He's into numerology, especially 8s - Born on August 8th, 1970 (the 8th day of the 8th month); Played his 888th gig last week; First ‘jammed' with Carl Tremblay on his 28th birthday; Hopes to have a Blues band performing his Blues songs by the year 2008 - actually 88 months from now!;
2. A sad side of number 8 - Wrote his first song on his 18th birthday, the day pioneer Québecois singer-songwriter Félix Leclerc passed away.
3. Plays a Hohner Big River Harp - JD explains, "It's the cheapest in the most decent harp line."; Buys harmonicas by the caseload.
4. Likes to colour his hair - According to JD, "It brings out my feminine side."
5. Fully Bilingual in French and English, and can speak a few words in Spanish and German.
6. Harmonica Belt with a story - He explained, "My original belt was made by an ex-con in Alma. Then, Cousin Denis, owner of Nicolo Leather Boutique in Valleyfield, added a new belt with snaps and Aunt Fleurette, who makes Halloween costumes, added the flaps."
7. That Blues band goal - He has put together a new Blues band and will perform soon at Le P'tit Buck on rue St-Zotique in Montréal.
8. He drinks tea.
Copyright © Barbara Lavoie, 2002