Filip Jers is one of the top harmonica soloists. He flew into the UK in October 2024 and stayed with us, near London, before we travelled up to the HarmonicUK annual festival on 25-27 October in Birmingham. On the way back we visited Jim Hughes.
I have been lucky enough to host many artists on the way to the NHL/HarmonicaUK festivals, helped by our proximity to to Heathrow and a spare bedroom now that the children have flown the nest.
After picking up Filip from Heathrow, we stopped off for some traditional food – fish, chips, mushy peas and curry sauce, before he was introduced to the Harmonica Hotel (spare bedroom) made famous by Rob Paparozzi on his Facebook page.
Next morning we drove to Hillscourt and spent three days with an enthusiastic group of harmonica players where Filip presented workshops and played a fantastic set in the Saturday Concert. The festival photographs are by Pippa Phillips.
On the return home I took Filip to meet the ‘legendary’ Jim Hughes – chromatic soloist, teacher of World Champions and writer of the best tuition book for Chromatic Harmonica. Jim is 95, has lost his sight and housebound but still playing – formerly a sight reader he has taught himself to play by ear. They talked for two hours about technical aspects of playing and practising, and played music together. They were separated by 60 years in time but were united in mutual respect and their love for making music.
If you are interested you can enjoy the meeting by watching a video of the visit. I split it into two parts for convenience – before and after our pause for a coffee.
Part One – Filip Jers meets Jim Hughes Part One
Part Two – Filip Jers meets Jim Hughes Part Two
The journey home in the dark was tiring but it was another chance to talk about music and musicians.
After looking at some guitar records in my music archive (Charlie Byrd – House of the Rising Sun) and a good night’s rest, Filip headed back to Heathrow Airport and his flight back to his family in Sweden.
You can see a video of a similar visit I made to see Jim Hughes with Rob Paparozzi in 2023 by following this link – Jim Hughes and Rob Paparozzi talk and play
Here is the story of the Harmonica Hotel and Rob Paparozzi’s enforced stay in the UK.
http://www.the-archivist.co.uk/harmonica-hotel/