HARRY MANX

FEB 16, 2024

The Square, Vancouver, Canada

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“Mysticssippi” blues man Harry Manx has been called an “essential link” between the music of East and West, creating musical short stories that wed the tradition of the blues with the depth of classical Indian ragas. He has created a unique sound that is hard to forget and deliciously addictive to listen to.

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Harry will be joined for this special show by violinist Mark Ferris. The current Concertmaster of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, he spent 17 years with the acclaimed CBC Radio Orchestra. He was Concertmaster of the Lions Gate Sinfonia for 7 years and is currently Concertmaster and mentor for the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. Mark is a founding member and composer for the Yaletown String Quartet.

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 Harry forged his distinctive style by studying at the feet of the masters, first as a sound man in the blues clubs of Toronto during his formative years and then under a rigorous tutelage with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt in India. Bhatt is the inventor of the 20-stringed Mohan Veena, which has become Harry’s signature instrument. It was later on that Harry decided to explore the connection between Indian ragas and blues scales which eventually led to the Indo-blues hybrid that has become his style.

“Indian music moves a person inward,” he explains. “It’s traditionally used in religious ceremonies and during meditations because it puts you into this whole other place (now, here). But Western music has the ability to move you outward, into celebration and dance. There are some ragas that sound bluesy, and there are ways to bend strings while playing blues that sound Indian. I keep thinking they were made for each other. That leads me to more and more experimentation. The journey has been great so far.”

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Manx is a prolific artist, releasing 12 albums in a 12 year span with no signs of stopping. He has received seven Maple Blues Awards, six Juno nominations, the Canadian Folk Music Award in 2005 for Best Solo Artist and won CBC Radio’s Great Canadian Blues Award in 2007.