Harry Manx

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Harry Manx has been described as an essential link between the music of the East and the music of the West. He fuses traditional blues with classic Indian ragas to create a distinctive sound. Manx, primarily a guitarist, who also plays harmonica and banjo, was born on the Isle of Mann and moved with his family to Canada. He left home in his teens to live in Europe, Japan, India and Brazil, carefully perfecting his compelling live show on streets and in cafes and bars before later breaking out to music festivals. Blues music capture his attention when he was still in his teens and he did some roadie work for Willie Dixon, John Hammond and others. He hit the road hard in Europe, booking himself wherever and whenever he could, as a solo act playing banjo, harmonica and guitar. He moved to Japan and spent the latter half of the 1980's performing there. In Japan, he discovered the music of Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and left Japan for India. In 1992, he introduced himself to Bhatt and then spent the next five years under his tutelage, learning to play Bhatt's creation, the 20-string mohan veena. The apex of his time as Bhatt's apprentice came about with a concert for several thousand people at the Taj Mahal. At that time, Bhatt was well known in India, but several years later, he'd be discovered by some American audiences with his 1994 Grammy Award winning recording with Ry Cooder, "Meeting By the River." The only other musician to have mastered the complex Mohan veena was the late Beatle, George Harrison. Manx, based in Canada for the last dozen years, traveled from India to his wife's home country, Brazil, and played his unique blend of American and Indian "blues" music in the bars and cafes around Sao Paulo. He returned to Canada in 2000...