"Music is a different, but very powerful medium for reaching people - for giving ourselves hope, purpose, a sense brother/sisterhood, and just having a hell of a good time! Which we sorely need, all of us, in a challenging world."

Big Harp George: The Artisanal Blues

Big Harp George/George Bisharat is a San Francisco Bay Area blues singer, songwriter, and harmonica player who features the chromatic harmonica. George was a criminal defense attorney, award-winning professor of law at UC Hastings College of the Law, and expert commentator on law and politics in the Middle East before turning to music full time. George counts George "Harmonica" Smith, William Clarke, and Paul deLay as major influences on his chromatic playing. The chromatic (compared to the ten-hole diatonic more common to blues) has a distinctive voice, and lends Big Harp George's sound a jazzy, contemporary, and sophisticated feel. He was selected as one of fifteen "rising stars" by Living Blues Magazine in 2014 harmonica issue. Big Harp George's 2014 debut release Chromaticism included Northern California blues standouts Little Charlie Baty, Kid Andersen, Rusty Zinn, Chris Burns, and others. It earned "Best New Artist" award nominations from the Blues Foundation and Blues Blast Magazine and high praise from blues music critics.                                     (Big Harp George / Photos by Emilia Rosales)

In albums "Uptown Cool" (2018) and "Living in the City" (2020), Big Harp George redefining the role of chromatic harmonica in blues. But he's also commenting on life in the twenty-first century, helping to restore blues to rightful prominence in American popular music. The title of his upcoming 5th album is "Cut My Spirit Loose" (Release Date: March 24th, 2023). Big Harp George says: "If you’ve followed my other recordings, you probably know that we’ve always chosen one of the song titles to double as the album title. This time though, we’ve deviated from that tradition. But not by much! The title “Cut My Spirit Loose” originated from the lyrics of one of the album songs entitled “Captain Jack.” Its meaning in that context is very somber – I won’t get into why at this point. But apart from the song, the title captures the overall fun and joyous nature of the album as a whole".

Interview by Michael Limnios

What do you learn about yourself from the Blues people and culture? What does the blues mean to you?

I would say: never give up hope and never lose faith in yourself. You just don’t know what you’re capable of until you try. I sometimes refer to blues as “the party music of the oppressed.” Even in an unjust and hard world, you can sing, dance, and have fun - maybe even more than those stiff, uptight people on the so-called “right side of the tracks!”

What were the reasons that you started the Harp researches? What touched (emotionally) you from the sound of?

More than anything else, as a listener I am moved by the human voice. That is why a number of my most favorite blues musicians - such as Otis Rush - are not harmonica players. But, when played well, the harmonica is probably the closest instrument to the human voice, so that, perhaps, is why it caught my ear.

How do you describe your songbook and sound? Where does your creative drive come from?

I’m glad you asked this because I think my songbook is fresh and unique. I call it “21st century artisanal blues,” because it is of this moment in contemporary life, not about the past, and I truly work - with the other great musicians who I am privileged to play with - to craft and mold each and every song into individual entities that say different things about the lives we live today. It may sound odd to say this, but, to me, songs “have lives.” That is, they are not static things. Recordings catch only one moment in their growth, and the work of sculpting a good song can go on for a long time.

My creative drive has grown over time, as I first began to feel that my music was genuinely different and worth recording. It started when I turned my focus to the chromatic harmonica, which is minimally exploited in blues, less than ten years ago. For the first time I started hearing my own musical voice emerge on the chromatic. Since that time my energy has flowed equally into songwriting, as I’ve learned to apply to lyrics what I applied to harmonica - namely, to be myself. In my experience, creativity builds on itself. Once you get rolling, it is so exhilirating that it sometimes can be hard to stop.                                              (Big Harp George / Photo by Peggy DeRose)

"I often say that I want my music to make listeners laugh, dance, and think at the same time. Blues, to me, can be a vehicle for expressing any sentiment, any feeling, about any issue - it doesn't have to be confined to the clichés of the past. But technique without soul is pointless. Of course, you don't want to slaughter a song with terrible technique, but if the feeling isn't there, it's just not music."

How do you think that you have grown as an artist since you first started making music? What has remained the same about your music-making process?

Since my first release in 2014 I've grown most in songwriting and in my technical chops on the chromatic harmonica. My first album included six covers and six originals, and the originals were all 12 bars, and the themes were good but mostly simple. Since then my songs have gotten more ambitious in just about every way: structure (8, 12, and 16 bars, often with bridges, and some completely outside blues formatting), lyrics (humor, social commentary), and instrumentation (horns, percussion, backing vocal parts, and other unusual instruments from the Arabic qanun to the Paraguayan harp). All of this is the product of team effort, as I've worked overtime with many of the same musicians and we now know each other musically very well. As for my chops, when I first committed myself to featuring the chromatic harmonica, my technique may have been advanced within the blues world, but there are so many masters of this incredible instrument in other genres who can play circles around us blues players, so I knew I had to get better. I've made progress, but still have a long road ahead of me.

How do you describe "Cut My Spirit Loose" album's sound and songbook? Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new 5th album?

 I strive for my records to resonate in more than one emotional register. There's plenty of joyous, fun, romping and stomping music on this album - really, it's mostly a party album. But there are some very contemplative and even somber songs on the album.

The album title comes from a line in the closing song of the album, "Captain Jack." That song tells the story of a native Modoc leader whose real name was Kintpuash. In the late nineteenth century, Kintpuash's people had been driven from their ancestral lands in the northeast corner of California by the US Army, and had been consolidated with other tribes in one reservation in Oregon. Kintpuash escaped the reservation with a small band of his people, and they returned to a part of their lands that were lava fields from ancient volcanic eruptions. This is very rough country, and the US Army, despite sending up to 1,000 soldiers with artillery were unable to dislodge Kintpuash and his band. Eventually, he agreed to enter peace negotiations with a US Army General. However, fearing that he had been entrapped, Kintpuash pulled out a revolver, shooting and killing the general. He was captured and eventually hanged.

We all felt the deep emotion of the song as we were recording it. The line "cut my spirit loose" actually refers to the liberation of Kintpuash's soul from his body at the moment of his death, soaring above and never leaving his land. It was, if I may say so, something like a spiritual experience. When we finished, we all just sat there silent for a few minutes, feeling as if we had just laid down a marker for history. Maybe it will only be that way for us, but we felt as if we had done something deeply meaningful.

"More than anything else, as a listener I am moved by the human voice. That is why a number of my most favorite blues musicians - such as Otis Rush - are not harmonica players. But, when played well, the harmonica is probably the closest instrument to the human voice, so that, perhaps, is why it caught my ear." (Photo: George Bisharat aka Big Harp George, Beirut Lebanon, 1974)

What has been the hardest obstacle for you to overcome as a person and as artist and has this helped you become a better musician?

I am Palestinian American, and growing up and working as a professional in a society that is overwhelmingly hostile to me and my people's rights has been a great challenge. I could relate many experiences of casual racism to more organized and institutional anti-Palestinian bias in my life, and in the lives of others like me in the U.S. But I have been equally aware that in relation to most Palestinians, my life has been privileged. So, I have always strived to serve justice for my people in every realm in which I've operated, including in the academic world and in music. My people, in their bravery and determination, are my main inspiration, and their example has made me stronger. Just listen to our song "Meet Me at the Fence."

How do you want the music to affect people? What's the balance in music between technique and soul?

I often say that I want my music to make listeners laugh, dance, and think at the same time. Blues, to me, can be a vehicle for expressing any sentiment, any feeling, about any issue - it doesn't have to be confined to the clichés of the past. But technique without soul is pointless. Of course, you don't want to slaughter a song with terrible technique, but if the feeling isn't there, it's just not music.

From the musical and feeling point of view is there any difference between an old and great bluesman and young?

The founders of this amazing genre included many true masters. Please find me a more inventive and pathbreaking diatonic harmonica player than Little Walter! There isn't one. But overall, I would say, on average, later generations have improved their general musicianship. Now, when it comes to soul or feeling, the old-timers had it in spades. Some contemporary musicians do, too, but you really can't beat the founders when it comes to feeling. That's my honest assessment.

Are there is an audience for blues/jazz music in its current state or a potential for young people to become future fans?      (Big Harp George / Photo by Peggy DeRose)

There is certainly potential for younger people to come over to the blues/jazz side of life! I'm seeing it to some extent in audiences these days. 15 years ago when I looked out over the audience, all I saw was silver (and pink, since many audience members were old bald white guys!). Bless them for their faithfulness to the blues, but I'm very relieved to be again seeing young Black, Asian, Latino, White, and other young audience members. Partly that's because I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is very diverse, but I've seen it in big national festivals, too. The key thing is that blues is evolving to reflect what's going on in our lives today. If we want blues to be popular, then we need to make it relevant to people's lives today, and playing covers from the last century isn't going to cut it for much longer.

Which acquaintances have been the most important experiences? What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?

My old friend and former bandmate Otis Grand was the first to encourage me to record my own music. He was the one who urged me not to sell myself short, and to give it a shot. Paul deLay was another big influence, less in what he explicitly said to me than in the example that he set, in his musical honesty and courage to defy cliches.

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

I’ve done a lot of stupid things on stage and off, but in a major festival some years ago I stepped on my harp mike cord and yanked the cord out of the mike mid-solo! I picked it up and plugged it back in and kept going, to the audience’s great amusement. But that’s sometimes what you do in music - laugh at yourself and keep going!

What do you miss most nowadays from the blues of past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

Let’s be frank: there will never be another generation like that of Muddy, the Walters (Little and Big), the Otis’s (Spann and Rush), the Kings (BB, Albert, Freddy), T-Bone - so much incredible talent and style. But as grateful as I am for the great gifts they left us, I look forward more than I look back. And I think we are at a point of growing creativity in the genre, with a new generation of players who are not as locked into the past as a lot of people of my generation. That’s a good thing. We don’t have a choice to go back, sad as that may be at times - we can only go forward.

If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

That blues musicians - and others in worthy genres - actually got compensated in a manner commensurate to their skills. It’s so hard to make a living playing music. Most do it for love, not for money, but many lives would be easier and longer if we only supported musicians more generously.

"The blues is one of those domains in American life where people of all colors and creeds can come together in mutual appreciation of the music. So it is, ultimately, a unifying force in an otherwise divided country." (Big Harp George / Photo by Peggy DeRose)

How has the Blues and Jazz music influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken?

Being part of the big blues family here and internationally is one of the greatest experiences in my life. It’s really taught me the meaning of generosity, because some very humble musicians have bestowed some very wonderful gifts on me, through their talent and creativity. People who lack material wealth nonetheless can give very richly.

What is the impact of Blues music and culture to the racial, political, and socio-cultural implications?

The blues is one of those domains in American life where people of all colors and creeds can come together in mutual appreciation of the music. So it is, ultimately, a unifying force in an otherwise divided country.

Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really want to go for a whole day?

I would go back to the 1950s in Chicago and see Little Walter playing in Muddy Waters’ band, either live or in the Chess studios. I was fortunate to see many of the greats of the prior generation, but Walter died in 1968 when I was 15 years old, so I never had the chance to see him live. Now, I am not a Little Walter worshipper - I loved James Cotton, Junior Wells, Big Walter, and plenty of others just as much - but he was one of the few I never got to hear live. And, of course, he was probably the greatest blues diatonic harmonica player of all time.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your paths in the Blues circuits?

Music is a different, but very powerful medium for reaching people - for giving ourselves hope, purpose, a sense brother/sisterhood, and just having a hell of a good time! Which we sorely need, all of us, in a challenging world.

Big Harp George - Home

(Big Harp George / Photo by Peggy DeRose)