The superb, Swiss-born harmonica player and composer Grégoire Maret, is set to perform alongside his bandmates Romain Collin on piano and Matthew Stevens on guitar as one of the many fine musicians taking part in the 27th annual Litchfield Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 30th in Washington CT. Like many of his contemporaries at the festival Maret started his music career early in life but would focus on a more rarified instrument than most—he became a master of the jazz harmonica.
Born in 1975 in the bustling city of Geneva, Switzerland, Maret was already deeply connected to music when he first saw the light of day. His father was a musician. His mother was an African-American born in Harlem, the birthplace of the Renaissance of American Jazz. With his parents’ musical backgrounds, Maret would be exposed to everything from classical to jazz quartets and received some musical training in high school. His choice of harmonica became solidified after “…I saw these blues harmonica players who just completely blew my mind, and after that, I had to try to play the harmonica. I knew nothing about that instrument, but just the sound of it was just–I can remember the feeling of how it really touched me profoundly. And somebody had one of those key-chain harmonicas–a very small harmonica–and gave that to me and was like, ‘Why don’t you play that?’ And I was just really intrigued, so that’s how it started” (Ed Gordon, npr.org, 2005). After hearing of Maret’s interest in the instrument, one of his father’s friends gave him his first true harmonica which began his long-lasting career with the reed-brass instrument.
Grégoire Maret / northseajazz.com
Maret’s first foray in learning the instrument was not without challenge. Being less frequently played, there was nobody was around to teach him. Not discouraged by this, Maret undertook to teach himself by listening to performances by the great Toots Thielemans, the legendary Belgian harmonica master (who appeared at Litchfield Jazz Festival in 2016). After finishing high school Maret would go on to attend the prestigious Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève, one of the oldest conservatories in Europe. Here he would begin performing with many jazz and pop musicians in the 1990’s. He joined Leo Tardin to form the Maret-Tardin Quartet. He also played with Reggie Workman, Charles Tolliver, Max Roach, and many others.
After graduating from the Conservatoire, Maret would move to New York at the age of 18 to study at New School University’s Jazz and Contemporary Music Program and found his choice of instrument did not make launching a career a piece of cake. “…when I first started playing [in New York], people were laughing at me and they wouldn’t take me very seriously” (Ed Gordon, npr.org, 2005). Later he would find, having played with so many well-known people, he garnered respect. His first break came with Jimmy Scott on Scott’s 1998 hit, Holding Back the Years. He would go on to work with artists like Pat Metheny on the 2005 album The Way Up (a Grammy winner), Toots Thielemans, Jacky Terrasson, Herbie Hancock, Elton John, Sting, Prince, and more.
Maret became one of the most sought-after instrumentalists on the scene bringing a distinctive and compelling new voice across the modern jazz music world turning the harmonica from a novelty instrument to a true, powerful tool of the art. His inspiring work has gained the endorsement of many including famed bassist Marcus Miller who said of Maret “[he is] carrying the instrument into the 21st century with prowess, passion, and creativity” (Marcus Miller, gregoiremaret.com, 2019). Today, at 47, Grégoire Maret can be found most often as a leader on successful albums such as his 2020 Americana with Romain Collin and Bill Frisell and performing around the globe.
Visit Litchfield Jazz Festival’s website at litchfieldjazzfest.com to learn more about the top-notch performances in store July 29-31. To purchase tickets to see Grégoire Maret and the whole July 30th Litchfield Jazz Fest Saturday lineup, at the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center, be sure to click: ljf2022.eventbrite.com.