Harmonica Lewinsky

Thanks Phil A great evening at Tring Conservative Club the joint was really having a cockney knees up, with everyone enjoying themselves can recommend this act to any venue well done

Before seeing this show I had heard many rumours about Harmonica Lewinsky, whose background was shrouded in mystery, although I believe he learned his harmonica skills in the Deep South in the deltas of Harrow on the Hill under the tutelage of Blind Les Battersby. But, it was a very different character to the one I expected who performed at the posh Victoria pub in Highgate! Mr Lewinsky, looking like a cross between a rabbi and one-half of Chas 'n Dave (I'm not sure which half) appeared in cloth cap and braces and presented a highly original selection of songs, some of which rarely see the light of day. There were no predictable “Brown Eyed Girls” or “Mustang Sally’s” here: instead - a veritable feast of the unexpected - as we witnessed one man, his guitar and his trusty harps. When was the last time you heard a pub act kick off his set with Chas 'n Dave's “The Sideboard Song” and follow it with the Theme to “Top Cat” and then offerings of cheery, chirpy Cockney ditties including “Waiting At The Church,” “Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner”, “Show Me The Way To Go Home” and Tommy Steele's “What A Mouth”? I’m guessing the answer to that question is ‘rarely’ (if ever) but the fun didn't stop there. Mr Harmonica Man is a really great entertainer and demonstrated, with great finesse, his harmonica technique on - wait for it - the Shadows' “Apache”! It was quite a feat playing the melody on the harp while strumming his guitar. ‘Harmy’, as he is known to his close friends (or 'Self-Harmy‘ to others) also tackled in the first half the theme to "The Flintstones"; Elvis Costello's catchy “Watching The Detectives” and the Cockney knees-up “I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts”. Harmy was back in terrific Pearly King form for the second half starting with “Any Old Iron” followed by a touch of the Formbys with “Leaning On A Lamppost” after which he did a ‘Donegan’ with a riotous version of “My Old Man's A Dustman” complete with enthusiastic audience participation. Mr Lewinsky has a great sense of humour, which he constantly shares with the Victoria regulars. "Here's another Cockney classic sung by a Welsh man", quipped Harmy before diving into “Delilah.” Other gems included the theme tune to ‘Match Of The Day’ (played on two harmonicas); a very funny and risque interpretation of Mike Jerome's “Sling Yer Hook”; a great version of the Small Faces' mod anthem “Lazy Sunday”; and a yahoo rendition of the old country favourite “Riders In The Sky”. After many encores Mr Lewinsky packed away his cap and braces and headed off to the Deep South (of London) for some pie and mash. The Victoria would do well to snap up Harmy for some more gigs before he hop-foots it down the Strand for a residency at the Old Bull and Bush!

Harmonica Lewinsky, half musician, half comedian, can't be filed easily under any one genre. There are no "rawk" anthems or jangly pop toons to guide you to a familiar sense of comfy numbness you may well be used to in your local music venue. Instead, you get a proper show. Someone - that's Phil Leiwy, crazy alchemist of alter-ego Lewinsky - has taken it upon himself to create a crisp set of upbeat, rhythmic gems played on guitar (choppy, jazzy, mellow), vocals (smooth, welcoming) and of course, a boxload of harmonicas (swanky, tuneful, engaging). But words alone seem unable to explain why, after a HL gig, you go home feeling as if you have been crane-lifted out of a ditch... If you haven't seen HL play, go and see for yourself, and let the performance into your life. Careful listening really helps: the lyrics to many of Phil's songs - including Gordon Brown (to the tune of the Stranglers' "Golden Brown") - are wry, clever and occasionally rude. Lovers of X-Factor stability or other social brainwashing techniques may leave feeling confused.