“Swississippi Chris” Harper has followed his passion to become the thing he believes he was destined to be, a bluesman. It’s a long road from the “Gold Coast” of Zurich, Switzerland to Chicago, but to Chris Harper it was always just a dream away.
Music was always a big part of his life; he played flute as a 5-year-old and later learned harmonica. As a teenager, he toiled as an apprentice learning offset printing by day, and he played bass in a variety of jazz & rock bands at night. In his twenties, he pursued two zen-like adventures -- living on the beach and surfing in Sri Lanka, followed by a hitch-hike journey from New York City to San Diego.
Later, he visited Chicago, where hearing live blues had a very deep impact on him. He befriended bluesmen like Chico Banks and Billy Branch. After hearing Chris play, the great harmonica stylist Sugar Blue took him under his wing, disciplining his technique with rigorous practice, which freed him to focus on melodic innovation. The die was cast ” the Chicago blues scene became like family for him, and he returned many times over several years. The blues had reignited his passion for music, and he decided to follow his dream. In 2006, he hooked up with the jazz/funk Sharade Band to record Blues Is My Life, releasing an eclectic set of original songs with a flair for innovation and experimentation, not unlike his mentor Sugar Blue, which received wide airplay.
With a leap of faith, he moved to the blues mecca, Chicago, to play the blues. In 2009, he jumped at the chance to record a traditional blues CD with a cast of Chicago blues all-stars, a radical departure from his prior work. He’s tempered his Swiss love of precision and grown into the more improvisational, emotionally subversive style of Chicago blues, the latest adventure in a life filled with odd turns.
“I want people to feel my love for the blues, and feel its sweetness live. When I feel that, I’m on a very safe cloud, and any imperfections that flow in that feeling just makes it more perfect. I’m still learning the Chicago style. It’s a lot more about tone and emotion than the European way of playing blues.”
