Tommy Reilly gave the world premiere of Michael Spivakovsky’s ‘Concerto for harmonica and orchestra’, which was dedicated to him, during the Festival of Britain in 1951, with the London Radio Concert Orchestra (leader, Max Jaffa), conducted by Mark Lubbock. He also had works written for him by such composers as Gordon Jacob, James Moody, Vilem Tausky, Graham Whettam, Matyas Seiber, Robert Farnon, George Martin, Alan Langford, Les Reed, Fried Walter, Karl Heinz Köper, Willem Strietman and others.
Tommy played with many international orchestras and conductors around the world. Here is a list of them. Some performances are available on his LPs/CDs.
Tommy Reilly was a prolific musician with a vast set of recordings and many live concert appearances. Some performances are in the archives of TV and Radio companies like the BBC and NRK, but here are some which I have edited that can be enjoyed.
World Harmonica Championships in Jersey 1987
Festival Concert – One hour
Program – Gymnopedie no.1 (1 min) – Medley, Seventeen Come Sunday, Drink to me only, Strawberry Fair (7 mins) – Jacaranda (14 mins) – The Swan (23 mins) – Duettino with Sigmund Groven (27 mins) – Medley, Smoke gets in your Eyes, Misty, The Way you look Tonight, Begin the Beguine (33 mins) – Lazy Lullaby (43 mins), Toledo (46 mins).
Workshop at the festival – 45 mins
Tommy and Jimmy enjoy an informal workshop in front of friends like Jerry Murad.
Main Teachings – from 3 mins – Don’t move your head, note production and moving between notes.
BBC Radio Broadcast from The Old Market Arts Centre, Hove, Sussex, UK – One hour
Program – 5 Pieces for harmonica by Gordon Jacob (0 min) – Harmonika Joke (14 mins) – Gymnopedie no.1 (15 mins) – Bulgarian Wedding Dance (18 mins) – Medley, Seventeen Come Sunday, Drink to me only, Strawberry Fair (21 mins) – Toledo (28 mins) – Fairy Tale (35 mins) – Valsentino (37 mins) – The Swan (40 mins) – Porgy and Bess Medley, I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin, Bess You Is My Woman Now, It Ain’t Necessarily So, Summertime (43 mins) – The Entertainer (46 mins) – Plaisir d’amour (51) – Hava nagila (54 mins).
There are not many true videos online. Here are a few.
There are many audio recordings on line
Search YouTube and Spotify etc. but avoid a much younger Scottish musician.
The Vikings had problems getting music out of a harmonica, but Norwegians began to take up the chromatic harmonica seriously in the 1960s. In 1985 a group of harmonica enthusiasts met at a seminar in Elverum. Two years later, in August 1987, the Norwegian Harmonica Forum (NMf) was formed at a harmonica workshop at Klepp Folkehøgskule.
Sigmund Groven told the members about the World Harmonica Championship being held in Jersey, later that year, and they decided to go and take part in the competition. They rehearsed under the able direction of James Moody, and came together for a dress rehearsal on the day before they all left for the invasion of Jersey.
Tore Reppe was a student of Sigmund Groven and he entered for the Solo Chromatic Competition. He wrote about his experiences at the festival in Jersey.
“The whole trip to Jersey and the World Harmonica Championship 1987 was an experience of a lifetime. A plane full of harmonica players landed with a thump in Jersey on a very stormy day. Trees were blown down along the road, but things calmed down when several hundred harmonica players started blowing. The atmosphere in the Norwegian delegation was good, and we immediately began to familiarize ourselves with the surroundings and not least the concert hall. I looked into the hall and there I heard a wonderfully skilled musician on the chromatic harmonica. It was obvious that the level in the competition was high. Later I got to practice the test piece with a good pianist, and felt that this worked well.
Now it was only up to me how this would end. The tension was high on the day of the competition, and just when I was supposed to play the test piece, the TV camera team started packing up to leave. I was a little surprised, but luckily I managed to keep my concentration. I managed to perform James Moody’s test piece, Caprice, quite well. Later I played, Munnspillfantasi, by Øystein Sommerfeldt as my chosen piece. It is for solo chromatic and it requires many playing techniques on the instrument. You really have to concentrate to play it well.
This video shows the prize giving ceremony for the Solo Chromatic Competition and the pieces Tore played at the festival.
He played the test piece by James Moody, Caprice, and his free choice piece was Munnspillfantasi, by Øystein Sommerfeldt.
In the concert he played, In the Evening, Summer Nights and Duett.
After the competition I was exhausted from both the pressure and the performance. In the evening there was an awards ceremony and the excitement in the Norwegian crowd was good. They had great faith in me, and when my name was read out as the winner, it was one of the Norwegian participants who lifted me up in the air, and the atmosphere exploded. The harmonica player I had heard practicing in the concert hall on the first day came in second place (Yasuo Watani).
The members of the NMf group, including me, played in the Senior Harmonica Band section and performed very well, coming second.
The video shows the prize giving ceremony. The Laakirchen Music School Harmonica Orchestra from Austria won first prize.
We played Aria by Sigmund Groven, and Rustic Scenes by James Moody. The members of the Band were Tore Reppe, Sverre Kvam, Per Hermansen, Georg Pollestad, Jon Hafsmo, Jørgen Sagevik and Tore Herrem.
It was a fantastic evening for all of us, but especially for me of course. I called my family in Norway and told them I had won. It was a very emotional phone call. After a week in Jersey we were pretty tired when we landed at the airport in Norway. So I thought I was dreaming when I came out into the arrivals hall and there was a crowd of people welcoming me. A band and a choir from my hometown and family and friends had turned up to honour the boy from Haltdalen who had been abroad and won the World Harmonica Championship 1987. Thanks to the jury who liked my way of playing music – thanks to Jimmy Hughes who organised the festival, and thanks to Georg Pollestad who made a fantastic instrument for me – the Polle Chromonica. (Tore Reppe)
Cheng Jang Ming wrote: Not many people know much about TRIC these days. I don’t remember the first time I came across TRIC, but it definitely didn’t strike a chord with me at the time.
Recently after hearing some of Roger’s old BBC radio recordings about TRIC, I became fascinated by it. I asked some questions and things became clearer.
It was not only a club for Tommy Reilly to give lessons to his pupils, but it was also a place for trying out new harmonica compositions and a meeting centre for musicians and composers.
Hammonds Wood, the home of Tommy and his wife Ena, was the venue for TRIC. At that time, many people considered Hammonds Wood the Mecca for harmonica players. People from Britain and overseas went there to learn from Tommy. I started digging into the history of TRIC with immeasurable help from David Reilly, Sigmund Groven, Uwe Warschkow, Frank Semus, Carol Bloxsome (Carol Axford) and Roger Trobridge. Here is what I learned.
The Early Days
Tommy was born in Canada in 1919. He moved to England in 1935 when his father, Captain James Reilly, became Musical Director of the newly formed Hohner National Song Band League. Tommy turned professional at the age of 16 but he was interned by the Germans at the start of WW2 when he was studying violin in Leipzig. He worked hard on his harmonica technique during his time in the camps using the knowledge he had gained from his studies on violin. This led to him being recognised as the acknowledged master of the chromatic harmonica.
When he was released at the end of the war, in 1945, he restarted his musical career as a speciality act in a variety show called Twinkle where he met Ena who was the Principle Girl in the show. They married and had a son David.
Tommy Reilly travelled in many countries, giving concerts with some of the world’s foremost orchestras. As the years went by, the idea with an international club grew, because of his concern for quality of tuition available for harmonica players.
He met many harmonicas players when he was on tour but he found they were not reaching the standards of performance that they ought to have done. They liked the instrument and they wanted to learn to play it properly. Unfortunately there was no where that they could get together and study the chromatic harmonica as a legitimate instrument. Everybody seemed to be doing things in their own way. Tommy thought someone had to set a certain standard and say, “Do it this way!”
The Creation of TRIC
In the end, it was Ena who started TRIC! Many of Tommy’s fans wrote to him and it was Ena who would answer them. There were too many letters and if she couldn’t answer some of the technical questions, she would get the answer from Tommy whenever he was free. It was taking a lot of her time, so around 1965 she thought of the idea of forming a club so that players could come to Tommy for lessons, and also meet one another to exchange ideas, whether they were amateurs or professionals.
TRIC began to take shape at the Reilly’s house in Sunbury on Thames, London, around 1964-6, but as it began to grow they decided to look for something that could accommodate more people. They looked at many houses over the next eighteen months, before finding Hammonds Wood.
Hammonds Wood was a very large house with 14 bedrooms, built in 1905, on 11 acres of land on the outskirts of the small rural village of Frensham, near Farnham, in Surrey.
The land included a long drive, stables, a paddock, lawns and wooded areas, which fell away to the banks of the River Wey.
It cost 10/6 (55p in today’s money) to join TRIC, which provided all sorts of general information services for the harmonica world. Members could come to Hammonds Wood and meet other players from all over the world, both amateur and professional. Most important of all, they could have lessons with Tommy.
Tommy enjoyed his time with the pupils who came, but he did not take complete beginners. He was not sure that he would be any good at teaching. It wasn’t until he started teaching and had to answer questions from his pupils that he really began to understand what he was doing. He was just playing in a natural way. Teaching other players made him analyse what he was doing so that he could tell them how to do it. Here is an application form for TRIC when it was active between 1967-71.
Please note the following application form is not valid any more.
TOMMY REILLY INTERNATIONAL CLUB (T.R.I.C.)
The Tommy Reilly International Club is an organisation for the advancement and fuller enjoyment of the harmonica in all spheres of music.
Under the leadership of world-famous harmonica player and teacher Tommy Reilly, the club has been formed for the benefit of harmonica players everywhere.
This includes professional and amateur players as well as nonplayers.
The club will assist in the formation of local branches where members may meet for their mutual enjoyment and encouragement.
In addition, through the club’s international organisation, members can exchange news and ideas with other enthusiasts thousands of miles away in other countries.
The aims of the Tommy Reilly International Club are
To make expert harmonica tuition available for the beginner and advanced student.
To sponsor local and national harmonica festivals and concerts.
To provide a link between harmonica enthusiast all over the world. I enclose 10/6. Please enrol me as a member of the Tommy Reilly International Club. Name …………… (Block Capitals Please)
The Activities at TRIC.
HOME THIS AFTERNOON – BBC Radio 4,
A family magazine introduced by Ken Sykora and including: Tommy Reilly’s International Anne Catchpole visits Hammonds Wood where Tommy Reilly has established a centre for harmonica players deep in the Surrey countryside.
What follows is an edited transcription of the 15 min section in the program about TRIC. You can listen to the broadcast if you want at the end of this section.
With its many attractive bedrooms, and large gardens, Hammonds Wood could take up to 10 visitors. There was no fixed program or routine; the time was spent having lessons with Tommy, practicing, listening to records and tapes, making tapes, and chatting over endless cups of tea and coffee. Meals were taken at any time, and Ena did all the cooking.
Ena said, “When they came here, I looked after them. Generally if they had any problems, they would tell me. Of course, they were in our home which meant I had to look after them. Some time ago Ho Chong Wing came here from Singapore. I wrote to him to ask about the food he could eat. We introduced him to many English dishes like pancakes, and he took the recipe back for his wife to make them for him when he returned to Singapore. It’s quite fun really. It’s like one big happy family, we all help each other!”
The people who helped Tommy and Ena to run TRIC were their son David, Tommy’s personal manager, Sigmund Groven, and occasionally, James Moody. TRIC had members from many different countries, some of them would come to Hammonds Wood for tuition more or less regularly.
A very active member at TRIC was Brian Chaplin, the All-Britain Champion in 1967. He had been playing the harmonica since he was 13. As there was no way then to get proper tuition for the harmonica, he had enlisted the help of a saxophone player and organist, Les Bloxsome, whose daughter Carol, accompanied him on the piano – she is now better known as Carol Axford.
Brian said, “Carol’s father helped me quite a bit, as did Carol, who played the piano. We worked very hard but we hardly made any progress until we were able to come to Hammonds Wood. Since we’ve been here, it’s been absolutely fantastic! I’m an engineer and I find it very difficult to turn off after a hard day’s work, talking only engineering. Hammonds Wood really does set the right environment and gets you tuned in to the music.”
Carol decided to play the harmonica herself, and two years later she became the British amateur champion. She was also an active member of TRIC. She said “I usually came and practiced for three days. I would have one lesson with Tommy because that was enough to keep me going for another month”.
Brian said, “I’m slightly different from Carol. I usually I booked two lessons, one per day. I locked myself away in a little room and beat my brains out trying to put into effect what Tommy has taught me. From a lesson lasting one hour, it seemed that I needed hundreds of hours of practice to attain the standards Tommy set! Then I would have another lesson to consolidate what he had taught me already and what I had been practicing since the last lesson.”
Brian commented, “Carol has been able to learn the right way to play the harmonica right from the start, unlike myself, who had picked up bits and pieces here and there. I had learned some bad habits as well as some of the right things. One of the difficulties I had in the first year in TRIC was, in fact, undoing all those wrong things that I have taught myself.
As Carol recalls, “A typical day might start with Tommy having to clean out the Aga stove, that was his job in the kitchen. He used to leave his silver harmonica on the side and wasn’t worried that I would have a go at playing his super instrument while he was working! Tommy only taught one to one and quite often the hour long lesson he gave me would last 2 hours. We didn’t use any piano accompaniment, simply because there was no piano in the large room where the lessons were carried out. There was no timetable at all.”
Carol added, “I have many happy memories of my time at TRIC. The the surroundings of the lovely house and grounds gave such an ideal setting for people to come from everywhere for tuition. Tommy was a very relaxed person and his lessons were very interesting and he demanded high standards. I remember spending at least 20 minutes trying to get 4 consecutive notes to sound as he thought they should, and he was always right, a superb musician, perfectionist, and virtuoso.
Brian said, “I have often wondered what sets certain musicians in a class of their own, even though their contemporaries may, professionally, be very competent indeed. Well, Tommy touched on this, and was at great pains to demonstrate the finer points of techniques which are required.”
Here is a recording of the ‘Home in the Afternoon‘ broadcast
The active members of TRIC were: Carol Bloxsome (UK), Graham Butcher (UK), Bryan Mapperley (UK), John Ferguson (Ireland), Dimas Barrantes (Costa Rica), Ho Chong Wing (Singapore), Joe Sakimoto (Japan), Ho Kit Fun (Hong Kong), Doris Ehmann (Germany), Brigitte Burgbacher (Germany), Helmut Herold (Germany), Ernst Hotan (Switzerland), Heiner Schwenkglenks (Germany), Peter Jansen (Netherlands, father of Rob Jansen from Fata Morgana), Tariq Hameed (a Pakistani player living in London at that time), Frank Semus (UK), Johnny Stafford (UK), Wally Chapman (UK). There were also many professional musicians who were members, including Richard Hayman (US), Jerry Murad (US) and several others.
Members of TRIC premiered new works for harmonica ensemble by James Moody who conducted and played piano, at the Accordion and Harmonica Day in Leicester in 1970.
The players were: Tommy Reilly, James Hughes, Sigmund Groven, Brian Chaplin, Carol Bloxsome, Graham Butcher, and Bryan Mapperley.
The Film Recording of TRIC from 1970
During the summer of 1970, Norwegian TV (NRK) came to Hammonds Wood with a film team to record a special programme about Tommy’s teaching activities in TRIC. The resulting film can be seen on the NRK website. It has a Norwegian soundtrack and no credits.
Here is a new version (2025) of the NRK film in English created by Roger Trobridge with help from Sigmund Groven, who edited the original film in 1970.
The musicians seen in the film are Tommy Reilly, James Moody, David Reilly, Sigmund Groven, Doris Ehmann, Brigitte Burgbacher, Helmut Herold, Jimmy Hughes, Brian Chaplin, Bryan Mapperley, Graham Butcher and Carol Bloxsome (Axford).
The End of TRIC
Ultimately, TRIC came to an end in 1971. It involved a lot of hard work both for Ena and Tommy, and they had no financial sponsors. The fee they charged the members was obviously a highly subsidized rate, because what was paid for a week at Hammonds Wood couldn’t even cover the cost of food.
It was also difficult to combine TRIC activities with Tommy’s extensive touring schedules and other professional commitments. In 1971, Tommy was 52, and he was at his peak simultaneously in techniques (which goes downhill as one ages), musicianship (which matures as one ages) and fame. He also needed to make more income for his family. It was a clear choice that he took on more performances.
The entire TRIC project was never conceived as a business. Besides the low fees he charged for the pupils, Tommy was very kind to them, so kind that he sometimes gave money back to the students who were (or appeared) broke, to let them buy a pair of much needed shoes.
Tommy was treating TRIC more as a gathering place for meeting like-minded friends (both old and new), having a cup of tea, eating good food, making great laughs, and giving some lessons. James Moody was also able to try out new compositions for solo and group harmonicas. Technically the best player in the world was asking only a few pounds for his secrets. So it was only natural that TRIC would wind down in just a few years.
However, Tommy didn’t stop taking in students even after he closed down TRIC. He continued to take in a few selected students in between his performance engagements, especially during the summers. He also gave workshops during harmonica festivals and this had benefited a great many players. So his playing style and methods still live on in many of his pupils.
Tommy did not teach beginners but he produced a harmonica course with James Moody, (Book and 2LPs or tape cassettes), that would get the player up to the required standard. This course was published by Messrs. Hohner Ltd. London in 1967.
A digital version of the Course was reissued by Barbara Tate Douglas Tate’s widow) in 2006 and it was re-released in 2021 as The Tommy Reilly Harmonica Course by Norsk Musikforlag – Musikkforlagene – NM Notebutikken – as a book with 2 CDs.
Tommy also wrote a book “Studies for Chromatic Harmonica” to help harmonica players with medium to advanced music to advance their playing skills.
“I really envy those who were fortunate to be TRIC members. It was a truly great milestone in the harmonica history! ” Cheng Jang Ming
The source of the cartoon is unknown – Please contact me know if you know the cartoonist.
Written by Roger Trobridge with major contributions and research from Mark Weber.
I first came across this story a few years ago when examining some reel to reel tapes in Tommy Reilly’s study. In amongst recordings by Arthur Benjamin and George Martin was Romenza, a piece of music by Anthony Burgess. Was he the infamous British Cambridge spy – no that was Guy Burgess. This had been composed by the author of The Clockwork Orange.
In December 2024 Mark Weber wrote to tell me about a book he had just read, A Clockwork Counterpoint, by Paul Phillips. He said one chapter in the book focused on Anthony Burgess writing music for three of the most renowned harmonica players: John Sebastian, Tommy Reilly, and Larry Adler.
Anthony Burgess wrote: “God has put me on earth to, among other things, write for the harmonica.”
Mark has the sheet music for the pieces pieces he composed for the three soloists but none had been recorded.
Paul Phillip’s book includes a reference to a 1977 BBC broadcast of Oscar Peterson Invites, where Anthony Burgess talks about Romanza, the piece he wrote for Tommy Reilly, which they then played live together on the show. This is the video of the TV program, edited for harmonica players. It turned out to be the source of the audio recording I had found in Tommy’s study.
Here are some of links Mark collected when researching this the background to this unreported and fascinating story about Anthony Burgess and his connection to the three supreme harmonica players: John Sebastian, Tommy Reilly, and Larry Adler.
Anthony Burgess was a famous English writer and composer, best known for his dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange .
Mark’s interest in this story began some time ago when he came across this article on the International Anthony Burgess Foundation website: Larry Adler and Anthony Burgess’s Harmonica
As it turned out, Burgess composed several works – six in total – for the harmonica and he remains the only composer to have dedicated pieces to all three of these major harmonica virtuosi.
Works Composed by Anthony Burgess for the Harmonica
For John Sebastian: Burgess, who considered Sebastian “an all-around Renaissance man, a lover of art and literature,” and good friend, wrote two works for him in the 1970s:
1972: Panique (also known as Faunal Noon) for harmonica and guitar
1972: Sonatina in C for harmonica and guitar
For Tommy Reilly:
1977: Romanza for harmonica and piano – performed on the BBC Oscar Peterson Show in 1977 – see above.
For Larry Adler:
1980: Piece for harmonica and piano (unfortunately this work is partially unreadable – the original was never found)
1986: Sonatina for harmonica and guitar
Additionally, Burgess began composing a Concerto for Harmonica and Strings, but unfortunately, he never completed the work.
It is definitely worth reading this fascinating book. When he began writing “A Clockwork Counterpoint”, Paul says he started with the harmonica chapter, 28 “The Sad Suck-and-Blow“. Chapters 67 and 68 of “The Devil Prefers Mozart” are about Larry Adler and John Sebastian, respectively.
A personal tribute from Roger Trobridge – former Chairman of HarmonicaUK.
Gerry was living in London as a child and studied accordion at the Hohner run, “British College of Accordionists“. He preferred harmonica and ended up being very successful in the National Harmonica League (NHL) UK Championships in the 1950s.
This led to him being asked to join the Morton Fraser Harmonica Gang, a professional variety act. Gerry decided it was not what he wanted and after his National Service he established a business in his beloved Wales.
It was a big success and when he retired, he left it to his family and returned to the harmonica.
This was about the time I took over as Chairman of the National Harmonica League (now HarmonicaUK) in October 2000. We met up through the forum on my website and he immediately joined the committee, where his business and musical experience was invaluable.
Gerry was very involved with the transfer of the annual festival to the Folk House in Bristol in 2001.Ben Hewlett was teaching a blues class for musicians there and he thought it would be a great venue.
He took a back seat around 2010 but continued to support the Chromatic Weekend festival which he had set up in 2006.
Gerry had other interests and he became leader of the Mid Glamorgan Accordion Band, still playing his chromatic harmonica. He also enjoyed writing and the research that went into it. When we met up earlier this year he was about to visit Scotland to check out the background for his latest novel.
You can learn out more from Gerry himself in this 60 mins video based on a talk he gave to the Porthcawl U3A about his life as a harmonica player entitled “Remember when you got your first harmonica“.
Gerry Ezard, performer, musician and author
Gerry has recorded two CDS, (“Just My Stuff” and “More of My Stuff”) and is also an author (Gerald Ezard) of a self produced book, “Mar$”, available through Amazon.
When Gerry performed on stage he would always dress for the occasion. It was part of the performance. His playing was of the highest standard, something he tried to pass on to anyone wishing to learn. From the time he joined the NHL in 2001, he ran workshops on all aspects of playing the chromatic harmonica. In 2006 he set up the Chromatic Weekend Festival, in Birmingham, along with Steve Dooley, which resulted in an increased awareness and uptake of the chromatic harmonica.
Gerry was always happy on stage and would always have something to say. As the following examples will show, he loved to act out stories, often in the style of the characters from the stories of Mickey Spillane and Damon Runyon – gumshoes, gangsters and gamblers. Like Larry Adler – no opportunity was missed to make it a better story.
Bach in the Bar
with apologies to Mickey Spilane
Harmonica World Dec-Jan 2005
It was quiet, too quiet, when I crossed the reception at Jurys. The blond behind the desk wasn’t giving anything away through those baby blue peepers.
The lights were low and the noise of the gang drowned out the background music when I hit the bar. Wheels sat in his usual place eyeing the crowd, Babs, his doll, glanced up as I sashayed in hoping they wouldn’t notice the bulge of cold metal under my armpit.
I knew something was going down, but as long as it wasn’t me in a cement overcoat I was too tired to care. I flung myself into a chair in the shadows. They were all there – Babyface Jamie, Fast Eddie, and Fingers Lee and his Ma, Lady C.
Lady C slid the paper over to Wheels and his eyes narrowed as he glanced it over. ‘Hey Jamie, you handle this stuff?’ he breathed. Babyface sidled over, casual like, and the bar went silent as he slowly pulled out a silver 48. Yeah, “Wheels”, he nodded, ‘I can fix it’. Everyone’s hands were in the open, I kept mine there too, and smiled like I knew too much.
Wheels raked the room with his eyes, nobody looked up, ‘Any of youse guys ready to roll’ he queried. The question hung in the air like a harmonic minor. The dame nodded ‘I’m in’ she drawled, ‘Me too’ added Fast Eddie, both producing mean looking 48s.
I shrunk into the shadows but it was too late, Wheels fixed me with his eyes. A long moment passed, ‘You’re in Pops’, he announced, and I knew there was no backing out. I was glad I’d packed my big 56 because this little number was going to be a doozy.
Then Fingers began to tinkle the ivories and Wheels began to play. Lady C narrowed her eyes and joined in with Babyface alongside. Me, I was with Fast Eddie, and we all watched each other to see what went down.
Well it went something like that after the festival concert, when, at 1am in Jurys lounge, five chromatic players. Carol Axford, Gerry Ezard, Jamie Dolan, Eddie Ong and Douglas Tate played Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, with Lee Axford at the piano. The bar was still crowded with hotel guests, and there were a few surprised looks as the elegant music silenced the conversation.
It was one of those magic moments, and Douglas, with his wife Barbara at his side, had somehow managed to raise us all from our post festival day stupor to enjoy playing Bach in the early hours of the morning.
I’m glad I was there. We will remember Douglas by playing this again one day.
Gerry (Pops) Ezard
Repeat performance at Douglas Tate’s Memorial Service (21 April 2006)
Here is a video of a repeat performance of the music that was played in the bar at Jurys Hotel in Bristol, on that Saturday night. Again Gerry Ezard is the narrator and a performer alongside Colin Mort, Philip Achille, Eddie Ong and Jamie Dolan. The 9 mins recording is taken from Douglas Tate’s Memorial service in Olney Parish Church, which added its own reverb to the chromatic harmonicas.
Gerry Ezard in Concert
Gerry played in many NHL/HarmonicaUK concerts and Chromatic Weekends. He loved the film music and Light Music of his youth. Here he plays two arrangements by Tommy Reilly from the Festival Concert in 2011 and also demonstrates his sartorial elegance.
Tribute from HarmonicaUK
It was with sadness and heavy hearts that we learned of Gerry’s passing. Everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him will miss him greatly.
Gerry played a major role in rebuilding HarmonicaUK and the teaching and promotion of his beloved chromatic harmonica.
A professional performer on stage – off stage he was warm and generous with an impish sense of humour.
The Gerry Ezard Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Tribute Fund
There is a Gerry Ezard – Forever By the Sea Tribute Fund page for donations. Gerry was an avid Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) supporter. He loved life aboard his boat. Our first meeting was through a link to his Moonraker boat club.
A collection of information about the chromatic harmonica player, Tommy Reilly
This is work in progress
This is an outline page with links to more detailed subject pages.
Growing up
Tommy’s father, Captain James Reilly, was a bandmaster at the Royal Military School of Music (RMSM), Kneller Hall in Twickenham, London. He left for Canada after WW1 to become the bandmaster of the Guelph Army Battalion and also the leader of the OAC Symphony Orchestra and a local choir. Tommy Reilly was born there in Aug 1919.
When the depression started in 1929, Captain Reilly moved to the local Elmdale Public School as custodian and in 1930 he started a harmonica band at the school. It was very successful. Tommy studied violin and also played harmonica and accordion.
In 1935, James Reilly returned to England with his family to become a Musical Director of Hohner’ new Harmonica Song Band League. Within a couple of years Tommy was performing in a circus troop as a musician and acrobat and touring in Europe. In 1939 he was studying violin in the Leipzig Conservatory when war was declared and he spent over 5 years in German POW camps. He used this time to develop his prodigious harmonica technique utilising his knowledge of the violin and the playing of Jascha Heifetz.
After the war, Tommy returned to the UK and began performing with Frank Still, a pianist he had met in the POW camps. He quickly built up links with the BBC and played regularly on radio shows like Variety Bandbox and Workers Playtime. Tommy joined the Clarkson Rose Music Hall Review, Twinkle, and met Ena, the principal Girl. They married and had a son, David.
Tommy was a household name by 1950 and he started composing for himself and Production Music companies like Conway and recording 78rpm records for the popular music market. His producer was George Martin who had just been made head of EMI’s Parlophone label. His best known recording is probably the Jack Warner 78rpm – An Ordinary Copper (Dixon of Dock Green), heard on the TV show and released as a single in 1958. These 78 rpm singles were never re-released.
Writing for the Production Music Libraries was very profitable and several pieces became well known as themes for TV and radio programmes in several countries. In the UK the best known were Family Joke (The Grove Family) and Trade Wind Hornpipe (The Navy Lark). Tommy wrote under several pseudonyms – Max Martin, T Rundle, Dave Holland and Dwight Barker – with James Moody and his son, David. He recorded for Conroy, Berry Music, Chappell, Weinberger (JW Media Music), AudioBMP, and Boosey and Hawkes.
Tommy’s concerts included popular and classical music, usually transcribed for harmonica. His fame led to pieces being composed for him by Michael Spivakovsky, Robert Farnon, James Moody, Gordon Jacob, Fried Walter, Graham Whettam, Alan Langford and Sir George Martin. He also performed works written for the harmonica by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Arthur Benjamin, and Villa-Lobos.
Another area where Tommy was active was on film soundtracks, The Sundowners, Yokohama Holiday and most notably, Midnight Cowboy, which is the subject of another of my blogs.
Tommy Reilly International Club (TRIC)
Tommy was always interested in education and like his father, Captain James Reilly, he wrote several instruction books. Tommy went further and decided to teach harmonica at his new home, Hammonds Wood, in 1977. He started TRIC and several musical events were held with some top players from around the world. It proved unworkable and lasted only for a few years. This is covered in detail in another of my blogs. Tommy Reilly International Club
Concerts and Workshops
You can view some of Tommy’s concert and workshop performances on this page.
Member of the Order of the British Empire – 1992
Queen Elizabeth presented Tommy Reilly with the MBE for ‘services to music’ in 1992.
Discography
Here are links to Tommy’s vast collection of audio recordings.
Tommy Reilly, David Reilly and James Moody recorded a large amount of music to be used as incidental or background music (Music Library or Production Music). The companies included Conroy, Berry Music, Chappell, Weinberger (JW Media Music), AudioBMP, and Boosey and Hawkes.
Some of the tracks were selected and used as theme music for BBC TV and Radio shows. The Navy Lark used Trade Wind Hornpipe, the 1968 Children’s Adventure Weekly used Rolling Stone and the Canadian Children’s programmes, Bobino and La Petite Patrie used Double March and Turkey Trot respectivly.
A series of alias were used for the composer’s name. Max Martin, and Dwight Barker were the most well known, but others included T Rundle and Dave Holland (with David Reilly). Some of the early music was released on 78 rpm recordings but most were released later as LPs along with some later compositions. Other nom de plumes
Solo Harmonica with Guitar Accompaniment – LP 33rmp – Conroy Recorded Music Library, Berry Music, BLMP 088 – Composers: D & T Reilly. Tommy Reilly, harmonica, David Reilly, guitar. Side A: Knights and Dragons; Morning Ride; Children’s Fountain; Canals and Bridges; Sad Waltz; Moaning Bird; Bistro; Bossa Petite; The Daylight Song. Side B: Thingamajig; Bicycle Bill; Dream Day; Once upon a Time; Almost Mozart; Ha Harmonica; Boy Soldier; Grass Roots; Cantina. Each track is typically 1 to 2.5 mins.
Harmonica – LP 33rpm – Conroy Recorded Music Library, Berry Music, BMLP 160 (1976) – Composer: D Barker. – Side A: Sophisticated Party; Wind in her hair; Trade Wind Hornpipe; Child’s Play; Hurry, Hurry; Pins and Needles; Night Out; Shooting the Rapids; Alley Cat; Mirabelle; Closing Tab 1; Closing Tab 2; Crown and Anchor; Beauty Queen; Evening Stroll; Keep it Steady; Jaunty Joe; Conjuring Trick; Gangway; Capstan Hornpipe; Liberty Special; Double March; Rolling Stone; Saucy Jack; Tall Story; Cocked Hat, Deck Games. Side B: Criss Cross; Royal Jester; Highway; Fly by Night; Follow Through; Top Dog; Easy Going; Smartie; Caught Out; Flip Flap; Ridin’ Herd; Whistling Star; Cricket on th Spree; Alpine Echoes; Downlown Blues; Another Spring; More Haste; Pay Off; River Queen; Blue Dawn; Lost Patrol; Blue Sails; Roundabout Romance. Each track is typically 30-60 seconds in length.
They came from earlier 78rpm recordings – Side A: BM 118 (1958) (1/5), BM 201 (1559)-(6/18), BM 251 (1960 (19-27) – solo harmonica and small orchestral accompaniment – Side B: BM 252 (1960) (1-11), BM 253(1960) (12-18), BM 254 (1960) (19-23) – harmonica with rhythm accompaniment.
Other 78rpm issued were – BM 126 (1958): Side A – Montmarte Mood – Rolling Along: Side B – Grim Jim, Suspense in Crime, Stealthy Criminal – BM 254B (1960): Yokohama Holiday is a Dwight Barker composition but no harmonica. – BM 255 (1960): Side A was written by Dwight Barker but it has no harmonica.
Harmonica Moods – LP 33 rpm – Boosey and Hawkes Library Music, SBH 3091 – Composer: David Holland. Soloist: Tommy Reilly, Harmonica. Side A: The Hamelin Piper; The Lady of the Lake; Ghost Town; Irish Navy Run; Slow Gold; Objets d’art. Side B: Oliver’s Theme; Florintina; Texas Trail; Languid Lady; Thru’ the Rockies; Convolution. Each track is typically 2-3 mins seconds in length. Harmonica solos, duets and harmonica/guitar.
Serenade – Chandos – CHAN 8486 – Bulgarian Wedding Dance (Moody), Pavane Op. 50 (Faure), Romance (Faure), Norwegian Dance no. 2 (Grieg), Adagietto (George Martin), Aviator (David Reilly), Serenade (Tommy Reilly), Sonata (Handel, arr. Moody), Au bord de l‘eau (Faure), Bruyeres (Debussy), On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn), My Lagan Love (trad., arr. Tommy Reilly), Two Beatle Girls (Lennon-McCartney, Martin) – with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields Chamber Ensemble – (1986)
Tommy Reilly and Skaila Kanga Play British Folk-Songs – Chandos – CHAN 8559 – Skye Boat Song, Early One Morning, Blow the Wind Southerly, Scarboro‘ Fair, Londonderry Air, Trotting to the Fair, Drink to me only, Kathleen Mavoureen, Morning has broken, The Lark in the Clear Air, Cherry Ripe, Ash Grove, David of the White Rock, Keel Row, Ye Banks and Braes, Endearing Young Charms, Dashing away with the Smoothing Iron, My Love is like a Red, Red Rose, She moved thro‘ the Fair, The Rising of the Lark – with Skaila Kanga, Harp – (1987)
Works for Harmonica and Orchestra – Chandos – CHAN 8617 – Romance (Ralph Vaughan Williams), Concertino (Vilem Tausky), Little Suite (James Moody), Five Pieces (Gordon Jacob) – with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner – originally on the Argo label (ZRG 856) – (1988)
Thanks for the memory – Chandos – CHAN 8645 – Over the Rainbow (Arlen), Medley: There‘s a Small Hotel (Rodgers-Hart), Once in a While (Green-Edwards), A Pretty Girl is like a Melody (Berlin), I‘ll Follow my Secret – Heart (Coward), In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington), Medley: A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Sherwin- Maschwitz), Dancing on the Ceiling (Rodgers-Hart), Love is the Sweetest Thing (Noble), Misty (Garner), Medley: Goodnight Vienna (May), I am Getting Sentimental over You (Bassman), The Way you Look Tonight (Kern), Sweet and Lovely (Arnheim-Tobias-Lemare), Medley: When you Wish upon a Star (Harline-Washington), Because I Love You (Berlin), I‘m a Dreamer (DeSylva-Brown- Henderson), Smoke gets in Your Eyes (Kern), Medley: A Room with a View (Coward), Tenderly (Lawrence-Grosz), The Breeze and I (Lecuona), Thanks for the Memory (Rainger-Robin), Medley: Getting to Know You (Rodgers-Hammerstein), September Song (Weill-Anderson), Someday I‘ll Find You (Coward), Body and Soul (Green), Medley: One Night of Love (Schertzinger), The Very Thought of You (Noble), Love Walked In (Gershwin) – with James Moody, piano – (1988)
Tommy Reilly, Skaila Kanga (harp), Hindar Quartet – Chandos – CHAN 8802 – Divertimento for harmonica and string quartet (Gordon Jacob), Suite dans le style francais (James Moody), Quintet for harmonica and string quartet (James Moody) – with the Hindar Quartet und Skaila Kanga, harp – originally released in 1975 on the Argo label (ZDA 206) and in 1981 on the Philips label (9500 997)- 1990
Serenade, Vol 2 – Chandos – CHAN 6568 – Spanish Dance No.2 (Moszkowski), Siciliano (Bach), Ballet Music from „Faust“ (Gounod), Aria from „Bachianas Brasileiras“ no.5 (Villa-Lobos), La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin (Debussy), Allegro (Fiocco), Gymnopedie no.1 (Satie), Gavotte en Rondeau (Bach, arr. Reilly), The Fog is Lifting from the Play „The Mother“ (Nielsen), Pizzicato from „Sylvia“ (Delibes), Meditation de Thäis (Massenet), Merrily-Go-Round (Kanga), Estrellita (Ponce), Eastern Motif (Kanga), Gavotte from „Mignon“(Thomas), Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod), Elegy (Fisher), Sleepy Shores (Pearson), Song in the Night (Salzedo), Canzonetta (Kanga), Valsentino (Reilly), Cavatina (Myers) – with Skaila Kanga, harp – (1992)
Tommy Reilly Plays Harmonica Concertos and Virtuoso Works – Chandos – CHAN 9248 – Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra (Michael Spivakovsky) – with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, cond. Charles Gerhardt – Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra (Malcolm Arnold) – with the Basel Radio Sinfonieorchester, cond. Cedric Dumont – Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra (Heitor Villa-Lobos) – with the Rundfunkorchester des Südwestfunks, cond. Emmerich Smola – Toledo, Spanish Fantasy for Harmonica and Orchestra (James Moody) – with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, cond. Robert Farnon – Prelude and Dance for Harmonica and Orchestra (Robert Farnon) – with Robert Farnon and his orchestra – (1993)
Classique Nostalgie: Harmonica Recital – London (Japan) – POCL-3683 – Waltz in D-flat Major, op. 64 no.1 (Chopin), Jasmin (Hazell), Popular Song (Walton), Air and Rondo (Händel), Fair Maid of Perth (Bizet), Cancion y Danza (Mompou), Italien Dance (Dring), The Swan (Saint-Saens), Humoresque (Reizenstein), Chanson Russe (Stravinsky), Sonatine (Scarlatti), Gymnopedie no. 1 (Satie), Trotting to the Fair, (trad., arr. Moody), Sonatina (Saunders) – – with James Moody, piano, and Skaila Kanga, harp – it is a Japanese release of “Harmonica Recital“, Argo ZK 55 – (1994)
Tommy Reilly – Classic People (Korea) – CPCD-07 – Scarborough Fair (trad., arr. Kanga), Kathleen Mavoureen (trad., arr. Moody), David of the White Rock (trad., arr. Kanga), Pavane (Fauré, arr. Langford), Norwegian Dance no.2 (Grieg, arr. Langford), On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn, arr. Langford), One Night of Love (Schertzinger), The Very Thought of You (Noble), Love Walked In (Gershwin), In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington), Concertino for Harmonica and Orchestra: 1st Movement (Vilem Tausky), Little Suite for Harmonica and Orchestra: Cantilena (James Moody), Harmonica Quintet: 3rd Movement (James Moody) – with Skaila Kanga, harp, Academy of St. Martin-in-the- Fields Chamber Ensemble, James Moody, piano, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner – (1995)
Harmonica Parisien – Sterndale Records STE 3461 – a re-issue of the 1972 LP Polydor 2382 016 with11 additional tracks – La Vie en Rose (Louiguy-Piaf), Plaisir d‘amour (Martini), Sous le ciel de Paris (Giraud-Brun), Quand je reviendrai (Rey), J‘attendrai (Olivieri, Rastelli, Poterat), Clopin Clopant (Coquatrix-Dudan-Goell), Les feuilles mortes (Kosma-Prevert), Moulin Rouge (Auric-Larue), La Ronde de L‘Amour (Straus-Ducreux), Hymne à L‘Amour (Monnot-Piaf), Le Mer (Trenet-Lasry), Les trois cloches (Villard), Valsentino (T. Reilly), Shadow Valse (Dubois), Le Grisbi (Wiener-Lanjean-Parsons), Un Homme et une Femme (Lai-Barouh), Loin du Bal (Gillet), La Mattchiche (Borel-Briolette-Lelievre), Poupée Valsante (Poldini-Kreisler), Objet d‘art (Holland), Berceuse (Fauré), I‘ll remember today (Piaf-Engvick), La Petite Tonkinoise (Scotto-Christine) – Title 1-12: Tommy Reilly and his orchestra, the remaining: with different accompaniments – (1999)
A Life in Music (Vintage Tommy Reilly) – Chandos – CHAN 20143 – Zigeunerweisen (Pablo de Sarasate), Sonata. L 338. KK450 (Domenico Scarlatti), Gigue from Partita no. 3. BWV 1006 (Johann Sebastian Bach), Serenade (Serge Rachmaninoff), Age of Innocence (David Reilly / Robert Farnon). Italian Dance (Madeleine Dring), Spanish Dance No. 2 (Moritz Moszkowski), Voice from the Past (Tommy Reilly/James Moody), Firebrand (Alan Langford), Deep Purple (Peter de Rose), Dance of the Comedians (Bedrich Smetana), Overture to ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Midnight in Mayfair (Newell Chase), Cumbanchero (Rafael Hernandez Marín), Jealousy (Jacob Gade), Dinah (Sam M. Lewis/Joe Young/Harry Aksi), Bop! Goes the Weasel (Jack Bentley/Reginald Owen), Firefly (Donald Phillips), Begin the Beguine (Cole Porter), Gin ginger (Bobby Young), No limit (Tommy Reilly/Bobby Young), Bulgarian Wedding Dance (James Moody), Hora Staccato (Grigoras Dinicu/Jascha Heifeizi), 18th Century Rock (Jimmy Leach), Irish Medley (traditional), The Breeze and I (Ernesto Lecuona), Le Grisbi (Jean Wiener), The Red Flame (Tommy Reilly/Maurice Arnold), Waltz. Op. 64 No. I (Minute Waltz’ (Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin), Golden Girl (Tommy Reilly/James Moody)
Midnight Cowboy (Barry) – Polydor – NH 59323 – with John Scott and his orchestra – (1969) Valdres March (Hanssen, arr. Richards), Memories (D. Reilly-Durham) – Polydor – 2052 001 – (1969) The Music of Robert Farnon – Polydor – 2382 008 – Prelude and Dance for Harmonica and Orchestra, with Robert Farnon and his orchestra. Also on the Baby Grand label (SE 1047) – (1971) Quand je reviendrai (Rey), Les Trois Cloches (Villard) – Decca – FR 13274 – Tommy Reilly and his orchestra – (1971) The Entertainer (Joplin), Turkey Trot (M. Martin) – Polydor – 2052 101 – with Kaare Ørnung, piano – (1974) Bing Crosby reading Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – Argo – ZSW 561-3 – with music, written by David Reilly and played by Tommy Reilly, David Reilly, Billy Bell and Chris Hazell – 1976 Flåklypa Grand Prix (film soundtrack) – Polydor – 2382 066 – Music by Bent Fabricius-Bjerre and played by Tommy Reilly – (1976) Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Various Artists – RSO Records, Inc. RS-2-4100 – (1978) Tarka the Otter (Film-Soundtrack) – Argo – ZSW 613 – Music by David Fanshawe, played by Tommy Reilly and his ensemble – (1979) Winnetou Melodien – Teldec – 6.24965 AS – Old Shatterhand-Melodie, Apanatschi, Winnetou Melodie, Grand Canyon-Melodie, Chinla-River-Song (Böttcher) – with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, conducted by Martin Böttcher – also on CD – (1981) Siesta – SCD 15069 – GRCD 4140 – CD by Sigmund Groven with Tommy Reilly as guest: Serenade, aus dem Trio D-Dur, op. 8 no. 1 (Beethoven, arr. Moody-Bjerkestrand) with Sigmund Groven, 2nd Harmonica, Ivar Anton Waagaard, piano, and Kjetil Bjerkestrand, synthesizer – (1993) Bernard Herrmann: “Night Digger” – Scenario Macabre for Orchestra (Filmmusik) – X (Australia) – LXCD 12 – with Sessions of London, conducted by Bernard Herrmann – (1994) André Gagnon: Romantique – Star (Canada) – STR-CD-8057 – Le pianiste envolé (Gagnon) – – with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. John Coleman – (1994) Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra, op. 46 (Malcolm Arnold) – BBC Radio Classics – BBCRD 9103 – “Walton, Grainger, Smetana, Borodin, Arnold” – with the BBC Concert Orchestra, cond. Henry Krips – (1995) Serenade for unaccompanied Harmonica (Tommy Reilly) – BBC Radio – BBCRD 9115 – “Walton, Arnold, Farnon, Coates“- (1995) The Navy Lark: Trade Wind Hornpipe (James Moody- Tommy Reilly), and The Grove Family: Family Joke (Erik Spear) – EMI Premier – 7243 83499625 – “Vintage Themes from British Radio, Television & the Newsreels” – with Orchestra, conducted by James Moody and Eric Spear – (1996) I godt lag – Sonet – SCD 15102, later Grappa – GRCD 4142 – CD by Sigmund Groven with Tommy Reilly as guest: Duettino (Fried Walter), with Sigmund Groven, 2nd harmonica, and the Berliner Rundfunkorchester, conducted by Fried Walter – Three Irish Airs (trad., arr. James Moody) – with Sigmund Groven, 2nd harmonica, and Kaare Ørnung, piano – (1996)
This information is taken from a range of sources including our own collection and the extensive listing in Uwe Warschkow’s excellent book Harmonica Lessons with Tommy Reilly, produced with the help of Sigmund Groven.
The Life of Reilly – World Sound- T 541 – Irish Traditionals: The Humours of Limerick, Thady‘s Wattle, St. Patrick‘s Day, The Irish Washerwomen, The Meeting of the Waters, The Rakes of Kildare, Dumph‘s Hornpipe, Coming through the Field, Castle of Dromore, Killarney, Tatler Jack Welsh, Kathleen Mavoureen, The Gentle Maiden, The Minors of Wicklow, The Mug of Brown Ale, The Last Rose of Summer, Snowy Breasted Pearl, The Showman‘s Fancy, The Fairy Reel, Love Thee Dearest, Maggie Morrissey, The Green Fields of Erin, Lark in the Clear Air, The Rakes of Mallow, My Lagan Love, Go to the Devil, Old Women, Black Thorn Stick – with James Moody and his players – (1965)
Chromonica Rallye mit Tommy ReillyConcorde – ORL-ST 5002 – Cobra – FLLP 207 – The Peanut Vendor (Simon), Midnight Party (Haensch), Sinfonie (Alstone), Flirt in Rio (Reilly-Arnold), No Time (Rundle-Morris), Esmeralda (Rundle-Morris), Piccolino (Berlin), Acapulco Holiday (Martin), To pass the time (Fruth), In the dusk (Jojic), Colonel Bogey (Alford), Tokyo (Rundle-Morris) – with The Continentals – (1967)
Colours of my Life – Polydor 236 507 (UK) – Polydor 184107 (International) – Paper-hearted Friend (D. Reilly-Durham), If it‘s a Game (D. Reilly-Durham), Slavonic Patrol (Martin), Can‘t make up my mind (D. Reilly-Durham), Bachanalia (Moody), Colours of my Life (D. Reilly-Durham), The Night Knows All (Gert), Badinerie (Bach), Chanson Russe (Stravinsky), In the Evening (Trad., arr. E. Groven), Seventeen Come Sunday (Trad., arr. Morris), Strawberry Fair (Trad., arr. Morris), One Summer Day (Richards), Berceuse (Faure) – with the Hindar Quartet, rhythm group and Johan Øian, piano – (recorded in Oslo,1968).
Tommy Reilly Harmonica Course – Hohner – FP 1969 – with two LP discs or a cassette. Reissued privately 2006
Melody Fair – Polydor – 222 002 – Angelin is always Friday (Woodley-Paxton), What a wonderful World (Weiss-Douglas), Lead on Light (D. Reilly-Durham), Yours to the end (arr. W. Last), Canadian Sunset (Heywood), Melody Fair (Farnon), La Source (Dijan-Faure-Bonnet), Kiss me goodby (Reed-Mason), The Legend of Xanadu (Howard-Blaikley), A Man without Love (Livraghi-Panzeri-Pace), My First Dance (W. Last-Loose), Tomorrow is far away (W. Last-Bader) – with the Kai Warner singers and orchestra – (1969)
Latin Harmonica – Polydor – 2418 021 – 2 The Pearlfishers (Bizet), Cumana (Allen-Spina-Hillmann), Beso triste (Steffanowski), The man who stood (D. Reilly), Baiao cacula (Gennari-Tedesco), Ba-tu-ca-da (Alfonso-Trinidade), Poinciana (Simon), Quando, quando (Renis), Serenata (Anderson-Parish), Pueblo Bossa (W. Last), Golden Earrings (Young-Livingston-Evans), If it‘s all the same to you (D. Reilly) – with Kai Warner and his orchestra – (1970)
The Harmonica of Tommy Reilly – Polydor – 2382 002 – Sonata in g-minor (Scarlatti), Drink to me only with thine eyes (Trad., arr. Moody), Gavotte en Rondeau (Bach), Gigue (Bach), Serenade (Rachmaninoff), Age of Innocence (D. Reilly-Farnon), Bulgarian Wedding Dance (Moody), Italian Dance (Dring), Voice from the Past (T. Reilly-Moody), Spanish Dance (Moszkowski), My World for Love (D. Reilly-Moody), Caprice (Duck), Firebrand (Langford) – with Kaare Ųrnung, piano, and string quartet – (1971)
Wand‘rin‘ Star – Polydor – 2384 029 – I‘m an old cowhand (Mercer), This river flows to New Orleans (D. Reilly), Ragtime Cowboy Joe (Muir- Abraham-Clarke), Streets of Laredo (arr. D. Reilly), Don‘t fence me in (Porter), Birmingham Jail (arr. D.Reilly), The Big Country (Moross), Wand‘rin‘ Star (Loewe-Lerner), Yellow Rose of Texas (arr. D. Reilly), Red River Valley (arr. D. Reilly), Beautiful Brown Eyes (Wynne-James), Riverboat Queen (D. Reilly), Buttons and Bows (Livingston-Evans) – 1971)
Tommy Reilly Plays Fried Walter – Apollo – AS 1008 – The Adventures of Corporal Smith – Cascade – Duettino*, Arabesque – Ballade and Tarantella (alle von Fried Walter) – with the Berlin Studio Players, conducted by Fried Walter and *Sigmund Groven, harmonica) – (1971)
Harmonica Parisien – Polydor – 2382 016, 2922 053, 2484 044 – La Vie en Rose (Louiguy), Plaisir d‘amour (Martini), Sous le ciel de Paris (Giraud-Brun), Quand je reviendrai (Rey), J‘attendrai (Olivieri-Rastelli-Poterat), Clopin Clopant (Coquatrix-Dudan-Goell), Les feuilles mortes (Kosma-Prevert), Moulin Rouge (Auric-Larue), La Ronde de L‘Amour (Straus-Ducreux), Hymne a L‘Amour (Monnot-Piaf), La Mer (Trenet-Lasry), Les Trois Cloches (Villard) – Tommy Reilly and his orchestra – also on the Philips label (6382 062) – (1972)
Warm Latin Sounds – Philips – 6382 081 – Sunshine of my Life (Wonder), Wave (Jobim), Baubles, bangles and beads – (Wright-Forrest), Triste (Jobim), Corcovado (Jobim), Light my Fire (TheDoors), Girl from Ipanema (Jobim-de Moraes), It‘s Impossible (Manzanero), Desafinado (Jobim), The Secret (Rey), Shadow of your Smile (Mandel-Webster), Brazil (Barroso) – Tommy Reilly and his orchestra – (1975)
The Silver Sound of the Harmonica – ARGO ZDA 206 – Divertimento for harmonica and string quartet (Gordon Jacob), Suite dans le style francais (James Moody), Quintet for harmonica and string quartet (James Moody) – with the Hindar Quartet und Skaila Kanga, harp – also released in 1981 on the Philips label (9500 997) – (1975)
Music for two harmonicas – Polydor – 2922 008 – Seventeen-Seventy-One (James Moody), Tźte-ą-Tźte (Robert Farnon), Introduction and Galop (Gordon Jacob), A Summer Romance (Grųttum), Invention (Max Saunders), Bohemian Carnival (Vilem Tausky), The Rose of Telemark (Tommy Reilly-Sigmund Groven-David Reilly), Love Theme from Tom Sawyer (David Reilly-Tommy Reilly), Blow, Silver Wind (Sigmund Groven-Erik Bye), Valsentino (Tommy Reilly), Sicilian Interlude (James Moody), Window of the World (David Reilly) – with Sigmund Groven, harmonica, Armon String Quartet, Skaila Kanga, harp, David Reilly, guitar, Frank Clarke, bass, Russ Stableford, bass – (1976)
Works for Harmonica and Orchestra – Argo – ZRG 856 – with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, directed by Neville Marriner – Little Suite (James Moody), Five Pieces (Gordon Jacob), Concertino (Vilem Tausky), Romance (Ralph Vaughan Williams) – (1977)Harmonica Recital – Argo – ZK 55 – Waltz in D-flat Major, op.64 no.1 (Chopin), Jasmin (Hazell), Popular Song (Walton), Air and Rondo (Händel), Fair Maid of Perth (Bizet), Cancion y Danza (Mompou), Italian Dance (Dring), The Swan (Saint-Saens), Humoresque (Reizenstein), Chanson Russe (Stravinsky), Sonatine (Scarlatti), Gymnopedie (Satie), Trotting to the Fair (arr. Moody), Sonatina (Saunders) – with James Moody, piano, und Skaila Kanga, harp – (1978)
Tommy Reilly Plays Villa Lobos Harmonica Concerto – Argo – ZRG 905 – Harmonica Concerto (Villa-Lobos), Harmonica Concerto (Malcolm Arnold), Harmonica Concerto (Arthur Benjamin) – with the London Sinfonietta, conducted by David Atherton – (1979)
Romantic Melodies – Philips – 9500 997 – Ave Maria (Bach-Gonoud), Ballet Music from “Faust“ (Gounod), Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (Villa-Lobos), Eastern Motif (Skaila Kanga), Cavatina (Myers), Gavotte from “Mignon“ (Thomas), Siciliano (Bach), Suite dans le style francais (Moody) – with Skaila Kanga, harp – (1981)
Tommy Reilly und Pluche – Nova-Zembla NZR 85001 – Valencia (Padilla), Falling in Love Again (Hollaender), Loin du Ball (Gillet), Over the Rainbow (Arlen), Poupee Valsante (Poldini), Romance op. 97 (Shostakovitch), Golden Girl (Martin), La Petite Tonkinoise (Scotto), Drink to me only with thine eyes (trad., arr. Morris), Georgian Rumba (Slaney), Smoke gets in your eyes (Kern), Believe me if all those endearing young charms (trad., arr. Morris), La Mattchiche (Borel-Clerc), Sunshine Rag (Martin) – arranged by James Moody – with the Pluche Salon Orchestra – (1985)
Serenade – Chandos – ABRD 1202 – Bulgarian Wedding Dance (Moody), Pavane Op. 50 (Faure), Romance (Faure), Norwegian Dance no. 2 (Grieg), Adagietto (George Martin), Aviator (David Reilly), Serenade (Tommy Reilly), Sonata (Handel, arr. Moody), Au bord de l‘eau (Faure), Bruyeres (Debussy), On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn), My Lagan Love (trad., arr. Tommy Reilly), Two Beatle Girls (Lennon-McCartney, Martin) – with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields Chamber Ensemble – (1986)
Tommy Reilly and Skaila Kanga Play British Folk-Songs – Chandos – LBRD 017 – Skye Boat Song, Early One Morning, Blow the Wind Southerly, Scarboro‘ Fair, Londonderry Air, Trotting to the Fair, Drink to me only, Kathleen Mavoureen, Morning has broken, The Lark in the Clear Air, Cherry Ripe, Ash Grove, David of the White Rock, Keel Row, Ye Banks and Braes, Endearing Young Charms, Dashing away with the Smoothing Iron, My Love is like a Red, Red Rose, She moved thro‘ the Fair, The Rising of the Lark – arranged by Skaila Kanga – with Skaila Kanga, Harp – (1987)
Works for Harmonica and Orchestra – Chandos – ABRD 1306 – Romance (Ralph Vaughan Williams), Concertino (Vilem Tausky), Little Suite (James Moody), Five Pieces (Gordon Jacob) – with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner – originally (1977) Works for Harmonca and Orchestra – Argo – ZRG 856 – (1988)
Thanks for the memory – Chandos – LBRD 020 – Over the Rainbow (Arlen), Medley: There‘s a Small Hotel (Rodgers-Hart), Once in a While (Green-Edwards), A Pretty Girl is like a Melody (Berlin), I‘ll Follow my Secret Heart (Coward), In a Sentimental Mood (Ellington), Medley: A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Sherwin- Maschwitz), Dancing on the Ceiling (Rodgers-Hart), Love is the Sweetest Thing (Noble), Misty (Garner), Medley: Goodnight Vienna (May), I am Getting Sentimental over You (Bassman), The Way you Look Tonight (Kern), Sweet and Lovely (Arnheim-Tobias-Lemare), Medley: When you Wish upon a Star (Harline-Washington), Because I Love You (Berlin), I‘m a Dreamer (DeSylva-Brown- Henderson), Smoke gets in Your Eyes (Kern), Medley: A Room with a View (Coward), Tenderly (Lawrence-Grosz), The Breeze and I (Lecuona), Thanks for the Memory (Rainger-Robin), Medley: Getting to Know You (Rodgers-Hammerstein), September Song (Weill-Anderson), Someday I‘ll Find You (Coward), Body and Soul (Green), Medley: One Night of Love (Schertzinger), The Very Thought of You (Noble), Love Walked In (Gershwin) – with James Moody, piano – (1988)
This information is taken from a range of sources including our own collection and the extensive listing in Uwe Warschkow’s excellent book Harmonica Lessons with Tommy Reilly, produced with the help of Sigmund Groven.
