Review in Dutch Magazine Vrij Nederland

Rudie Kagie, November 2012, Vrij Nederland

With “Glass Fish”, Hermine Deurloo safeguards the melancholic sound that, in Europe, thus far, only 90-year-old Toots Thielemans has dominated. The world should be grateful to the diva for her decision to exchange the alt sax for the chromatic harmonica. Ably accompanied by Jesse van Ruller on guitar, Tony Overwater on bass, and Joshua Samson on percussion, Hermine Deurloo even blows new life into Ellington’s “Fleurette Africaine”. And Misha Mengelberg’s eccentricities are all the more so in this contrary lineup. Some of the original compositions tend towards “smooth”, but never slide into “slick”. This is how it can also be done. The wail of the harmonica has proved its value primarily in movies such as “Turks Fruit” and “Once Upon A Time In The West”. With this album, Hermine Deurloo shows that the harmonica is a fullblown jazz instrument. It is chromatic. With the help of a slide, the air can be exposed to all notes and scales.