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New Haven-based political lobbyist Chris DePino left the politics at home and took the Czech Republic by storm — with his Chromatic harmonica.
DePino—a former state representative and state Republican chairman turned state Capitol lobbyist, who honed his harmonica chops in studies in New York City during his days as a Metro-North conductor — just returned home from more than a month abroad touring the Czech Republic with jazz trumpeter Laco Deczi.
“I did 29 gigs in 33 days,” he said Sunday, still adjusting from his jet lag.
The highlight? “I played in front of 10,000 people on July 4 in Hradec Karlove, in an old Communist airport that was turned into a music festival.”
He also teamed up with a Czech team filing a documentary about Deczi (“He’s the Czech Miles Davis”) called Jazz Wars. “I’m like 40 percent of the movie,” DePino reported. “I did eight hours more when I was in Prague finishing the movie.” He said the movie is expected to be released in the spring. DePino’s planning a local screening and concert to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Click on the play arrow for a sample of DePino’s chromatic jamming on the tour.