(From top) Harmonica virtuoso JJ Milteau makes a point; in performance

The bluest of French harmonica players; the king of groove; the Albert Einstein of the blues?

The music media in France and beyond have run out of accolades to shower on harmonica virtuoso J.J. Milteau over the years. Two models of harmonica from top brand Hohner bear his name.

Now Calcutta, which has seen a revival of sorts of all that jazz in recent winters, is set to experience Milteau’s magic and his breathtaking technique, up close.

The French Association and Lafarge will present the J.J. Milteau Quartet blues concert on Tuesday, November 8, 7 pm at Kala Kunj, the Kala Mandir basement.

The evening promises an exhilarating sojourn with the harp player who “rides the blinds of blues, jazz and rock music with innate poetic sharpness” and whose “impeccable taste” and “seamless playing” have been admired by peers and critics alike.

Milteau was born in Paris in 1950. His father was a cook. Growing up in the rocking Sixties, he was exposed to the bohemian way of life and chose to travel all over Europe and North America, doing odd jobs and meeting all kinds of people and musicians.

He started playing the harmonica after listening to little-known but inspired blues artistes on his travels. ‘JJ’ developed an instant chemistry with the harmonica that suited him, as it was a “pleasant, easy-to-carry instrument for a young lonesome traveller”.

He has performed and recorded with famous French singers like Francis Cabrel, Yves Montand, Patricia Kaas, Charles Aznavour? These liaisons gave birth to the CD Merci d’?tre Venus? on which J.J. Milteau invited 10 top artistes to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his favourite instrument.

In his best-selling Universal sets, Memphis and Blue 3rd, Milteau traded licks with the likes of Little Milton Mighty, Sam McClain, Gil Scott-Heron and Terry Callier, reiterating his passionate association with Afro-American music.

In the past few years, he toured extensively ? all over Europe to the US and Canada; African nations like Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Benin and Nigeria; Central American republics like Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras; Caribbean Islands like Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago and the Dominican Republic.

He also performed in Madagascar, Reunion, Mauritius, Seychelles and in Taiwan, Mainland China and Singapore.

Milteau is also leading a research initiative with physicians and physiotherapists on musical breathing exercises to try to help children and adults with respiratory disorders like asthma. In his long and eventful career, he has tried his hand at everything ? composer to sound engineer to publisher to sleeve designer and even photographer?

The subcontinent tour of the J.J. Milteau Quartet encompasses Colombo besides the four Indian metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai.

L’Humanite defines Milteau’s music as “the roots of the blues, the swing of jazz and the energy of rock”.

That’s music to the ears of a select Calcutta crowd, still savouring the glorious notes from the Remember Shakti show last winter.

Entry to the Kala Kunj concert is free. And to sample a clutch of similar events, The French Association has unveiled a membership scheme.