Welcome to 2024, and welcome to another interview on The Film Scorer! Joining me to kick off the new year is harmonicist extraordinaire Frédéric Yonnet. Fred has toured and performed with an incredible slate of legendary musicians, like Stevie Wonder, Prince, John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Erykah Badu, John Legend, The Roots, Usher, Talib Kweli, Yasiin Bey (f/k/a Mos Def), De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest, among many others. Even if you haven’t heard of Fred before, you’ve definitely heard his harmonica. With all that said, why is he chatting with The Film Scorer? It’s because his work doesn’t end there.
Fred has lent his virtuosic harmonica playing to various film projects, including the Robbie Robertson composed scores for The Irishman (where his harmonica channels death) and, most recently, the Golden Globe nominated Killers of the Flower Moon (where his harmonica channels greed). As such, while we start off talking about his love of the harmonica and performing with various music legends (which he describes as “living a dream before you get to dream it”), our conversation ultimately leads to Robbie Robertson, The Irishman, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Fred’s playful run-in with Scorsese at Cannes.
Killers of the Flower Moon is currently available for digital rental, and releases on Apple TV+ on January 12 with a physical release expected sometime this month. You can hear Fred’s harmonica on the film’s score, which is widely available digitally or via physical release, and you can find out more about Fred on his website.
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