[Harp-L] Re: Rick, Roscoe, Chris and the rest of the family

[Roscoharp@xxxxxxx]

Hey Ben & list, 
 
I ....am ....a.... very......very.......  slow....... typist, so I  hesitate 
to get into these back & forth discussions, but in for a  penny.........
 
Thanks for taking the time to read my rather long post. I'm not actually  
able to follow the reasoning behind  all your responses to my points, but I  
would say that I never meant to set Chris Michalek up as a master jazz  player. In 
an earlier post I said that I had heard Chris play convincing  jazz - maybe 
you wouldn't agree, but that doesn't make me wrong. It also  doesn't make Chris 
a jazz master. I'm not sure that he wants to be. Ask  him.
 
I originally wrote:
You'd have to listen very carefully to tell where the overbends are on  my
recordings, which are plain old rock/pop. (Not " freak-out type  material".) 
No
one has ever said they sounded awkward & ugly, but it's  true I can't play the
changes in B&S. (Yet.) So what? How did using  overbends get intrinsically
mixed up with playing jazz or playing in all  twelve keys? I can play pretty
comfortably in seven or eight positions  (depending on the tunes,) & overbends
are necessary to make the scale  & interval ideas I want to use in the music I
play. I have way more  trouble getting half step bends to sound right than I 
do
overbends.

Ben writes:
"As to that last question, if you pardon my taking Rick's side for a second  
(much
as I disagree with him on the intent) the boasting of people just like  Chris 
on
lists just like these certainly hasn't helped. Saying that if you  don't 
overblow
you're not a consumate harp player, that any tune in any key  can be played on
the diatonic, that because one overblows fluently one is  amongst the greatest
harp players in the world can't help."
 
I respond:
I never made any of those claims. Few have. If you want to discuss it  with 
Chris or anyone else, leave me out of it. I was talking about my own  approach, 
not Chris'. IMO, it's too bad some harp players automatically  associate OBs 
with playing in all twelve keys. OBs can add alot of flavor to any  position. 
I think the folks who are attempting the 12 key thing & trying to  play tricky 
chords & modulations are to be admired for their passion &  dedication. I 
imagine some of them will do it well. I believe Howard Levy  already does.
 
I originally wrote 
""When you say you haven't heard Michalek yet, well, then, you haven't  heard
him. Like the other poster who slammed Michalek the other day, how can  you
criticize something you haven't heard? (See my long post #45003, near the  
end)
Next to Howard Levy, I would say Chris is the best OB player out there.  His
overbends don't stick out to me."
 
Ben writes
" I agree that slamming Chris without having heard him is silly. I disagree  
about
your last statement in more ways than one, mostly because you're doing  the 
thing
you're slamming Rick for : what the hell is an OB player ? Has  overblowing
suddenly become a musical genre ? A style ?"
 
I respond:
Ben, I seriously don't get your point. An OB player is someone  who uses OBs 
in making music on diatonic. To me, Chris plays them really  well & very 
musically.
 
Ben wrote:
"Furthermore, and I understand you guys are all friends so this may be  hard,
especially publicly, but I don't think his playing is *that* good, and  I've
listened to Monk Alters Chi several times, and to many of the samples  he
regularly posts. I'm frankly surprised at seeing you all jumping to  Chris'
defense. I don't think that any serious jazz musician would consider  Chris'
playing exceptionally good. And if you're going to set yourself up as  a jazz
musician, that's the standard you need to meet. There's this place on  Chris'
album where one of his solos follows a guitar solo (I think it's on  Minor 
Swing,
or one of the gipsy jazz flavoured tunes) and honestly the  contrast in 
fluidity
between the guitarists' playing and Chris' is audible  and painful. And the
guitarist isn't like McLaughlin or Lagrene, you know  what I mean ?"
 
I respond:
I sorta know what you mean. There is stuff on that album that sounds forced  
& rushed, & I've told Chris that. He knows it. There is also great stuff  
there &, I'm sure, more to come. One point: I've heard A LOT of Michalek's  live 
playing; his studio playing is different. Recently, I spent some more  time 
recording in the studio,  so I can really appreciate the guys  who are true 
studio pros. Chris & I have talked many times about how hard it  is to get a 
natural, relaxed vibe going in the studio when you don't have a lot  of experience 
recording. It's an ongoing  process.

Ben writes:
"So why is everyone judging the
"jazz-ness" of a player based on his  capacity to OB and not all the other,
frankly more important aspects of his  playing ? Let *that* be the new 
standard
of *jazz* playing and let's see who  passes or fails ?"
 
I respond:
Who's everybody? Did I say anything about needing OBs to play jazz (or  
anything else?). My only point is that OBs are useful to me & others. I  don't play 
jazz. If you can hear something  horrible or even  distracting  in my OBs, 
don't listen to  my stuff. I'll be OK. 
 
I originally wrote:
"Incidently, I've personally heard Levy play the s**t out of Body &  Soul.
Raised the hair on my arms. Rick, maybe you wouldn't dig it, but I sure  did!
There are probably a few others who can play B&S. Maybe even Chris.  Maybe
George Brooks. Maybe one of those South American whiz kids. Maybe a  bunch of
folks. ."

Ben writes:
"I just thought you argued it really didn't matter ? I was all agreeing  with 
you
and suddenly you pull the carpet off my feet !"
 
I respond:
Argued that what didn't matter? I don't follow you. I wrote that Levy  played 
Body & Soul in a way that touched me & that others might also be  able to. 
 
Ben writes:
"I know you're mostly agreeing with me, Roscoe, but it seems to me there's  a
little bit of you that's still half convinced that's where the legitimacy  
lies
:-)"
 
Again, I'm not sure what point you are making. I don't care how anyone  plays 
anything, if that's what you are getting at. If it sounds good to me,  I like 
it. 
 

To sum up: I'm not Michalek's appointed champion or apologist. I only  happen 
to like a lot of what he plays. 
 
My main point is that I use & will continue to use OBs because they  allow me 
to play the lines I hear in my head. I would love it if every  harp player  
thought I was amazing & loved all the stuff I did,  including OBs, but that's 
not gonna happen.
 
 I just try to play the stuff I feel  & put it out  there.
 
 


Later,
Rosco (no  'e')
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