Re: [Harp-L] In Praise Of Stevie

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Who among known chromatic players sounds like a machine to you?

If you listen to Larry Adler, Toots Thielemans, Mike Turk, Robert
Bonfiglio, Douglas Tate, Little Walter, William Clarke, Dennis
Gruenling, Paul deLay, Hendrik Meurkens, Phil Caltabelotta, Randy
Singer, George Smith and, well, the list could get very long indeed -

Listen to any of those players playing the chromatic harmonica and tell
me if they sound like voices or machines. My take is they all sound
like voices, and very expressive ones.

But listening and playing are two different things. To someone who is
primarily a diatonic player, it may *feel* to you like you're playing a
machine when you play chromatic. It may or may not sound like that to a
listener. If you're comfortable on the instrument and have developed
some rapport with it, it won't.

Not to take anything away from Stevie - he's a gifted musician and a
wonderful harmonica player. But the "machine" thing as related to the
chromatic is, in my view, a stereotype.

Winslow

--- Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Not to say there aren't some wonderful chromatic players around; but
> on
> the whole, the chromatic has always had a tendency to sound like a
> machine rather than a voice, and takes some sublime artistry to make
> it
> the latter rather than the former. Stevie is to the chrom what the
> Blue
> Fairy was to Pinnochio. (Check Wikipedia's 'Pinnochio' entry if you
> don't get that; or better still, your local library)
> I second what you say anyhow.
> RD    
>     
> 
> >>> chris smith <harpshredder@xxxxxxxxx> 27/09/2007 15:05 >>>
> I just happened to look over an old thread and
> felt compelled to share what a very well-established
> composer told me when I asked him if he'd ever heard
> Stevie (Wonder)'s version of "Alfie". He said,  "I saw
> him do it at the Hollywood Bowl and it was like
> watching Jascha Heifetz." That pretty much took my
> breath away. I totally got the immensity of that
> compliment : a consummate virtuoso who plays
> effortlessly with tremendous feeling sprinkling
> surprises in with great power. 
>     We may never get there but it's a beautiful light
> at the end of that tunnel.
>                                                       
>                       Chris "Hammer" Smith
>     
> 
> Chris "Hammer" Smith
> Hammer Smith Band
> Official Myspace Page http://myspace.com/chrishammersmith 
> harpshredder@xxxxxxxxx 
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