[Harp-L] Subject: Charlie Leighton

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Your whole post was wonderful, Richard...but this paragraph  particularly 
profound.
 
 Bears singling out:
 
"Charlie loved the wood 280 Chromatic, and in particular the older  ones  
that came originally with leather wind-savers and the rounded  rivets.  
I looked around till I found some of those harps, and they  really do  
feel special to me. I don't really care at this point if I  hear  
something special in those harps because I expect to, or if there  is  
some other x factor at work. They remind me of Charlie, and  Charlie  
reminds me that music has profound and mysterious powers that  can be  
felt but not explained. They can also be attained by a kind  of  
practice that is more of a surrender, an allowing, an opening of  the  
heart, than an attempt to master an instrument."
 
..Oh my. I'm saving this. Thank you.
 
Elizabeth
 
Message: 12
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:32:01 -0400
From: Richard  Sleigh <rharp@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Charlie Leighton
To:  harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx


I have heard many times that your tone of voice has  a lot more effect  
than the words you are speaking, and the same goes  for music. Charlie  
Leighton had a huge musical vocabulary, but it was  his tone that  
always stunned me and touched my heart in ways that I  will never be  
able express in words. I bought the tapes that Tom talks  about from  
Richard Farrell years before I heard Charlie play live, and  although  
they were amazing, nothing compared to what I heard when he  played at  
SPAH live. No effects, just his technique. I was totally  star-struck  
to the point where I found it hard to talk to him at  first, but he was  
so easygoing that I got over it enough to talk tone  with him. His  
advice was to work at matching the vibrato and tone  blowing and  
drawing by playing the draw 4 C note (slide in) and the  blow C notes  
on a 280, or the draw / blow F notes , same  idea....

I went home and spent 6 months working on those exercises daily  on  
both the 280 and the diatonic harmonica and then wrote Charlie  a  
letter to say thanks for the inspiration and ideas. He called me  on  
the phone to thank me for the letter, and it was such a surprise to  me  
that he would do that that  once again, it took me a couple of  minutes  
to get my bearings and say something halfway  intelligent.

Charlie loved the wood 280 Chromatic, and in particular the  older ones  
that came originally with leather wind-savers and the  rounded rivets.  
I looked around till I found some of those harps, and  they really do  
feel special to me. I don't really care at this point  if I hear  
something special in those harps because I expect to, or if  there is  
some other x factor at work. They remind me of Charlie, and  Charlie  
reminds me that music has profound and mysterious powers that  can be  
felt but not explained. They can also be attained by a kind  of  
practice that is more of a surrender, an allowing, an opening of  the  
heart, than an attempt to master an instrument.

I do hope  that someone collects some unreleased recordings of  
Charlie's playing  , even fragments, and makes them available. I would  
love to see more  of his music out there for people to appreciate.

I am sure that Charlie  is resting in peace, because that is the way he  
lived, as far as I can  tell....

Richard Sleigh

shop address:
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Philipsburg PA 16866-1623

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