Re: [Harp-L] Harmonica Blow-Off



The only electronic that Carlos uses is a vintage analog roland echo unit, which is part of his original sound dating back to when he first started recording. It adds a touch of distortion as well as a nice slap back effect - really not too much different than someone using a digital delay. The Avenger is Mark's performance amp these days and really does sound great. I would surmise that Rod was the only one using Harp King, but can't say for sure as I wasn't there.


Carlos appeared to be relying on a collection of electronics for some of his 
sound.  Unfortunately from where I was sitting I couldn't get a close enough 
look to identify what he was using, but I heard some kind of loop station in the 
mix during Carlos's version of 'Got My Mojo Working'.  There were a number of 
specialty harp amps on the stage, including an Avenger and two Harp Kings.







-----Original Message-----
From: Stachnik, George C (ESS Competitive Podcasts) (ESS Competitive Podcasts) <george.stachnik@xxxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sat, Jan 15, 2011 1:39 pm
Subject: [Harp-L] Harmonica Blow-Off


I caught the late set of Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout at Yoshi's in 
Oakland last night, with Billy Branch, Sugar Blue, Carlos Del Junco, and Rod 
Piazza.  I'm submitting this review to the list, in hopes of stimulating some 
discussion about these great players, and getting other list members who may 
have seen this tour to share their thoughts.  

Personally, I was looking forward to hearing Sugar Blue.  He doesn't spend a lot 
of time on the west coast, and seeing him on a bill with four other harmonica 
legends was a treat.  In addition, the band featured Oakland's great Rusty Zinn 
on guitar (of whom I would have liked to have heard considerably more).  

The show got off to an awesome start with Carlos Del Junco's solo version of 
'Amazing Grace'.  Carlos acknowledged that his approach was inspired by Howard 
Levy.  There's a video on youtube of Howard playing a similar arrangement of the 
230 year old hymn:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecZz9uJcG-U.  

Carlos appeared to be relying on a collection of electronics for some of his 
sound.  Unfortunately from where I was sitting I couldn't get a close enough 
look to identify what he was using, but I heard some kind of loop station in the 
mix during Carlos's version of 'Got My Mojo Working'.  There were a number of 
specialty harp amps on the stage, including an Avenger and two Harp Kings.  
Surprisingly, it looked like everybody (except Piazza) was playing through the 
same amp (it might have been the avenger - but it was hard to be sure).  Hummel 
had to switch out various sets of pedals and other apparatus between each set, 
an arrangement that (IMHO) didn't allow some the players (particularly Branch) 
to really show off their signature sounds.  

One of the problems with the all-star lineup was that each artist was allotted  
just two songs before having to give up the stage to the next performer.  I'd 
have liked to hear more of Carlos's innovative approach to the harmonica.  
Although Billy Branch's stage presence was completely infectious, and he played 
well, the band was clearly under-rehearsed.  At the end of Branch's set, I 
overheard Hummel joking 'Well, I guess they'll have that song down by tomorrow 
night.'   

But for me, the biggest contrast of the night was between Sugar Blue and Rod 
Piazza.  Sugar, predictably, set the place on fire.  His hurricane of notes has 
always reminded me of John Coltrane, and tonight was no exception.  It was clear 
that many in the crowd had not heard him before.  As I looked around the room I 
saw plenty of faces with mouths hanging open in obvious astonishment at what 
they were hearing.  Some people on this list have complained about Sugar's 
emphasis on speed, but even his critics have to admit that seconds into a Sugar 
Blue solo, you know exactly who you're listening to.  His playing is unique, and 
his tone is instantly recognizable.  

Rod Piazza on the other hand takes a much more derivative approach to the blues.  
When he played chromatic on James Cotton's "Black Night", you could close your 
eyes, forget you were listening to Piazza and imagine that it was Cotton himself 
on stage.  Similarly, his cover of Little Walter's "That's It" sounded so much 
like Walter that you could almost hear the scratches being carved into the 
vinyl.  Rod's use of the pair of harp-kings with no pedals or electronics served 
this approach well.  It's a legitimate approach to the blues, although 
personally I'm finding that it's not 'my cup of tea', at last not as much as it 
used to be.  What Piazza and Branch do is neither better nor worse than what 
Carlos or Sugar do - it's just different.  

It may have been my imagination, but I got the impression that there may have 
been some clash of egos back stage.  For example, when Piazza took the stage 
after Sugar Blue's set, he appeared to forget Sugar's name, ("I want to thank 
the wonderful... Um, the other people in tonight's show"). So overall, it was a 
night of contrasts - with Carlos and Sugar providing the innovative sparks, 
while Branch and Piazza settled into more traditional grooves.  Whichever 
apprach is your preference, there's a lot recommend this tour.  The Blow-Out 
will be in California for the next week or so.  Hummel's web site has them in 
Chico on Jan 17, Santa Cruz on the 18th, and Redondo Beach on Jan 20.  

-LittleGeorge


 



This archive was generated by a fusion of Pipermail 0.09 (Mailman edition) and MHonArc 2.6.8.