[Harp-L] Re: Violin and Harmonica

[BluzeHarp@xxxxxxx]

Violin and harmonica can work out far better than many would  imagine.
  
Lionel Young is the only two time winner of the International Blues  
Challenge in Memphis, he did this first as a solo act somewhere around  2006, a 
few years later he won again in the full band  category.  Lionel's primary 
instrument is the violin, he's classically  trained and has played with 
professional symphonies, eventually his  interests led him in some non-traditional 
directions.  Local  harmonica players of all levels have had the pleasure of 
sharing the  stage with him, sometimes on pro gigs, sometimes at a Sunday 
jam  session which he hosts at the Boulder Outlook Hotel in  Colorado.  
Regardless of genre, having a competent violinist  in the mix does indeed bring 
an additional layer of ideas  and textures into the music.   
 
Another violinist who plays blues around here is Ann Harris,  she's part of 
Otis Taylor's 'Trance' band.  The word that comes  to mind for her is 
'mesmerizing'.  I'm not even going to try to  explain what she brings, it's as 
visually stunning as it is  musically.  On stage she's indescribably sexy, 
without  being the least bit vulgar.  I got to share a moment with her  in a 
mixed set at the 2012 Greeley Blues Jam, along  with Shawn Starsky, Todd 
Edmunds & Eddie Turner.  It was  an honorary thing for me as one of the 
producers, was a bit out of my  depth on the song they played and decided to mostly 
lay low and  listen.  Ann turned out to be a lovely person behind the scenes, 
 and Lionel has always been a prince... both are 'must see'  acts, 
especially on a show where there's a harp up there with  them.
 
Christopher Richards
Harmonicaplanet .com