[Harp-L] Bob Herndon, RIP



Bob Herndon passed away.  For those who do not know, he was the premiere
Harmonetta player in the world, imo.  Bob was a fixture at SPAH, always
providing beautiful simple backup to the jazz players in the hallway.  He
had all the tunes memorized and if he did not know a tune, he could hear
the chord progression simply by listening to the melody, as far as I could
tell.  He knew countless tunes and had many tunes mastered where he would
play the melody and the rhythm simultaneously, which I can tell you is very
difficult.  What was amazing to me is how he had it all memorized and if
there was something he had not memorized he could hear  it and play it
correctly.  He gave me a CD of his harp band The Harmonikings.  It is a
great CD.

More importantly, Bob was a great man.  I was fascinated by the harmonetta
and drove him crazy with questions before I bought one.  Then, when I
bought one, he really opened up and spent many free hours showing me how to
play it.  We would talk on the phone throughout the year.

One day, he said something in another language,I wish I remembered what it
was.  Then he said it meant "To Each, His Own."  I believe Bob was trying
to impart a big part of his philosophy about life to me, so I pass it on to
you.  RIP.

I would love to hear more stories.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com



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