[Harp-L] Re: Bored with blues harmonica

[David Kissel <dkissave@xxxxxxx>]

This post isn't about harmonica, but it may be relevant. 


One of my best friends started playing  wife's piano after listening  to a heck of a lot of Otis Spann, Pinetop,  and David Maxwell. He now is an almost entirely self-taught  piano player: Blues/boogie woogie limited to 3 or 4 keys. 


His wife is a classically trained  pianist who has won numerous awards.  She sight reads very well, and has a stack of sheet music (Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, etc.) at home. 



In the 35 years of our friendship I have NEVER seen her play a note in public. And I repeatedly ask her to play. She can't play a note without sheet music in front of her. I have seen her play a few times at home: Technically perfect, but dry as a bone. 


Meanwhile her husband is asked to play everywhere there is a piano. I've seen him get  a room full of the stuffiest folks in the world smiling, dancing, laughing, and having a great time. He sits in with pros who ask him to play for the whole set. I saw him play at his father's funeral with so much emotion  that the preacher needed 5 minutes to recover. 


Sure there are a lot of sucky harmonica players out there, including me. But something about this music touches people, even when it's played badly. 


David Kissel