Tongue Blocking, Tone & Paul de Lay

[sawyer@xxxxxxx]

	Each of these first two subjects, by itself can evoke
strong opinions, deep emotions and lots of hand-waving from harp
players.  Taken together tongue blocking and tone can occupy any two
or more harpists for weeks on end.  Both are subjects wrapped in thick
shrouds of mystique.  My departure point is the premise that only
tongue blocking will produce the deep dark tone we associate with the
Chicago players.
	This premise gives me a lot of trouble, since, for me, as a
player, tongue position is the deciding factor in control of both
pitch and timbre, and the thought of trying to bend and vary my tone
with my tongue immobilized is daunting.  Yet, I know from Robert
Johnston's research that, for bending at least, it's the depth of the
mouth cavity that determines the degree of pitch bend.  So, I concede,
you don't need such articulate control over your tongue, since you can
adjust the depth of the mouth cavity by other means.  So, what is it
about tongue blocking that might produce a fatter tone?  One thing I
notice is that it's possible to get the instrument much father back in
the mouth and thereby closer to the throat, when you tongue block, as
opposed to lip blocking.
	Is there any consensus on this premise among you harp-l
readers?
	During the past 6 months I have been taken, body and soul, by
the music of a harp player little known outside the Northwest, Paul De
Lay.  [The most recent issue of HIP includes reviews of his two CD's
on Criminal Records.] One feature of his playing is the great
variation in tone that he brings into his playing.  He uses the change
from thin to fat, from clear to muddy, from light to dark, to give
great expression to his playing.  He can make the instrument "speak in
tongues", as the Pentacostalist would say, bringing the human voice
and the voice of his instrument closer and closer.  In fact, in one
passage I have been playing obsessively, he compensates for the
absence of the natural 7th degree of the scale in cross-harp, by
vocalizing the note.  I listened several times before I realized that
*every* passing tone on the 7th was a natural 7th sung, not played on
the harp.  Now, that's when the two voices become one!
	There is another reason to find De Lay exciting, and that's
his singing.  He has an uncanny way of phrasing, especially when the
lyrics carry him off the beat, as they often do when the sense of the
words spans a few measures.  And yet another reason: he is a consummate
writer, both of melody and words.  
	Readers of "Mississippi Saxophone" will know about De Lay from
the two issue interview with him there, but few others I meet have
heard about him.  [When I mentioned him to Mike Turk, Turk promptly
produce two De Lay recordings on vinyl!] His first recordings go back
to the mid-80's.  Kim Fields mentions him in HHAH as a promising
new artists, commenting on his highly distinctive style of playing.
And, as mentioned before, HIP reviewed his work with glowing praise.
	De Lay splits his songs about 50/50 between diatonic and
chromatic.  The progression is seamless.  I think of him as "Little
Walter Meets Toots Thielemans".  He has crafted a style and found a
band with a first class arranger, keyboardist Louis Pain, that support
his playing and singing across the range from light, lyrical melodies
to heavy throated blues lines.
	He has two CD's, "The Other One", and "Paulzilla", both on
Criminal Records, PO Box 25542, Portland, OR, 97225.  Both are
outstanding, in my opinion.  The first, which is the earlier, is the
better, for my tastes.
	Alas, there is a sad detail to mention -- De Lay is serving a
prison term for conviction on drug charges.  According to the guitar
player from the Paul De Lay Band, Peter Dammann, De Lay was caught up
in a major operation of the FDA in the Oregon area.  Dammann and the
others of the band continue to play under the name "The No DeLay
Band".  Dammann led me to believe De Lay might be released in 1995.
	Coming back to my original subject, according to De Lay in his
"Miss Sax" interview, if you ain't tongue blocking, you ain't no
where.  No tone, no soul.  Now where does that leave me, a confirmed
puckerologist?  According to my latest idol, I'll never get those
sounds if I don't discard my pucker and shove that moothie in my gob,
so far back I can gargle on it.
	--Charlie
P.S. I'm indebted to Peter Scott, aka Saskatoon Slim, a subscriber to
this list, for introducing me to De Lay's music.