Re: Paul DeLay cd

[sawyer@xxxxxxx]

I am a great admirer of Paul De Lay.  He's the most exciting new
artist I have found in a very long time.  I own all the five albums
you mention, but not the sixth one Tim mentions, which eluded my
search. In my view the best of the five is "The Other One".  It shows
him in the best balance of his abilities as a singer, harp player and
song writer.  He has a great command of the instrument -- he has equal
mastery of the diatonic and the chromatic, which he plays far beyond
the standard chromatic blues conventions -- and he uses a very wide
palette of tone colors.  His melodic sense is all his own, a balance
of the light-hearted and the melancholy. In my mind he is what happens
when Little Walter meets Toots Thielemans.

I wrote to him in the federal prison camp where he is incarcerated and
he wrote back a thoughtful and appreciative reply.  He says he will go
out on furlough in August and will be released to a half-way house in
early 1995.  He is writing music "like a maniac" and he thinks his
work is improving.  Alas, he is more or less cut off from interaction
with other musicians.  He has played some concerts "for people who
didn't come here for the music".  He is not allowed a cassette player
because they "can be turned into tattoo machines".

I'm sure he would be very greatful for mail from any harmonica
enthusiasts.  He can't get harp-l (I asked), but he subscribes to HIP.
His address:
	Paul de Lay 55692-065
	P.O.B. 5002 Unit 5
	Sheridan, OR
	97378