L.A. Music Scene

[BassHarper@xxxxxxx]

Hello all -

This has been a busy weekend for Lorraine and myself, but very enjoyable, to
say the least.  Friday night we were guests of Charlie Musselwhite at the
House of Blues for his show, and also for Kim Wilson's show, who opened for
Charlie.  This was our first visit to the House of Blues, and it was an eye
(and ear) opener!  First of all, Kim's show started at 10 pm, and he played
for an hour and 45, then Charlie came on at midnight, and he played til 1:45.
 Before entering the venue, we had no idea that the seating arrangements are
that there are none!  Except for those who choose to have dinner (on the
upper level balcony), there are no tables, and the only other seats are a few
stools and seats in the bar areas of the perimeter.  In other words, there
are hundreds of people standing, milling, dancing, on the large floor area in
front of the stage.  But when the shows are as exciting as these, you hardly
notice you have been standing for 4 hours.  The sound and lighting systems
are first-class all the way, security is tight, the staff very helpful - it
was a very enjoyable evening.  And what can I say about Kim's and Charlie's
playing - they obviously enjoyed doing the shows as much as everyone enjoyed
them.  Even Jim Belushi was having a good time.

Then Saturday night, I was privileged to sit in on Bass Harp with Lee Oskar &
Friends for his final L.A. show of the year at the Baked Potato in Pasadena.
 Lee's group - guitar, keys, sax/flute, bass, drums, and percussion - are a
very tight group of musicians, and will be going into the recording studio
the end of October for his first solo album since 1983.  He has written a lot
of new songs, and is very excited about the project.  Shortly after that, he
expects to re-release his first 3 albums on CD.

Tonight, Sunday, we saw Ron Kalina on keys and harmonica, playing  with a
quartet backing a lady singer at the original Baked Potato in N Hollywood.
 Ron plays so tastefully, both as a soloist and as accompanist.  His
harmonicas of choice are the Hohner 64X and the Toots Hard Bopper.  He uses
the Strnad pickup which works very well for him - both hard wired and
wireless.

Ron is leaving early Monday morning for Columbus, Ohio and on to Pennsylvania
for two weeks of shows and vacation.  Jack Ely - expect a call from Ron.

I'll be going back to the House of Blues on Tuesday night, Oct 4, to catch
Ben Darvill and the Crash Test Dummies.  Ben is a Lee Oskar player, and we
welcome them on their first engagement at the H.of B.

I have no news of upcoming harp shows for the next 2 weekends in L.A. - sorry
for those of you who asked.  Nothing in the papers this weekend, but if there
are any changes or updates, I will post them as they become available.

BassHarp  -  Danny Wilson