Re: high-end diatonic blues

[GREENWAY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The collection of prewar harmonica that Henry Gould and Steve Levine
have been talking about is definitely Yazoo 1053, "Harmonica Blues:
Great Harmonica Performances of the 1920s and '30s." The wild train number
is Freeman Stowers' "Railroad Blues," and the beautiful, birdlike
trilling is Gwen Foster's harp work on "Bay Rum Blues." There are several
other standout cuts, especially Chuck Darling's ragtime piece, "Blowin'
The Blues," and the phenomenal DeFord Bailey's "Davidson County Blues."

Almost all of these pieces are in first position. You won't an overblow
on any of these cuts. In fact--correct me if I'm wrong, Winslow--I don't
know of any use of the overblow on a prewar recording. But that doesn't
mean that there weren't dozens of fantastic harp players who recorded
before 1945. Joe Filisko used the "Harmonica Blues" collection as the
basis of his workshop in prewar harmonica at last year's SPAH convention
in Memphis, and it was a fascinating demonstration. Joe is a master of
the prewar style. He's coming to the East Coast in a couple of weeks
and I'm going to try to get him to teach me Gwen Foster's trill.

DeFord Bailey's complete recordings are now available on CD. The
title of the CD escapes me--it's something like "Great Harp Blowers"--
but it's been released on Document Records. You can get order it by
mail from Roots and Rhythm, 6921 Stockton Avenue, CA 94530). If you've
never heard DeFord, you should do yourself a favor. An absolutely unique
and awesomely brilliant player. His great genius was in his ability to
play two or even three completely distinct rhythms at the same time.

"Harmonica Blues" is probably the best collection of prewar harmonica
available, but Document and others have released several other
collections. By the way, Jimmy Reed's high-end playing (done in first
position) was heavily influenced by the work of Jazz Gillum, a
Chicago-based player who recorded extensively for RCA race label,
Bluebird, in the 1930s and 1940s--many of his recordings have been
reissued, too.

--Kim Field