Re: [Harp On!] Spring Harp Fest mini-review (long)

[Harmonica John Frazer <harmonicajohns@xxxxxxx>]

on 4/20/2003 8:38 AM, DL Terry at so_blue@xxxxxxx wrote:

(additional commentary by Harmonica John himself (myself?)

> Spring Harp Fest (www.springharpfest.org ) is a yearly event in La
> Mesa, CA (near San Diego) to benefit the Girls Club Music Program in
> San Diego....
> 
> The core organizers for the event are Bud Willis, Harmonica John
> Frazer, and Chet Cannon. These guys bust hump to put on a terrific
> event, and they ALWAYS deliver.
> 
> I missed Laughing Lenny's set (sorry Lenny!),

That is actually "Looney Lenny" Malick. Lenny was great. He even worked in a
couple of well placed overblows. Kudos to Lenny for a great job fronting an
unrehearsed jam band. Really a fine job. Lenny doesn't toot his own horn
much, but he sure can play the blues!

> but arrived in time to
> see "Bar B Que Blues". These guys had a blazing set with TWO harp
> players - kinda like Bacon Fat. They even did a "tribute to George
> Smith" song in their set. Very Hot. HJ was the "Keeper of Time" again
> this year and took his responsibility very seriously to keep the bands
> on schedule & not let anyone go overtime. In this kind of event,
> having even one band go over their allotted set time really cascades -
> it can start looking like the Academy Awards Show real quick. John
> kept 'em on track.
> 
> Silk Stegner was up next. Silk's playing & singing is real
> smoooooooth. Nice set.
> 
> Then came the Unknown Players Jam. Everyone's invited to come up and
> jam. We had players from 6 to 76 come up and try thier chops. In
> previous years, the winner was selected by the audience, but this
> year, Chet Cannon had the sole privledge of selection. The Winner, "Joe
> Mamma Marshall", got to have a short set with the band later in the show.
> 
> Chet Cannon took an unexpected set after the UP jam. I really enjoy
> listening to Chet sing & play - clean lines, & soulful vocal phrasing.
> 
> Karl Cabbage, a popular local player was a no show (had to travel out
> of the country on a family emergency), so a very popular local band,
> The Freemonts was up next. The Freemonts vocalist, Mighty Joe Milsap
> was a real pleasure to listen to, and Troy "Pony Boy" Sandow is a fine
> harp player with SERIOUS TONE. You really ought to catch The Freemonts
> if you get a chance. (They were easily the Best Dressed band, too!)
> 
> After the Unknown Player's set came Nelsen Adelard. WOW. These guys
> can BLOW. Nelsen's band includes a Sax player, and he just tore it up,
> y'all! Nelsen swapped chops with him in a little call-and-reponse bit
> during one tune that really had the audience jumpin'. This band really
> knows how to entertain a crowd.
> 
> Harmonica John's Blues Buddies played next. If you've never seen /
> heard HJ - well, you NEED to, that's all. John sings & plays a VERY
> mean harp that would be plenty impressive in any setting. The amazing
> thing is HE DOES IT WHILE HE PLAYS THE DRUMS!!
> The REALLY amazing thing is - HE HAS GREAT TIME! Seriously, HJ always
> gives it his best, and is a real player's player.

The other Blues Buddies are "Cryin' Brian" Craig and Jimmy D. Seville. Jimmy
started ther set out on guitar and sang one of his originals, "Baby, Why".
When HJ went into a harp/drun solo on "Room to Move", Jimmy and Brian
switched instruments and Brian finished the set on guitar.

> 
> I hope someone can finish this - I had to leave early, due to family
> commitments, so I was unable to catch:
> Lance Deikman - DA & the Hitman

Lance Deikmann and Paul Alvarado are the leaders of DA and the Hitmen. Lance
has strong harmonica skills and is a powerful vocalist. He and Paul
collaborate on song original music and are a great team. The crowd went
wild!

> Billy Watson with Robin Henkel - The International Silve String Submarine Band

Billy plays traditional Chicago blues and uses his sense of humor to get the
audience into the palm of his hand. He is a natural showman. Besides his
very good harmonica playing, he sings with panache and clowns around while
his always strong cadre of backing musicians holds it together. One thing
that the audience loved was when Billy came out from behind the amp stacks
wearing a Ronald Reagan rubber mask and strutted around the front of the
stage. Then he bends over and tears that mask off revealing another fright
mask underneath it. It kitsch, but it works. The fright mask Billy gestures
towards the CD sales display, and he ended up selling a bunch of product.

> Chris Micalek - Chris Micalek Duo

Chris is always amazing. He plays so smoothly, you cannot tell how difficult
the technical stuff is. At one point he was playing 11th position. (G on an
A harp). Walk in the park for Chris. He had his fine guitar player, Tom,
with him and they held the crowds rapt attention for a full 1/2 hour at
which time, we had a bunch of players join them on stage for an all star jam
to finish out the show.
> 
> If you're within 300 miles of Southern California next Easter Weekend,
> you really ought to catch the Spring Harp Fest - it's lots of fun,
> real entertaining, FREE, lots of raffle prizes, great music, and a
> real benefit to some great local charities.
> 
> Kudos to Chet, Bud, Harmonica John, and all the folks who worked so
> hard to give us this awesome local event.
> 
> (Please excuse the bandwidth)
> 
> -Dane

BTW, we raised about $1000. We counted close to 300 folks in attendance.
> 
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