Jimmy Zavala and The Wire

[mlpratt@xxxxxxx]

These are actually two subjects.  I was listening to a CD by Diane Reeves 
Friday night.  Great singer, jazzy R&B.  She did a song called "Mista" that had 
a harp player named Jimmy Zavala.  I was floored by his playing.  It refuted 
the myth that a harp player can't (or shouldn't) play while the singer is 
singing.  While I can agree with this in most cases, Mr. Zavala played 
continuously behind the vocalist and never interfered with her.  The key seemed 
to be in the mix levels.  The harp was mixed very low, but clearly audible if 
you wanted to focus on it.  He did a lot of fills between vocal lines, as 
expected.  At one point in the song when the whole band was into this 
percussive thing, he really got a chance to shine without taking over the 
song.  I was pretty impressed.  Does anyone know of him?  I couldn't find 
anything on the net.

Item # 2:  After listening to the Diane Reeves CD we slipped into to some TV 
time.  Watching HBO at 10:00pm on Friday night there is a show called "The 
Wire".  It takes place in Baltimore, which makes it all the more fun for us 
Baltimorons.  Anyway, the theme song is a Tom Waits song performed by the Blind 
Boys of Alabama called "Devil in the Hole."  It had a killer harp toward the 
end.  I don't have any idea who it was.  I'd like to find the song and who it 
was.  Any ideas?

Every Friday night should be so good.

Best Regards to All,

Larry Boy Pratt