Re: Jimmy Zavala and The Wire

[Sariel Lehyani <SloopyJoe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'll have to check out this Jimmy Zavala guy. I've never heard of him. As for the
harp player in "Devil in the Hole," that's Charlie Musselwhite. In my opinion,
Musselwhite is one of the most underappreciated harp players of today (which goes
hand in hand with all of the OVER-appreciated ones), so check him out. He plays all
through "Spirit of the Century" (the blind boys of alabama album that "Devil in the
Hole" is on). It's an incredible album with some awesome Gospel style singing and
traditional blues, as well as one of the most soulful cuts of Amazing Grace I have
ever heard.

Love,

~Me

> 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
> --
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