Re: rick estrin & magic dick



 I was at that show too Gatorharp It is GREAT to see 2 harmonica players
billed on the same day at a blues festival.  Most of them say "Oh we already
have a harmonica player for the 3 days!"

   On Sat at Noon their was also 2 harmonica players billed as East Meest
west. (Dr. Harmonica and Gary Alllergrato (Sp?).

      Charlie Batey is an exceptional guitar player and Rick Estrin is very
impressive as a songwriter and a showman.  It is in the tradtion of the old
blues man to be sort of a comedian,vaduville trickster and all around
entertainer. It is why James Harman et. al, are such fresh performers.  I
have always been a big fan of Little Charlie & the Nightcats.

  Even though I admire Magic Dick's techincal prowess on the harp the former
J. Giels band ( now bluestime)came off sort of what they are-- rock & roll
refugees hiding out in the blues.  They should have been on before Lil
Charlie.  Many in the crowd were there only for the old J. Giels glory days,
to bad they missed out on the real bluesmen that performed before them.  Bit
I guess you always need some classic rocker on the bill to move tickets to
the herd.

Jimmy
- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Gatorharp@xxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 6:09 AM
Subject: rick estrin & magic dick


>
>
>
> got to see little charlie & the nightcats with rick estrin and bluestime
> featuring magic dick & j geils yesterday at the riverfront blues festival
in
> wilmington, delaware.
>
> although it was magic dick i really wanted to see, i came away really
> impressed with the nightcats.  i had always thought that estrin was a fine
player,
> but never cared for the jokey nature of their material.  but what doesn't
work
> on vinyl...oops, i mean plastic...works out great in the live context.
estrin
> is a first rate frontman (sort of a blues morris day), and the band is
tight.
> they did what i guess is their usual kind of set...rick and little charlie
> switching instruments (both can more than hold their own on the others
axe), the
> whole harp in the mouth thing, guitar and bass behind the head.  a lot of
fun
> to watch.  plus, the musicianship was great.  i'll have to pull their
albums
> out of my trade pile and give them another listen.  and how in the hell
can
> they play in the hot sun in those suits?
>
> as tight as the nighcats set was, the bluestime wasn't.  not the
performances
> so much, 'cause the songs were tight, with geils and dick playing lots of
> lines together.  magic dick's many extended solos were often pretty
amazing,
> although some just seemed long.  what they really lacked was a sense of
cohesion,
> original material, and a better singer/frontman.  most, if not all songs,
were
> followed by long pauses, even after the song had been introduced.  it was
> almost like they were trying to figure out what to do next.  the material,
with
> one exception, were all blues classics, most from harp players...little
walter,
> sonny boy 2, junior wells.  nothing as obvious as "hoochie coochie man",
but
> nothing that most folks here wouldn't know.  and while dick has attempted
to
> borrow some of former bandmate peter wolf's style of fronting a band, it
just
> didn't seem natural to me.  the band did seem to collectively catch fire
near
> the end of their set, with "checking on my baby", that ended up with a
section
> that recalls the chorus to "treat her right"...the band was really pumping
> here.  and then "whammer jammer".  flat as the set was, magic dick was
nothing
> less than great on harp.  he made everything so effortless, which i guess
you
> can, when you've been playing close to forty years.
>
> both guys were also kind enough to sign autographs, so i doubled my
> collection of signed harps.
> anyway, i was glad to become a fan of rick estrin and glad, also, to see
and
> hear magic dick.  there are worse things you can do on a sunny sunday
> afternoon.
>
> steven j gatorman
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