SPAH report (highlights, but still long)



?SPAH was fantastic this year. The organizers did an amazing job.
Rob Paparozzi named the names better than I could, so let
me just add my heartfelt thanks.

The shows were wonderful. A great variety and super musician- and
showmanship. I will let others post about those if they are so inclined.
For me, the magic of SPAH is in the less formal goings on. Some highlights:

I arrived on Tuesday, when no music was officially on the schedule. I had a
great time hanging out with friends earlier in the evening, and sometime
after
midnight I went wandering the halls of the Harvey hotel looking for whatever
might be happening. What I found was the great Frank Warner holding court on
solo chromatic with maybe a dozen people in the room. Chatting, taking
requests,
making beautiful music and, of course, appearing to do it all utterly
without
effort. Then John Halovanic arrived with his chord harmonica and the
musical temperature spiked up a couple of notches. John, if I understand
correctly, has played in a group with Frank. In any case, he and Frank both
knew a number of complicated arrangements, which they played with
great precision and verve. Then John's young son was invited up to play
lead chromatic on a couple of songs while Frank switched to bass harp.
Killer!

The jazz jams were outstanding this year. I guess Carol Beth True, not
being a harmonica player, is ineligible for the Bernie Bray award, but she
ought to get something. She does heroic service every year and I just can't
say enough good things about her playing. This year, the organizers teamed
her up with a great young rhythm section, guys who could really play and who
listened hard.  Standouts in the jazz jams for me (and my taste might not be
yours) were William Galison, Mike Turk, Charles Spranklin, Gregoire Maret,
Joe Martin, Jim Lohman, Michael Polesky, and Enrico (forgive me if I got
this name wrong). There were undoubtedly players I missed because I spent
more of my time at the blues jams (the two jams overlapped almost
completely). I
worked up the nerve to play (diatonic) on a single song, "Autumn Leaves,"
and
it was a joy to play with such a strong and sympathetic rhythm section.

Then there were the informal jazz jams here and there. Coming in from
dinner, I stumbled across one such affair. Rob Paparozzi played guitar
while some of the big dogs of the chromatic harmonica took turns raising the
vibrational energy of Irving, Texas. I got to take the last chorus on "Girl
>From Ipanema," and I have to say that this was the biggest thrill of SPAH
for me
this year.

Then there were jams of an entirely different sort, and I don't mean
blues (not yet). As a matter of fact, I was on my way to the blues jam
one evening when I was arrested by the most amazing music in the lobby.  I
had stumbled (that word again) upon a Celtic Supersession anchored by
Rick Epping, James Conway, and Richard Sleigh. If Harmonica were the
Church, these guys would be saints. It was especially exciting to hear Rick
play **alternate-tuned** XB-40s he had made especially for  this type of
music.
He's a monster. They all are.

Then there was the time I got off the elevator, on my way to the jazz jam
this time, and ended up in an old-timey (Appalachian string-band music)
session anchored by the great Mark Graham with his friend Tom Sauber on
fiddle. Fast, clean, raucous, and not a I, IV, V in sight.

The blues jams were terrific, as usual. One thing that must be absolutely
clear to anyone with ears is that the overall level of playing at the blues
jams is rising each year. To me, the change from five or so years ago, when
I went to my first Buckeye, is dramatic. I can't explain it, but it is a
beautiful thing.

Many, many people played great solos this year. I am especially interested
in the cutting-edge stuff. First on the list for me was Richard Sleigh
playing serious blues on the XB-40, exploiting the unique bending
capabilities of the instrument. Richard was the only person playing an
XB-40 at the jams this year, but does anyone believe for a second that this
will not change by next year? Not me. I am very excited to see what
direction players will take the new instrument.

Jimmy Gordon, my fellow Vermonter, played some killer solos on what sounded
to my ears like an alternate-tuned diatonic (but what do I know?) and also
played
some beautiful music on chromatic. I believe the big ballroom got as quiet
as it
got all week during one of Jimmy's chromatic solos. And, me being me, I
paid especially close attention to the guys playing chromatically on the
diatonic. Stand-outs for me this year were Rosco, Tim Moyer, Allen
Radcliffe-Holmes,
Mikael Backman, Gino (Bambino) Emmerich, the Iceman, of course....

Kirk (Jellyroll) Johnson played beautifully. Ben Nathanson was
always surprising and original. Enrico, who studied with Toots, tore it up
on chromatic. Rob P. knocked out some great solos. Jimi Lee rocked.  Buzz
Krantz, the fearless leader of the jams, has obviously been woodshedding
heavily over the last year and played some very compelling stuff. The great
Joe Filisko (another harmonica saint) played brushes on a drum head
most of the time, but stood up late in the week to bring the word down from
the mountain. Beth Kohnen summoned Walter Horton's ghost for us. I could
go on forever. I have omitted **many** fine players.  Forgive me. Better
yet,
help me out!

The teaching was also of a very high order. I couldn't go to everything I
wanted to, and I am especially sorry to have missed William Galison's
masterclass. I managed, nonetheless, to learn something valuable each and
every day. Joe Filisko's teach-in is a brilliant concept, and it works. I
assisted Allen Radcliffe-Holmes at his table this year, so I couldn't go
from table to table as I usually do, but I learned valuable things this year
from Allen and from our students.

As for the seminars, I especially enjoyed Rob Paparozzi and William
Galison's
presentation on playing jazz and Mike Turk's on transitioning from diatonic
to
chromatic.  But the best seminar for me, not only of this SPAH but of all
the
SPAHs and Buckeyes I have gone to, was Charles Spranklin's presentation on
tone, what it is and how to get it. With specifics. If you are lucky enough
to have
the opportunity to learn from Charles in the future, please grab it.

Information is transmitted in all sorts of ways, including one-to-one.  I
was
hanging around outside the ballroom one evening when Joe Filisko was giving
advice
to a young diatonic player.  I listened in.  Joe is a fountain of knowledge
and a gifted
teacher.  I learned two very valuable practice techniques in three minutes.

Another example: Late in the week, Iceman pulled me aside.  We went to a
dark quiet
corner, where I showed him mine and he showed me his....overblows.  And we
sat and
discussed our different approaches to playing chromatically on the diatonic.
Where else
but SPAH could this have happened?

I hope I have conveyed some sense of the variety of experience available at
a SPAH
convention and of the sheer quantity and the extraordinary quality of the
music and
teaching that is everywhere to be found.  I'm with Smokey Joe on this one.
I don't see
why everybody doesn't attend.  Sure, people have their reasons (busy life,
lack of disposable
funds), but give it a try once and see if those reasons still hold up.

George





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