Re: Technical Innovations

["Rick B" <rick@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Rick B asked  "What living harmonica players have extended some aspect of
harmonica technique?"

Pat Missin wrote:
How about Eddie Clark (playing everything a semitone sharp and
emulating fiddle ornaments with the slide) and Hugo Diaz (amazing
chordal approach to the chrom)? Or even Stevie Wonder - nobody had
really used note bending in quite that way on the chromatic before

Keeping in the spirit of brainstorming here, here is another Stevie Wonder.
I'm
thinking of the part of "Alfie" where it sounds like he opened the harp as
is plucking the
reeds with a toothpick.  He's playing the harp pizzacato!   Is he playing
the harp pizzacato
with his breath only?

Or to bend the rules a little further (since this is not a living harp
player) Sonny Terry and his use of "whoops" or vocalizations while playing
harp.

Since I allowed in one dead person, I guess there's no harm in allowing in
Little Walter.  I would say he extended technique in two ways:  his Chicago
tone and his jazzy swinging rhythm.

Besides Richard Hunter, there are other people who have experimented deeply
with altered tunings.  I'm thinking of a Frenchman who plays base and made
his own harp and uses an altered tuning to play jazz ..... but I don't
remember his name.

  --Rick B
    www.bluesharp.org