A belated thank you, and a short apology......

[Tom Ellis <tomsmics@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have read so many positive comments on the SPAH convention held here in
Dallas, and I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who have written
in, and all of you who are members of the list who attended.  I have been
to many SPAHs, but this one was the best I've seen, including '98 when Kim
Wilson was the headliner. A few words about the concept:  When SPAH came to
HOOT to book the first three nights talent we knew three things had to be
done--first, that we wanted to bring in people who had never played at SPAH
before (as SPAH was doing with their Saturday show);  second, that it was
critical to give Joe Filisko the ability to present a teach-in unlike
anything ever assembled;  third that we wanted to expand the seminars and
workshops into afternoon events.  We had already located a premiere hotel
facility, and knew that the layout of the facility and attitude of the
staff was going to make everyone really comfortable.  So we went about
gathering what I feel was an incredible array of performers, guys who cut
across a wide swath of musical styles, many of whom were not really
familiar with SPAH or the conventions (only Mike Turk had played at a SPAH
before, but his immense jazz talent was high on our list, along with that
of Gregoire Maret, an artist we dearly wanted to "introduce" to the
harmonica world), like Paul Oscher, Sam Myers, and Mark Ford.  We did
something different this year by adding a "Texas" night for Wednesday, when
many of you got to hear some of the superb players from south of the Red
River and some of our great harmonica bands.  Next we contacted Joe, and he
gave us his list of "wants" that would make it possible to get his
"teachers" in the house (and did he do an incredible job);  but we also
added a new wrinkle to Joe's teach-in, making sure that all of the
perfomers would come to the afternoon sessions and teach along with Joe's
guys.  Then we expanded the afternoon workshops to include guys like
JellyRoll Johnson, Mike Turk and others, letting them perform as well as
provide instruction.  It was truly mindblowing to me to walk in the room
and see guys like Norton Buffalo and Phil Wiggins joining in.  We made it
as comfortable for the players as possible, making sure they had the best
back up musicians in the area (the jazz backing was incredible and the
musicians playing behind Norton and Mark Ford were their equal), allowing
them to bring their own equipment, and getting exactly what they needed for
their performances.  And it all came together so nicely--it almost seemed
that each night we set a new standard of performance, only to see it
bettered the next!!  But all of this happened mostly because of the
exuberance of the 560 people registered for the event (the largest ever!?),
and all the other folks who jumped right in to help, like Rob Paparozzi,
Bill Gallison, David Barrett, Larry Eisenberg, Robert Bonfiglio, and the
impomptu jam leaders, like Mark Graham, RIck Epping,Tom Sauber and many
others who made the bar area hop every day, all day (and night), with great
playing, and made the jazz and blues jams get better every evening.
Special props too for Buddy Wakefield, who ran our "children's day" and had
100 kids playing in no time and having the time of their lives.  And to
Frank Warner, Frank Halovanic, Charlie Spranklin and all the "old guys (as
we VERY affectionately call them down here)" who blew all of the diatonic
players away with their impromptu playing everywhere.  And to Mike Turk,
Jon Wheatley, Paul Oscher and Robert Bonfiglio who gave up their Friday
afternoon to perform and talk on a one hour show on our local NPR
affiliate--their performances were incredible, their discussions of the
instrument profound and moving.  There are so many other people I would
like to thank, but it would take more words than Harp-L can provide, but my
biggest kudos go out to Buzz, who helped me get through some very long
nights of soundchecks, working with the acts, co-hosting each evening,
pulling crowd control duty, and generally calming the waters for me.
Finally, a short apology, to all of those friends I didn't get to see,
spend time with, or enjoy, and the many people I didn't get to meet; my
daily schedule--up at 8 a.m., work till 1 a.m., get to bed, and get ready
to start all over again--kept me running like crazy all day (and kept me
from attending one teach-in or seminar the entire weekend). I'm sorry I
missed spending time with each of you, because a year is a long time to
wait.  Heartfelt thanks again to all of you who came and partook of a very
magical four days in Dallas......TOM ELLIS/Tom's Mics