Re: Finding your "Niche"

[Snaruhn@xxxxxxx]

Hi Smokey-Joe,

we wrote long posts, do we? Your commenting was even longer than mine becaus=
e
you didn=B4t leave nothing I said. However, we shouldn=B4t worry about that.=
=20
Years ago
Winslow Yerxa and Wim Dijkgraaf changed even longer posts about musical=20
theory.

Well, I have the feeling that you got some points wrong, respectively, I=20
could have misinterpreted you.

< Jeez, Seigfried, your vocabulary is a little over my head. : ) >

Your :) indicates that you are kidding but what do you really mean? Was it=20
the
"holy cow" or the "hornet=B4s nest" which irritated you? I used these terms=20
because
I assumed that my criticism of  the "you have to find your niche" is surely=20=
=20
criticized in general. =20

 Apropos Hendrik Meurkens. Obviously, you do know him well, me too.

I met him for the first time in Berlin (before he went to Brazil) where he=20
performed=20
a jazz concert. I contacted him because he had a problem with his HB during=20
his performance. Suddenly, he made variations on a single note, went backwar=
ds=20
and=20
his drummer gave him another instrument. Yes, he informed me that his breath=
=20
is=20
obviously so strong or wet that the slide occasionally sticks during his=20
playing.=20

Uffff, that was new to me because the slides use to stick after they have=20
dried and
the chemical compounds in the saliva act then as a glue. So, I made Hendrik=20=
a=20

special slide by drilling lots of 1 mm holes all over the slide parts in=20
contact with=20
the upper and lower slide plates. The idea was to diminish the contacting=20
areas.=20
I don=B4t know whether it helped.

 <... 'I' could tell right away that it wasn't Toots. Hendrik (MY opinion) i=
s=20

 < smoother and faster, and doesn't go quite as far into orbit. >

I don=B4t know what you mean by "smoother" but faster?=20
Then, compare Toots on his "Scotch on the rocks" (CD "Harmonica Jazz").

I too can distinguish Hendrik from Toots. Once I sat together in the States=20
with=20
a well-known jazz player and we heard a broadcasted harp performance. He bet=
=20
on=20
Toots, me on Hendrik and I was the winner. Because I know Hendrik=B4s playin=
g=20
style
was my argument. Just to mention that I have an understanding of the "niche"=
.=20
 =20

<< He (Winslow) was wondering that Toots had obviously booked the very=20
<< same  hotel and was going to say hello to him. Woooh, Toots looked like=20
<< Hendrik Meurkens there was no doubt about it. >>

< Tee Hee, Hendrik is 6'5" (abt 193 cm), has bushy sandy-tan hair. >

Instead of saying that Winslow didn=B4t see Toots but Hendrik I used this=20
"Harpie-sounding" form to express the same.  I beg your pardon, sir, but her=
e=20

you missed the point.

To mention also this: Actually, Hendrik has grey, almost white hair.

< They are fronted by a GIRL harp player. They are playing ONLY for TIPS.=20
< She is FANTASTIC and could stand right up there with the Sonnys, Little=20
< & Big W., Jr, & Howling.
<  Here's the BOMB. 15 minutes after the evening's show, I couldn't find=20
< anyone who remembered her name.>

Assuming fjm is right that < the girl from Boston was Annie Raines > your=20
argument=20
is invalid. The memory of the audience =3D the human society in general isn=
=B4t=20
worth the money. People are mostly forgetting essential things. In Germany e=
g.=20
people have=20
forgotten the bad time after WW II where they had to suffer under the=20
consequences =20
of the disaster our so-called "Fuehrer" had initiated.

BTW, there is also a psychological side of the human memory. Generally,=20
people=20
remember good events rather than bad events. Moreover, it=B4s possible that=20
one can edge out bad events so that finally the memory about this event is=20
absolutely gone.
   =20
I noticed positively that you know of the Belgium painter van Meer. Please,=20
understand me right, I don=B4t kidding you, but this was an event long time=20=
ago=20

and happened in a small corner of Europe. Normally, Americans aren=B4t much=20
interested what is going on across the Ocean. That may have geographical=20
reasons,=20
Europe is far away, though the American roots lay in the "old world".=20

BTW, I=B4m a strict opponent to our actual government which tends to the act=
ual
"anti-Americanism". Excuse my "non-harp formed sidestep" (Harpie`s=20
formulation)

Apropos, Harpie. I think you misinterpreted my relation to my imaginary son:

<  I noticed that the upper 2 paragraphs were slanted "Negative" (i.e.:=20
< plays as terrible, and: same wrong notes.). >

I invented this guy for entertainment which is generally welcomed on the=20
list.

Let me quote Michelle:       =20

< And a cool, refreshing breeze blows fresh air against the din of mediocre
< and wasteful posts! >

Hi, Michelle,=20
perhaps you read one of my first Harpie stories "Harpie on Newbies"  long=20
years ago.=20
There, I said to him: "Well, Harpie, you are even more stupid than I had=20
supposed=20
when your mother gave birth to you and Harpie answered: Thank you, Dad
for your nice words, the same goes to you."

Therefore, I invented the "terrible playing and the same wrong notes". It=
=B4s=20
the=20
necessary spice of my Harpie invention, just for entertainment.

BTW, our post changing about your subject is for entertainment as well,=20
specially, what=20
said about the boxes in the shelves, n=B4est ce pas?=20

In summary: I=B4m not completely convinced of your point of view that the=20
clones
< shot themselves in the foot >=20

Nevertheless, nice to speak with you, Joe. We can continue if harp-l is=20
pleased=20
about our conversation. But as I said, I defend my point of view with the=20
best=20
of my ability, notwithstanding others might think about that. I have a lot o=
f=20
further=20
examples underlining my opinion.   =20

I wish you all the best and stay well

Siegfried=20