Re: [Harp-L] Re: yet another Juke question (long, but no Le Riff)

["Bob Maglinte" <bbqbob917@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Spschndr@xxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 1:46 PM
Subject: spam: [Harp-L] Re: yet another Juke question (long, but no Le Riff)


> I don't have my copy handy to check, but I believe that in his book Power
> Harp, Charlie Musselwhite talks about what LW called "smoking" or
something like
> that--playing rhythmically and mainly on the low end of the diatonic while
he
> gathered himself to take off on another flight. This seems to me to be a
> standard element of uptempo LW instrumentals or his soloing on tunes with
lyrics,
> providing a dynamic contrast to the sections that people usually remember.
> There's an early take of "Off the Wall" on the Le Roi du Blues bootleg
series
> where LW at times does that for long stretches, almost like a poet or
songwriter
> saying "tumpty-tumpty-tum" in a section where they haven't thought of
words
> yet and are just maintaining the rhythm.  It's not aimless playing,
there's
> wonderful phrasing and creativity in there, but it's deliberately less
intense.
> Rick Estrin and Kim Wilson are a couple players who do it really, really
well
> these days.

In African American music, regardless of genre, it's a very common thing,
because wheras most white musicians tend to play dead straight on top of the
beat or ahead of it, and off the 1, most African American musicians are
usually playing (in varying degrees) BEHIND the beat, often phrasing off the
2 and the 4, which are the weaker beats of a 4/4 measure, generally known as
the backbeat, and it allows greater tension to be built, and allows FAR
fewer notes needing to be played to get the job done. Musicians that tend to
play really busy are usually going yo play off the 1 and on top or ahead of
the beat, with VERY LITTLE understanding of the strong rhythmic concepts
that are so vital in African American music.

> And within each 12 bars, LW often phrases so as to leave room for the
drums
> and/or guitar to reply to what he just played--listen to this on "Fast
Boogie"
> and "Fast Large One."  They know he's going to leave that space, he does
it
> habitually, so they often  jump in there and do something in reply.  Then
each
> 12 bars plays off the preceding one--what new idea is LW going to develop,
and
> is he cranking things up or backing them off compared to the previous 12
bars?
>  He works through that idea, and comes up with another for the next
chorus.
> There nearly always seems to be enough space for the band and Walter to
react
> to one another's initiatives. That's what I hear going on in the great
> Myers/Below version of the band, but it's there in "Juke" too.

BTW, "Fast Large One" is actually a sped up version of "Let Me Off Uptown"
by Gene Krupa featuring Roy Eldridge and Anita O'Day.

> I hadn't ever realized the degree to which LW's phrasing makes it possible
> for his bandmates to anticipate where he's going and join in; he leaves
the
> space for them to react, instead of playing continuously throughout.  I
think a
> lot of us need to fight the tendency to play continuously, should develop
more
> of a genuine call-and-response pattern to our improvising.  It's true that
> stuff can start to sound very mannered (a guitarist friend calls West
Coast jump
> the harmonica equivalent of SRV-inspired guitar banality), but it's a
useful
> hint about how to improvise on these grooves.

Many of Walter's bandmates on record also have a jump/swing/jazz background
in addition, like Robert Jr. Lockwood as an example, and if you listen VERY
carefully to a lot of Jump/Swing/Big Band horn oriented stuff, you'll get a
clear idea from where he's coming from and you'll notice how similiar it
actually is.

> OK, enough blather.  I wanted to make the point that if you want to
> understand what's going on in a song from the great early half of LW's
career, you had
> better listen closely to the rest of the band and figure out what's going
on
> there.  LW's music suffers greatly when that kind of explosive interplay
within
> his band declines, when it's only there in fits and starts, if at all.  I
> think a lot of people miss just how much this element of attentive
listening and
> reaction informs the great recorded performances of LW, Muddy Waters, the
> early Wolf, Rice Miller; there's stuff going on there that you won't even
notice
> unless you stop and pay really careful attention to what each band member
is
> doing.  And instead of simply memorizing what they play, you need to
deduce the
> principles behind it, and work on/from those instead.

Exactly!!!! It requires that one AVOID listening to music the way most music
fans listen to things, and learn how to listen with BIGGER EARS, paying
attention to EACH AND EVERY SINGLE detail of what's happening, and that goes
far beyond listening enough to clone, but listenening hard enough to
understand their musical thought process so you can assimilate the FEEL,
without just being another run of the mill clone.

Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
MP3's: http://music.mp3lizard.com/barbequebob/