[Harp-L] Mojo at SPAH (really long)

[Mojo Red <harplicks@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi gang,

Well, I?ve had couple of  days to mull over my St.
Louis SPAH experiences. Here are my impressions,
though bear in mind that whatever I say here? man,
it ain't the half of it.

What can I say? It was a powerful injection of all
things harmonica. I got to meet and hang with some
of the finest players in the world, got to get some
of my questions answered by those in the know and
at the end of the day, I realized that a few doors
had been opened for me in my quest for
self-improvement as a player. Now it?s just a
matter of me walking through .

I know I'm going to miss mentioning people who I?d
met and who have been great to me, so please
forgive me now... I have a head like a sieve.

As Tim Moyer pointed out in his post, it was really
great to meet some of my Harp-L acquaintances who
I'd only known online. I'd never met Tim before and
found him to be a very down to earth guy and a very
talented and creative player. I now count him among
my friends. Other Harp-L members introduced
themselves to me though they are only lurkers to
this board. Catfish, are you out there?

It was great to see other Harp-L luminaries
including David Fairweather, the enigmatic fjm,
Micheal Poleski, Doug Tate, Roscoe (the man who
only needs one name), Buzz Krantz, Chris Michalic
and Mark Wilson (didn?t get to hear you play, Mark?
next time). John Costa, who posts occasionally, is
a great traditional country blues player (he showed
me some killer country licks that I?ll never
remember).

High points for me definitely were the late night
blues jams, the hallway jams and Filisko?s Teach
Ins. Oh yeah? and Jason Ricci?s incredible
performance (more on that later)

The Blues Jams were wonderful, with ungodly numbers
of first-rate players. What a joy to hear people
like Michael Peloquin, Dennis Gruenling, Joe
Filisko, Ben Nathan, Ronnie Shellist, Tim Moyer,
Mike Poleski (who hung in there despite a summer
cold), David Fairweather (showing off his Melody
XB-40 chops), Richard Sleigh, Roscoe, P.T. Gazell,
Berl and Jerl Welsh, Jimmy Gordon (what a
crack-up), Kirk ?Jellyroll? Johnson, George Brooks,
Alan Holmes, Jim Conway, Peter ?Madcat? Ruth, Jimmy
Lee? and the list goes on and on. Each one just a
spectacular player in his own right? each having
something unique to say on the harp. 

One of the beautiful things was the accepting
attitude these people all held towards the rest of
us mortals. It wasn?t like cutting heads, more like
a player?s party filled with humor and awesome
music. Plus, the backup was great. Alan Holmes
worked a standup bass (switching off with Jimmy
Gordon), Richard Sleigh and Jimmy Lee were on
acoustic guitars (both playing great rack-harp),
John Costa on very low-volume electric guitar and
Joe Filisko using brushes on a small drum-like
thing. And, of course, Buzz Krantz kept us all in
line - sort of.

Among the great people I met for the first time was
Dennis Oellig, sometimes called ?Mr. Microphone?.
What an absolutely great guy! He and Dennis
Gruenling held a mic/amp seminar where they
demonstrated different mics with different elements
in a range of about 7 or 8 vintage and reissue tube
amps. It was definitely ?The Dennis and Dennis
show.? Got some great tips on mic grip and on how
to go about dialing in an amp for best tone in any
given situation. 

Later I got to know Dennis and his wife and we
seemed to connect on a good level. But I was
absolutely stunned when he asked me on Saturday
night to sign his autograph guitar. Looking it
over, there were signatures from the likes of
Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson, Rick Estrin and
many, Many, MANY other heavy weights of blue. I
said, ?Dennis, you ~do~ realize that I?m ~nobody~,
right?? He laughed? ?Yeah, but someday you ~could~
be.? I laughed too, but realized it was deeper than
that and felt extremely honored to put my ?Mojo
Red? mark on his guitar. Thanks Dennis!

At the teach-in I asked Richard Sleigh to give me
some tips on setting up a harp for overblows (I?m a
baby over bender). He simply said? ?give me one of
your harps,? and proceeded to ~show~ me how to
properly set up a harp for OB. This was like gold.
Not only do I now have a very well set up harp, but
I have the knowledge to set up my own. Next day I
sat in with Jason Ricci and asked him to show me a
lick that might get me to use overblows
(particularly the 6 OB) in a musical context. He
proceeded to not only show me a lick, but explain
about the flatted 3rd and how important that is in
blues. He also gave me some great scale exercises
using intervals that I think will get me to think
about solos in a whole new way. Hooboy, the door is
OPEN, Mojo, now it?s up to me to step on through. 

The headliner performances were all GREAT, except
for the incompetent sound guy. Just about every
performer had trouble getting enough monitor. And
the mix was often troublesome. 

Jason Ricci, who blew off some just ~incredible~
stuff, was forced to work with jazz backup artists
who didn?t seem to really ~get~ good blues timing?
Jason called them ?whitebread? players. I gotta
admit, he was right, but being a professional, he
pulled off a fantastic show. Only a few of us even
noticed that anything was off. SPAH really should
work harder at getting appropriate backing for the
headliners. Carol Beth True, though a wonderful
jazz pianist, just can?t do Pinetop Perkins
convincingly. ?Nuff said about that? 

Awesome performance by Madcat Ruth, who?s drummer,
Maruga, was not only fabuloso, but also a very
interesting and deep guy. What a history! He played
with some true musical giants, including John Lee
Hooker, and even Jimi Hendrix. Rarely have I met
anyone who seemed so genuine and open. 

Mark Hummel?s afternoon performance (with his Blues
Survivors) was a crash course in blues harp
history. He was gone all to fast for his evening
show downtown, though not before I snagged a cool
T-shirt. 

Clint Hoover?s show  was not what I expected. A
very precise and lyrical chromatic player, but also
fantastic on diatonic. He played a harmonica rag
from the old-school masters, something he pulled
from the Yazoo archives no doubt. And his guitarist
was superb? reminding me much of Chet Atkins in his
smoothness and chord choices. 

Then there was the time I caught Jason Ricci,
Michael Peloquin and Alan Holmes jamming on a bench
just outside the hotel, in a well-populated outdoor
type mall. Michael was challenging Jason?s jazz
chops and soon they were off into some exotic
sounding riff that I could only listen to, though I
longed to join them. 

A little later they got into a simpler 3rd position
minor thing and Alan and I were comping behind
them. It got more and more intense as Jason got
into it. I could barely hang on. Michael took a
few, Alan took one, I took one, Jason ripped the
thing to shreds to finish it off. I heard applause
and looked around, noticing that rather sizeable
crowd had gathered. What a total blast!

Okay, I?ve definitely gone on too long. The rest is
a blur. What a great time.

Harpin? in Colorado,
--Ken M.


=====
"When you speak of Walter Horton, the first thing you think of is his tone, that big, fat tone."
---Li'l Ronnie Owens


	
		
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