[Harp-L] Re: Potato Potahtoe

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George,

1)  Like I said, when in doubt, follow your muse. 

2)  But remember what W.C. Fields said: "If at first you don't succeed,
try, try again.  Then give it up.  No sense being a damn fool about it."

Regards, RH

George Brooks wrote:
> 
> I expressed the opinion a couple of days back that the only person who
> can play no-excuses jazz on the "diatonic" harmonica in a musical and
> convincing way is Howard Levy.  My post assumed a very high standard
> for no-excuses jazz, which I wrote is the ability to play tunes called
> by others (not "cherrypicked") at any tempo in any key.  There are many
> saxophonists in the world who meet this high standard, as there are
> trumpeters, piano players, and guitarists.  There is, so far as I know,
> only one diatonic harmonica player, Howard.  So I am largely in
> agreement with Richard.  But he goes too far:
> 
>  >I see post after post in this forum from players
>  >who are struggling madly to make overblowing
>  >work for them on every kind of material, and
>  >coming not quite close enough as often as not.
>  >Enough already. If you want to play chromatic
>  >material, get a chromatic harp and learn to use it.
> 
> I disagree completely.  Instead of "Enough already" I say "Not nearly
> enough."  Not nearly enough hard and sustained work, not nearly enough
> attention to intonation and articulation, not nearly enough people
> working seriously for enough years to overcome the technical issues
> involved in playing chromatically on the short harp.  There are
> limitations, as there are to all instruments, but many things that
> Richard is viewing as limitations are merely issues that can and will
> be overcome.
> 
>  >The CX-12 chromatic, which can certainly make a
>  >very loud, aggressive sound on demand, makes the
>  >difference in tone between diatonic and chromatic
>  >almost a non-issue.
> 
> No, I disagree.  You can get a great sound out of both instruments, but
> they are *very* different sounds.
> 
> I believe it is entirely legitimate for Richard to say that, in his
> opinion, chromatic music played on the diatonic harmonica is deficient
> in this or that way or just plain sounds bad to his ear.  I think it is
> wrong of him, however, to declare that the effort to develop the
> technique to do this musically ought to be abandoned ("Enough already.
> If you want to play chromatic material, get a chromatic harp and learn
> to use it.").
> 
> "Enough already?"  No, not enough.  Not nearly enough.  More, please,
> only better.
> 
> George
> 
>