[Harp-L] Jason on popper/sugar

["Jason R" <jason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Guys for taking a interest in what I said….Here’s all of it! cut and
pasted from the web site HYPERLINK
"http://www.jasonricci.com/"www.jasonricci.com …under the influences section
from the Pat Ramsey highlight!  Notice in particular nothing about first
position or even high end stuff….My main concern is playing outside of the
possible harmonie’s Without being aware that this is the case. Im really
only talking about a tiny pet peave of mine that is not meant to discount
these cats at all! Thanks everybody. See you soon. Loving the List.

Sincerely Jason Ricci

,, •HYPERLINK "http://www.patramsey.com/"; \n Pat Ramsey

Pat is the guy who influenced me to switch from a traditional approach via
Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny boy, Cotton, etc… to what I would call a
more melodic, musical, less riff oriented way of playing music. I spent a
number of years (seven) mimicking the above artists songs note for note and
I’m very grateful for that experience and still recommend those guys as a
place to start for all beginning harp players. However, there dead and there
are what seems to be just a handful of new players redefining the instrument
in the spirit of those above-mentioned artists and Pat Ramsey is at least
five of them. Pat was with Johnny Winter for a while and recorded with him I
think on two albums with him, namely a 70’s release entitled “White, Hot and
Blue”. I heard Pat on a impromptu stop through Memphis in 1994 at a blues
jam and went home worked all summer to get some money together, quit college
and moved to Memphis to hear him play every Tuesday night on Beale while I
worked at an Italian restaurant waiting tables for about a year. Pat is
audibly the biggest influence in my playing as I have at one time or another
stolen or attempted to steal every one of his ideas. Pat never really minded
me doing this and is to this day one of the most important people in my life
musically and otherwise as he pretty much saved it. The later statement is
not an exaggeration, which I’m sure many of you are use to hearing me do. I
never really liked Sugar blue that much or John Popper or any other speed
demon harp players because to me they were missing essential blue notes in
their playing such as flatted 5th’s, flatted 7th’s and flatted 3rd’s. I
consistently hear Sugar Blue and Popper play major 3rd’s over minor key
songs and/or chords and I along with the rest of the world who really listen
to music usually hate that. Pat always relies heavily on blue notes and
interweaves them seemingly effortlessly at stunning speeds over all kinds of
grooves and never plays outside his understanding of harmony unlike some
other harmonica players who’s spit and wax histrionics and non-cohesive
careless and sloppy speed runs up and down unfortunately seem to amaze the
average listener and player alike. To me Sugar Blue and John Popper are not
really that guilty of this later description but I can think of many new
"modern" players that are. Back to Pat though, Pat is the man, his playing
is almost mechanical and his accuracy and clarity are unquestionable. He is
simply one of the best blues harp players to have ever lived and I have
based my style as much around his fundamental, yet ground breaking (for
harmonica) approach to rhythmic triplets and sixteenth note figures as I did
in the past with Little Walter’s swinging horn like phrasing. Check out his
independent releases “It’s about time” and "Live at the Grand”.

 


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