Gratitude to the Harp

[Aeskow@xxxxxxx]

=A0 =A0 =A0=A0 Believe it or not, I'm on your side.=A0 See how I keep lookin=
g
>=A0 =A0 =A0=A0 over at
> the ref, hoping he'll stop the fight and let your handlers go to work
> on you?

I think it's time someone threw a large bucket of water over these alley cat=
s=20
;-}

- -Keith

Anthony P. Costine" <acostine@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Any time a few yappy dogs can beat down something they don't
> agree with we are all diminished.

i

- ----
Garry Hodgson, Technology Consultant, AT&T Labs

As one of the people branded a yappy dog perhaps you will forgive me for=20
finding the words less than apposite.=A0 Distinctly tasteless I thought
actually.=A0 Now why don't we let the sleeping yappy dogs lie and move on.=
=A0=20
How about some HARMONICA talk.



1.) To those who stand on the sidelines and get some kind of paltry=20
adrenaline rush from attempting to instigate another fight--as long as they'=
re not=20
within arm's-reach of the combatants, of course; as long as they don't take,=
 or=20
give, any shots--either do the adult thing, and let a bygone fight remain=20
bygone, or just...be gone, man. =20

2.) It was a powerful and moving experience to see democracy in=20
action--especially at this moment in time.  I believe in the artistry of Mud=
dy Waters; in=20
the courage of Paul Butterfield and Mike Bloomfield and the other white=20
teenagers who dared to follow the blues down "forbidden" streets in Chicago,=
 and=20
Memphis, defying the nay-sayers; in the visionary genius of the Walters Litt=
le &=20
Big; in the mysterious sense of peace that Charlie Musselwhite creates in hi=
s=20
version of Cristo Redemptor...and it's odd to realize that none of these peo=
ple=20
would be allowed to "speak" freely amidst a group of harp players who have=20
borrowed so heavily from their musical legacy. I don't believe you can subtr=
act=20
the artist from his art; and when I try to imagine what Little Walter would=20
encounter here if he answered amp/mike questions in his true voice--well, it=
's=20
good to laugh, anyhow...

3.) To those who consider someone else's belief in free speech to be=20
"distinctly tasteless:" sorry to hip you so late in the game, but we built a=
 country=20
around it.  But then America's often been considered tasteless by some folks=
,=20
what with its "race-mixing," and women's suffrage, and that infernal, Africa=
n=20
rock-and-roll beat...

4.) I woke up this morning and laid my harps on the kitchen table and=20
reflected for the one-millionth time how grateful I am to these small rectan=
gles of=20
metal and wood--each one a portable orchestra--each one, even from the same=20
manufacturer, having its own distinct voice.  I picked up some of the ones t=
hat=20
were new to me when I returned to the harp after many years away from it--th=
e=20
Lee Oskars, my God, what sustain, what sweetness in the 7-10 holes; what a j=
oy=20
to pick up the E-flat one and "jam" with an old King Curtis tune...or to mes=
s=20
around with tunings nobody dreamed of back in the day--i.e., even though the=
=20
Harmonic Minors are supposed to be for world music, if you play something li=
ke=20
St. Louis Blues on it, something magic happens--you get to sound like Roy=20
Eldridge on a scratchy old 78...the Vintage 1923s, like time-machines that c=
an=20
rocket you back to the late '60s, when--your life already changed forever by=
 one=20
listen to the Hoodoo Man Blues album--you bought your first Hohners, and the=
y=20
sounded just like these shining golden things...or the XB-40, a wonder of=20
science--forget the Mars expedition; our taxes should be financing a New Fro=
ntier=20
of harps--and the seemingly infinite number of brand-new pathways it creates=
=20
from note to note...and the Suzuki Overdrive, for God's sake, which allows m=
e=20
to actually touch the vibrating reeds that have such power and such delicacy=
 of=20
tone, and lets you--by physically blocking the reed-slots with your=20
fingertips--understand the physics of tongue-blocking in a whole new way...t=
he=20
country-tuned harps, that sound great for jazz, too, at least to me...And ju=
st the=20
plain old unadorned Marine Bands, Golden Melodys, chromatics, souvenir cowbo=
y=20
harps from some long-forgotten thrift shop in Reno, tremelo harps from China=
town,=20
harps that died in 1983 but which you just can't bring yourself to=20
bury...It's a feeling of true reverence, of profound gratitude to the harp,=20=
which I know=20
that everyone on this list must feel.

So go ahead if you need to--stir up more trouble, shoot for the last word,=20
heckle the last person who dared to express a thought--the forum is yours. =20=
But=20
in just a few days of reading letters from a widely-divergent group of=20
players, I know that most of them will be spending their free time with thes=
e magic=20
rectangles, doing scales, creating new hybrids of music, or recalling what i=
t=20
was like to see Jimmy Cotton in his young days, blowing insane riffs on a ti=
ny=20
stage while doing cartwheels--the audience lifted off the ground--the riff=20
getting faster and faster--the girls dancing in two's in front of the=20
stage--everyone in the club singing "Turn On Your Lovelight"--and to whoever=
 the Jimmy=20
Cotton of tomorrow is--like the man says in his sign-off--keep on harpin'.

Peace
Johnny T
Mayfield Road Gang