[Harp-L] Report on SPAH 2004

[Elmer Mattila <emattila@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Report on SPAH 2004
by someone who loves the traditional harmonica trio and other harmonica 
ensembles.

My guess on attendance is around 400-500.
Arrived Tuesday afternoon to hear harmonica in the hallways already. 
Watched the Gateway Harmonica Club of St. Louis setting up Open Stage 
(also called open mic)..
7:00 pm – Official welcome and the beginning of open mic with the 
Gateway Club starting it off.

Wednesday 8:00 am wife goes to HERmonica rehearsal while I check out my 
computer and projector and review my presentation, “Band-in-a-Box (BIAB) 
as a Practice Tool” which is coming up in two hours. All is well, so I 
go down to watch Vern Morgus “Gather to Form Groups” in the ballroom. 
Wife comes back from HERmonicas and we sit down and play Gospel music 
with a new acquaintance from his Gospel Fake Book. He played chromatic, 
wife played chord, and I played bass.

We miss the performances of the other groups because I have to go set up 
“Band-in-a-Box” session. The session BIAB session went well with about 
50 people attending. Lot of interest and good questions. Several people 
using it. Several people had it and had not figured out how to use it. 
Several people said they were going to purchase it.

1:00 pm Frank Warner hosts a session called “Bass Harmonicas Unite.” He 
talked about the bass harmonica and demonstrated it and answered a lot 
of questions. It was a very worthwhile session – especially for me since 
I am trying to learn to play the bass.

These types of sessions are the main reason I attend SPAH; although 
hearing the great harmonica music for four days and nights is a big 
attraction too.

2:15 pm A session, “It’s All About Tone” where the group was divided 
into five sub-groups and then spent ten minutes with each of five people 
demonstrating what good tone means to them and how they produce it. It 
was a very interesting and useful session. Since there was a timekeeper 
who rang the bell at ten minutes, people moved on to the next 
demonstration. If the all participants were all together and the 
demonstrators were supposed to move on –off stage – after 10 minutes, it 
just would not have happened. At least one of them would have taken 30 
minutes and thus we would have missed two of them.

3:30 pm Wife and I went off to Al Smith’s workshop and thus missed the 
session on “Mics, Amps and Tone” hosted by Oelling and Gruenling. This 
is my 4th SPAH  and 4th Smith workshop. Always learn something – useful 
and important to ensemble playing.

7:00 pm  Show time – 1st - Gateway Harmonica Club, 2nd Kaleena Hutchins, 
a girl 13 years old played with a really nice pure tone. 3rd Bud 
Boblink’s Solo Show – great talent, played several different harmonicas, 
styles of music, jokes, magician, acting – just plain wonderful. 4th 
Dallas Harmonica Trio with the son/grandson age 11 playing a couple of 
songs with the trio. They are great. 5th Ron Kalina played jazz 
accompanied by Carolbeth True trio – a real class act. 6th and final 
segment was done by Filisko’s Mob.

Thursday August 19
8 am – Wife to HERmonicas
9 am Attended “Chord Harmonica” by Ken Smith and Vern Morgus. Vern had 
four rules dealing with chord substitutions songs with simple chord 
progressions in key of C. Vern played the examples on his chord harp. A 
good session. Afterwards I rewrote his rules using Roman numerals and 
can now apply them to all keys.

10:15 am Doug Tate did a session, “Chromatic Dynamics” where he again 
displayed his suburb tone. I find it very interesting that people ooo 
and aaaa at his tone but very few people are trying to imitate it. Each 
time I get home from SPAH I illustrate how he does it and finally our 
group of six chromatic players are trying more and more to play while 
holding the chromatic the way he does. Their tone is improving.

1 pm Ron Kalina divided the chord players into two groups and had them 
play two different chords simultaneously to two different songs, Blue 
Moon and Heart and Soul, while he and Phil Caltabellotta played the 
melodies -  all at the same time. He had a special chord progression for 
the bridge of Heart and Soul. As an example the first group of chords 
played Eb while the other group played Gm. In most cases if the first 
group played a major chord, the second played a minor chord a third 
above. And vice-versa. A very interesting session. Really impressed with 
Ron Kalina as a musician and a person.

3:30 Off to Al Smith workshop. However I couldn’t stay long. Had to get 
to the next session in the Ballroom.

4:00 pm “Dynamics of Trio Playing” with Chris Bauer, Phil Caltabolotta, 
Frank Warner and Bud Boblink. This was a real treat. It wasn’t a trio. 
It was mostly a quartet playing Harmonicat’s arrangements. They did do a 
couple of “head” arrangements. The best was when someone asked them to 
do a jazz version of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” It was a great show. 
They answered many questions.

7:00 pm evening show had Madcat, Sanady Weltman, Dennis Guenling, John 
Walden, Jimi Lee, Jason Ricci, Steve Guyger.

Friday August 20
8:00 Wife off to HERmonicas.
9:00 “Gospel Harmonica Revisited” by Tulsa Read. The main thing here is 
that you are bound to learn something about playing the harmonica – 
diatonic or chromatic or tremolo no matter what the topic title is. He 
is the best teacher at these sessions that I have experienced at SPAH 
the past 4 years that I have attended.

I missed a couple of sessions because I was helping the Suzuki people 
from Japan with computer and projector equipment.
1:00 Suzuki reps demonstrated some of their new harmonica products. Tom 
Stryker and Al Smith also helped with some demos. Tom played a new 
Suzuki SCX chromatic and a new tremolo chromatic, a beautiful instrument.
2:15 Al Smith Workshop again.

7:00 Evening show started off with the HERmonicas playing three numbers. 
Then Harmonica Junction, Chris Bauer, Yellow Pine Trio (Frank, Bud, and 
Phil), Clint Hoover from Minneapolis. All my kind of music. A great evening.

Saturday August 21
9:30 “54 Years of Showbiz” by the Sgro Brothers. What a duo on chord and 
chromatic. Great musicians and talkers and funny. They shared a lot of 
interesting experiences including playing at the White House this 
summer. We missed getting a CD from them. Will have to visit their web site.

12:30 “Trios and More” hosted by Jim Lohman. A bunch of different trios 
played - mostly Bud and Frank along with different chromatic players.
3:00 Harp Depot Auction

7:00 Evening show
The Last Harmonica Band with, Al and Judy Smith (Bass & Chord), Ray 
Tankersley Tom Stryker, and two more chromatic players I can’t remember 
the names.
Then came Douglas Tate with Carolbeth True,
Srgo Brothers
Rob Paparozzi with Bud Boblink, Frank Warner and others – started off as 
a harmonica trio. Then Bud and Frank were replaced by a non-harmonica 
rhythm section.
Another great show.

See you in Kansas City next year for SPAH 2005.
Elmer and Louise Mattila, Minnesota