Re: [Harp-L] re: Improv in Blues

["Rob Paparozzi" <chromboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

JP,

   Good Point, Walter had lots of Horn Player idols, it's obvious in his
music, but you also hear the John Lee Williamson and many other earlier
influences in his sound.

    Let me chime in here to help you out, Howard Levy, one of his biggest
Diatonic influences in his early dayz; Paul Butterfield. Toots, he idolized
many jazz cats, but his harp mentor was Larry Adler. Stevie...I'm not to
sure, but I know he listened to and is totally in love with Toots and Loves
Bonfiglio's work....I'm not sure if he was listening to Toots as a kid
though......but whatever he was listening to was the RIGHT stuff,-))))))

Still my dream, that hasn't come true; an album by "Toots & Stevie" produced
by Quincy Jones....I'll keep wishing..........................if anyone
knows Quincy's email address, please feel free to forward this post,-)!

ciao,
rob

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jp Pagán" <jpl_pagan@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 7:12 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] re: Improv in Blues


>
> --- Chris Michalek <Chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > >>incorporate this?" i can't think of a single
> > musician
> > >>that i idolize who didn't listen intently to and
> > >>idolize other musicians in his genre and on his
> > >>instrument.
> >
> > Which harmonica players did people like Little
> > Walter, Stevie Wonder,
> > Toots or Howard Levy idolize?
>
> Little Walter started out playing in the same style
> that was popular with alot of other harp players at
> the time, according to people who've reviewed his
> work, based on Sonny Boy's style (can't recall if it
> was I or II). sure, he grew out of that, but he didn't
> start from nothing.
> i don't know anything about how Levy got started. my
> understanding is he already played the piano very
> well, and besides, he's apprently from Mars. i
> probably can't pronounce the names of his alien
> harmonica influences.
> Toots and Stevie i'll have to grant you. Toots played
> guitar first, right? Stevie apparently did teach
> himself to play. but Toots was a huge jazz guy who,
> from my understanding, started out trying to apply the
> music he already liked, the jazz of the time, to his
> instrument. i'm not sure if/how that applies to Stevie
> Wonder, but i get the feeling it was probably a
> similar story.
> as an aside, didn't Toots once say something about
> wanting but not being able to get a sound like Little
> Walter? (it doesn't really matter to me either way, it
> just popped in my head.
>
> >Sure they listened to
> > other players
> > but for the most part they just do what they do and
> > we're lucky
> > they've chosen our humble little instrument.  For
> > tose guys its about
> > expression and playing the music of the mind.
> > Listening to other
> > people who play the same instrument would have
> > hampered thier
> > progress.
>
> did it hamper the progress of guys like Miles Davis,
> Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Brubeck... i dunno,
> maybe these guys didn't learn from other musicians on
> their same instrument, or other jazz guys (i doubt
> that last part though)... i honestly don't know. but
> it just seems to me that not learning from what others
> in your genre or on your instrument have done is an
> odd way to get off the ground. i would never advocate
> becoming a slavish parroter of what others once did,
> but i think the idea that harmonica players, or any
> other instrumentalist, should stop listening to others
> on their instrument to be extreme (i still think
> that's not what you meant, but i could be wrong.
> haven't you, Chris, also learned from guys like Levy,
> etc?)
> Ray Charles started out being a great mimic, and went
> on garner the nickname "Genius."
>
> anyway... horses for courses. Chris is certainly a
> better player than i am (now. in fifty years, i may
> make him swallow his diatonics in shame ;), i just
> think that a harmonica player willfully shunning
> listening to other harmonica players - or a blues
> musician willfully ignoring the history of recorded
> blues music - is... counterintuitive.
>
>    --Jp
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
> _______________________________________________
> Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
> Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l