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

["Chris Michalek" <Chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

What I know now is what I wish I knew then.  I'll never truly be an
original player because I set off on the wrong the path.  I'll always
be partially cursed because my sound is close to Levy's.

To set the record straight, of all the guys that studied with Howard,
I am NOT one of them. I never took a lesson from him.  YEs, at one
point we were close friends but only because we had so much in
common. I learned my overblows on my own but they were inspired by a
Mike Turk album from the late 60s.  I could already overblow better
than everybody that I met before I ever heard of Howard Levy. I met
Howard in 1991 in Detroit.  I already had a similar vibrato and
approach to music before 1991.  After I met him at the IHO/SPAH
convention we talked about music.  Both of us have very obscure
tastes in music and to our surprise we both had the same favorite
musician in common - a nepalese sitar player. 

To that point the only harmonica player I was influenced by were
Charlie McCoy, Lee Oskar and Mike Turk.  Howard gave me his Harmonica
Jazz tape and I hated it. I still can't really play any of that
stuff.  I got the first flecktone album and liked that better.  I
spent a year or so listening to that stuff and then my Levy phase was
finished.  It wasn't until 1996 that I was reaquainted with Howard. 
By then I was into middles eastern music and had no idea that Howard
was doing the stuff with Rabih. 

So it's been a curse that so many people think I am such an avid
levyite.  I am in some ways and he certainly has shed new light on
what I do.  There are alot of guys who try to sound like Howard and
they never will simply because they are trying to sound like Howard
and thusly will always be a step or two behind.  I have strived to
NOT sound like him and yet I find myself getting closer and closer to
his sound.  This is because I don't try to sound like him and try to
sound like the stuff I hear which coincidently is very similar to
what Howard listens to.

My original point was NEVER to listen to other harmonica player but
rather listen to what your "idols" listened to. Don't listen to blues
to play blues listen the genesis of the music to create your own
blues.

IF you want to play like Howard Levy, don't listen to him. Instead
listen to Mozart, Beethoven, Jewish Cantor Music, Nikhil Banerjee,
Ivo Papasov, Nustrat Fateh Ali Khan, Oscar Petersen, Litte Walter and
Jr Wells. Don't listen to Howard

And if you want to sound like me then listen to Mozart, Beethoven,
Nikhil Banerjee, Ivo Papasov, Nustrat Fateh Ali Khan, Howard Levy.
Don't listen to me.

My philosophy is largely based on eastern thought. The tao tells us
that "we can not be what we want to be if we want to be that thing."




>
>
>
>---- Original Message ----
>From: harplicks@xxxxxxxxx
>To: Chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, mfugazzi67@xxxxxxxxx, harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: RE: [Harp-L] re: Improv in Blues
>Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2005 06:47:39 -0700 (PDT)
>
>>--- Chris Michalek <Chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>wrote:
>>> 
>>> Stop listening to other harmonica players.
>>> Stop listening to Blues
>>
>>LOL! Great advice, Chris. The first harmonica
>>player I'll stop listening to is you. ;-) 
>>
>>Okay, actually I think it's a very, VERY good idea
>>to listen to great soloists using other instruments
>>(especially sax and other horns), but I don't think
>>it's BAD to listen to harp players, just make sure
>>not to get caught up in becoming slavish to what
>>other harp players are doing. 
>>
>>I love Chris' playing, but I don't want to play
>>just like him... mainly because: 1) alot of his
>>music doesn't ring my bell, and 2) I couldn't play
>>like Chris Michalek in a million years, even if I
>>tried. :-)
>>
>>Personally, I believe in listening to a wide range
>>of music. And when something really Flicks your
>>Bic, then listen to it with those Big Ears. I
>>highly recommend stealing licks, phrases and
>>technique from other instruments and other harp
>>players. Take what you really like and it will
>>shape YOUR sound. But it's YOUR sound you want to
>>develop, not somebody elses.
>>
>>Chris obviously studied Levy's sound, then used
>>some of what he learned to create Chris's sound.
>>Slap my hand if I'm wrong, Chris. But you must have
>>~also~ listened to a very wide range of music, a
>>lot of international sounds and the like, to end up
>>where you are. If you had ignored Levy's harp,
>>would you be where you are today?
>>
>>Okay, back to Blues. 
>>
>>Mike, my advice, when it comes to improvising over
>>blues songs without sounding too redundant is to
>>focus your playing on the ~song~ more than on your
>>licks. Big Ears come in ~very~ handy here. Many
>>blues songs are similar, but no two are the same.
>>Key in to what makes that song unique (the song's
>>hook) and use ~that~ as the basis for your solo.
>>
>>Once you play or emulate the hook (usually a simple
>>phrase unique to that song), it's certainly okay to
>>repeat it and work from it as you build your solo. 
>>
>>Drift farther from the hook as you build tension
>>and introduce new ideas that come to you, based on
>>that simple hook... hit 'em between the eyes at the
>>"climax" of your solo, then ~return~ to the hook to
>>finish your solo and hand things off back to the
>>band/singer. 
>>
>>Think of it like you're telling a story. It has a
>>beginning, a middle and an ending.
>>
>>My 2 cents on Improve in Blues
>>
>>Harpin' in Colorado,
>>--Ken M.
>>
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Chris Michalek

www.michalekstrone.com
CD Available
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/michalekstrone