Re: [Harp-L] Australian Baroque at SPAH

[Cara Cooke <cyberharp@xxxxxxxxx>]

It was a pleasure meeting you and getting some time to play with you, Tony. 
Hopefully, we will get another opportunity in the future for more of the 
same. I really enjoyed applying harmonies to the fiddle tunes that we jammed 
on in the hall. I am not sure we could sell the concept of "Twin Harmonicas" 
to the rest of the bluegrass world with the same success "Twin Fiddles" 
enjoys, but I sure enjoyed the challenge of making the harmonies work. 
Thanks for coming -- and great thanks to Tulsa for making it possible for 
you to come.
 I am sorry I missed the "Over the Waterfall" bit with Paul. I might have 
been able to find some more harmony there, too. Paul was one of the first 
people I met at my first convention (Dallas 2003). I checked into the hotel 
late on Tuesday night and heard "Red Wing" on harmonica in the lobby. It 
surprised me because I did not expect to hear much in the way of tunes that 
fall into the bluegrass realm. I joined the session with the harmonicas I 
had on me at the time (my gear was still in the truck and I hadn't seen my 
room yet) and we jammed on bluegrass and folk for several hours -- with no 
stringed instruments -- just lead/harmony harmonicas, a chord, and a bass. 
(Having no stringed instruments took a moment to get used to.) For me, it 
was a nice welcome to the convention. I am glad you got to spend some time 
with Paul, too. He was pretty busy all week.
 Cara Cooke
Austin, Tx.

 On 8/24/05, tony <tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: 
> 
> I've now recovered from the 24 hour return trip to Australia
> from SPAH, and am enjoying reading the various reports. I
> had a fabulous time, and will do my best to return in future
> years.
> 
> Before the convention, I posted a question regarding baroque
> music on chromatic. This question was answered
> comprehensively by Yasuo Watani, the Japanese Chromatic
> master. I was lucky enough to get some time with him after
> his seminar on classical techniques for the chromatic. We
> played through some baroque duets, by Loeillet (I played
> alto recorder). They worked extremely well.
> 
> A key feature of the convention, for me, was the
> contribution of Joe Filisko, who seemed to be making a lot
> of good stuff happen with minimal fuss. And he provided
> percussion until the wee hours for us at the blues jams,
> along with Madcat, another great contributor (and awesome
> player).
> 
> Jimmy Lee played stunningly good rack harmonica, and sang
> terrific songs. Buzz did a great job holding the jams
> together, a daunting task. I particularly liked how the less
> experienced players were encouraged to have a go, and the
> applause for their efforts. Pat Ramsey shone, amongst a
> galaxy of blues stars. Unfotunately I arrived too late for
> the Tuesday night blues blowout, and hence missed most of
> Jason Ricci's playing. I would have loved to have heard
> Dennis Gruenling's amplified blues.
> 
> A particular treat for me was meeting Cara Cooke, Jim
> Conway, Winslow and Donald Black, fellow tune players, and
> being introduced to Grant Dermody's playing. It would have
> been great to play a few more tunes with these guys, however
> they were all pretty busy with daily commitments. Cara made
> a point of organising a session for me, which I greatly
> appreciated. Also, Paul Davies plays the same sort of stuff
> that I do, and we had a number of impromptu sessions,
> including an extremely rapido version of "Over the
> Waterfall".
> 
> Tulsa Read was a great organiser (and player). P.T. Gazell
> was a model of good taste, and seems to have quietly figured
> out how to play valved diatonics better than anyone else.
> And so many others....
> 
> And... Howard Levy... I would fly 15000 km just to hear him.
> 
> And I got to talk with Charlie McCoy. Unfortunately, I left
> late Saturday afternoon, and missed his show.
> 
> The last thing I did at the convention was to grab a copy
> of "Up All Night", by Dennis Gruenling. What a great
> investment.
> 
> See you all next year (hopefully)
> 
> Tony Eyers
> Australia
> http://www.harmonicatunes.com
> <
> http://mirapoint.uow.edu.au/cgi-bin/fetch.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harmonic
> atunes.com <http://atunes.com>>
> 
> 
> 
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