YUP, sad but true, he is getting EVEN better,300 nights a year can do that. No resting on his laurels for JR.From: "samblancato" <samblancato@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx> It's been a year and a half since I caught JR and New Blood at Johnny's in Youngstown, OH and he sounds even better than he did then and he was awesome then.
that's just the kind of guy he is. if you want free knowledge of our instrument, just talk to JR. He loves the harp.Jason gave one guy, Perry, a lesson on over-blows during their one break.
Even some of the most famous bluesGreat observation Sam, that is the best part of the whole thing. JR & NB is also a strong, cohesive unit that just happens to include an equallly strong (as any member in the group) harmonica player.
harp players often end up being their own sidemen in some parts of their
shows and CDs, leaving more of the aggressive lead instrument work to guitar
and keyboards. Very few harp players, really put the harp out in front and
in your face like Jason Ricci does.
A lot of people throw the virtuoso and genius tags around way too freely IMO, but JR lives up to that in spades. He must be cringing as he reads this, thinking that he needs to learn and practice more. That is one of the components of a great artist though.So if you love good blues harmonica you get your fill; lots of long stretches of brilliant, virtuoso harp playing.
Michael Peloquin http://tinyurl.com/5tpjg http://www.harpsax.com