[Harp-L] Dennis Gruenling..l. TAKE THAT!

["Jason R" <jason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear List:
 
This entry is so over due!!!!
 
 Last night in person and in an e-mail I recieved a few days ago, two
seperate individuals told me they didn't really like my playing, One said
Din't get the whole Ricci thing" (Thanks List for making me a thing) having
only heard my 5 year old "Feel Good Funk CD", then upon down loading our
live shows and coming to a show or two, they changed their minds much to my
delight, I just want to be loved!! is that so wrong? This incident reminded
me of an similar experience I had with a young man named Dennis Gruenling. I
have been meaning to write this forever but it has seemed very overwhelming
to me but here goes:
 
Last year at the Peloquin/Ricci/Wally Walters Spah Blow off thing Dennis
Gruenling Rocked the house way, ridiculously, too hard!!! I haven't since
Adam Gussow seen a harp player, prior to A.G.; Pat Ramsey, that made me jump
out of my seat and scream! 
  I get a lot of Kudos on this list for being fast and all but let me say
Dennis is really fast too yall! He's just playing a lot of arpeggios and
diminished arpeggios so they sound more flowing then all the triplet and
sixteenth note spit and wax stuff I do all the time(Although rocking as it
may be). This, The Low Harps, his Tone amplified and acoustic, this wacky
Tremolo thing he does that sounds identical to a Leslie Cab,his tounge block
trills, and the way he moves his hips got me on a Gruenling crusade!
   
Prior to this day I had only heard Dennis's CDs ,which although, really
good, and certainly a quality release didn't in my humble opinion do him any
Justice after I heard it live. I had written this thing about him on my site
based upon those CDs that was although meant to high light and exualt him, I
feel now, looking back, was perhaps a bit dismissive, and uninformed. I hate
my Feel Good Funk CD! Hate IT! I would hate to be judged by all of you by
that alone, but sometimes us artists have to allow just that and scrounge
all the money we can and hope for the best in a 8 hour session with
unrehearsed guys etc..So we can get a product out and get gigs etc...
   What I'm trying to say is...Wally Recorded that night and I listened to
over and over not studying it but absorbing it. I also got to be on Jon
Gindick's Teacher staff with Dennis and got to see him there as well as the
previous year at Spah and such! Harp L fans! If you haven't seen him you
don't know!!!! Dennis stole that recording from me and said he was going to
give it Gary Hodgenson or one better for archive.org but as far as I know he
hasn't. Lets all Harass Dennis until he does. Lets e-mail him and all that
until he succeeds and hands it over to the sexy software rocker G.H..
  Dennis from my understanding cannot really tour right know too intensely
for a variety of reasons, so if your not lucky enough to be at Jon Gindick's
Camp, SPAH, or any of those gigs in the North East (Which would allow the
pleasure of seeing his taleneted wife Gina Fox perform as well) your just
out of luck which is not cool. So since Dennis has shrugged off my chiding
and has continued the delay of getting a live tape to Gary, I have taken it
upon myself to write this testimonial and plea to the list to force him into
submission. TAKE THAT!
 
In short I want to go on record as saying I think Dennis Gruenling will go
down in history as the greatest most innovative BLUES harmonica player since
Little Walter. I know that is a gargantious histrionic statement and all
that, but if you haven't seen it live, you haven't seen the extensions of
George Smith, Bill Clarke, and L.W. the way I have. A lot of guys are always
saying " I listen to Sax players for licks" but then you see their record
collection and it's all harp guys with like one nearly impossible to emulate
(Michalek, Levy, Peloquin,Del junco exclude) Charlie Parker recording.Thgen
they play and it's all the same cliche' blues shortcuts. I have seen
Dennis's record collection and it's all horn guys and the right horn guys
the ones HE SOUNDS LIKE! Lester Young, Gene Ammons, Early Turrentine, Early
Stitt and hundreds of others I don't know! By the way I never claimed to
listed to horn huys anymore than any other instrument.So there you have it I
can't rave enough about D.G.
 
 And I have been trying to steal that amplified Tremolo for the past month
and can't above the low register on a Bb harp. Does anyone know if it's just
more prevalent sounding on Low harps or is it maybe not that RE-10
friendly/stick mic...I know my Cup is air tight.Has anyone ever recorded it
before? Lets ask Dennis. 
 
(Note: after that night at SPAH, M.P. went on tour with us ...Mr. Peloquin
if your nasty, did it to me again (made me jump out of my seat and scream)
on a minor rumba with a bent upper register cross harp flat 5 note, over
draw if your nastier)
 
Thanks again to everyone here for all the support!
Your fan 
Jason Ricci HYPERLINK "http://www.jasonricci.com"www.jasonricci.com 

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