[Harp-L] Minor harp lee oskar story



Hi all

many years age I had a kids harmonica group up and running. Some of the group had won 1st place in the blues, Jazz and C&W sections of the world champs, in germany that year. When Lee Oskar came touring the UK he invited us to see him and that incarnation of War perform in London.
So off we went, I told the kids to keep their harps with them at all times, but who can tell a kid what to do !!


We went back stage and after Lee & I had done our greet in Danish (we are both displaced Danes, though his Danish is far better than mine but then my English is better than his, as he only speaks ameaican :) ) he invited one of my students up to play a number with him. The kid knew better and had left his harps back in the van, so whilst doing a press photo call and having all sorts of other calls on the 5 mins that it took , he re-tuned one of his spare harps to the right minor key for the number that he was asking the kid up for.

Not only did he tune it just right , using the harp that he would be playing on as a tune reference, he also posed for a photo shoot and amended and then approved the set list. This all took a scant 5 mins. later that night they went and played together. Lee was a gentalman (as always) he let the kid find his feet in the gendra of the song and then let the kid do the cuttin'; contest thing! Gadly the kid knew when he was beat so they ended the 'contest' in unison. The audence loved it and the only person that I was more proud of than my student that night was Lee.

That kid now grown, plays many instruments, and keeps his family and pays the bills with his music.

THANKS LEE

I'm pointing out it can be real quick to alter the tuning of a harp if you know what you're doing. Lee had the kit to change the reeds but deemed a bit of re-tuning as quicker - on the night.

Just sharing a story :)
David Priestley





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