[Harp-L] RE:long solos

[R Kraft <hoosierdads@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chris asked, and recently I've been working toward this in a couple of formats.

Great question, as I've probably never done a solo more than 3 minutest long until the last couple of months.

The longest I've done is 15 minutes of harmonica with my drummer (who is amazing).
I record all gigs and most rehearsals.
After listening to them, I think that maybe 7 or 8 minutes of 15 are interesting.

I've been listening to lots of "legendary" jazz guys and often I've lost interest within 20 measures.

What seems to make things interesting for me is:

Band interaction - everyone listens and picks up on rhythmic variations.
At least one of the members is focusing on the groove and staying inside.
Intermingling known melodies and breaking them apart harmonically or rhythmically, reassembling them or morphing them into something else recognizable.

I'm not skilled enough to solo over odd harmonic changes (yet), except if I do planning.

Without theatrics, I'm generally limit my solos at gigs to a minute or less.

Thanks - I'm looking forward to hearing from you studley guys.

Ned