Re: [Harp-L] Re: suncoast blues fest 11/05/05

[Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>]

On Nov 7, 2005, at 3:42 PM, av1901@xxxxxxx wrote:

> Smokey-joe, you are a tough critic.

 Hi Andy. I got the message and went to eat dinner so as to mull over 
the whole situation beforehand. I felt that a quick answer would have 
been unfair as your concern was that important to me. In all honesty, I 
would first have to say that I am not qualified to BE a critic and 
probably should have kept my mouth (fingers) shut, but I was merely 
giving an opinion. As far as value? my opinion bears little weight as I 
am not a lover of blues to begin with. I like it, I think its ok, I 
just wouldn't say that it turns my world.
 With this in mind, I still try to give blues a chance and have heard 
some of the best while they were still alive.
> I didn't see or hear the show you reviewed (maybe they had an off 
> night), but I must say the (many) times I've seen the Nighthawks over 
> the last 25+ years I have been greatly impressed. They were at their 
> best with Jimmy Thackery on guitar (late 70's), but I have always 
> thought Mark Wenner on harp and vocals was tops.

 I seem to remember giving the band top marks for musicianship. I have 
thought about it and maybe I was a little harsh on the harp part and 
cast the blame there unjustly. Unfortunately all the tunes I heard in 
the 1/2 show (45 minutes out of 1 1/2 hrs) were at the same tempo and 
it seems like A was the only key they played. Mr. Wenner was a good 
player but showed everything he had in the first tune. Everything after 
that sounded the same. Certainly you can understand that with 
everything sounding the same, it got more than a little monotonous.
 Now I'm not saying that Wenner didn't have a larger repertoire of 
techniques. If he had, he wasn't using them.

 Another issue was compression. His sound was crunched down at all 
times with no variation. There was no variation in volume (which was 
ridiculously loud). The mikes were on harsh mode, and very piercing. So 
much so as to the point of discomfort. There was no variation in 
delivery. Everything was at full force. There was no subtleness, no 
teasing, no exchanges with other instruments, no call & response, no 
'dueling harp/guitar'.
 Maybe Mr. Wenner wasn't even aware of this. Maybe I shouldn't fault 
him. Sometimes people are at this thing for so long that they get in a 
stale spell. Maybe that's what happened. Hell. Maybe 'I' was in a stale 
spell.

 disclaimer: Harmonica players have sent me recordings of themselves 
and I have a methodology to listening to them BEFORE I comment. I want 
to hear them:
 (a.)   when I'm tired
 (b.)   when I'm energetic
 (c.)   when I'm happy
 (d.)   when I'm sad
 (e.)   when I'm hungry
 (f.)    early in the day
 (g.)   late in the evening
 After listening to a piece of music 6 times, I am ready to give it my 
best shot. And I DON't take prisoners. Now since I only got to listen 
to this performance once, I might have been too hasty using my first 
best impression.
> I also have to disagree with your other statement:
>
> > > Most of the best harp players either don't tour OR travel away from 
> > > their home base on >>very rare occasion. I surmise this is because 
> > > they are making too good a living at >>their'day' jobs.
>
> Just this summer I played the Riverfront Blues Festival in my town 
> (backing David Bromberg). I don't tour or travel much, and I know I'm 
> not anywhere near as good a harp player as James Cotton (who took the 
> stage right after us) or Kim Wilson (who closed the 2nd night). In 
> this case, the touring pros were the great players.

 Ah yes, but we're talking legends here. There must be a reason WHY 
these guys are legends, no? I would think that they may be a little 
more 'versatile' than the average bear. :)
> I have a harp case full of autographed harp boxes from great touring 
> players I've seen within a 2 hour radius of my house (Paul DeLay, 
> Magic Dick, James Cotton, Rick Estrin, Kim Wilson, Billy Branch, 
> etc.). Heck, William Clarke and Mark Hummel and Jerry Portnoy came 
> through town a few years back and played a little dive right in town 
> here too.

  Don't know of Billy Branch, but I'll raise you a Walter Jacobs, Rice 
Miller, Wilhelmina Mae Thornton, Lazy Lester, Jr. Wells, Sonny Terry 
(all of whom I have heard while they were still alive). Not that I'm 
expecting the Nighthawks to be in competition with those guys, I was 
merely expecting more. Maybe a little 'TOO' more.

disclaimer: I have to quit going to open air concerts. The sound really 
sucks. There were 1220 paid attendance. I hope and pray that 1219 of 
them had a good time and enjoyed themselves. Cause that's the kind of 
guy I am. Sorry if I upset anyone.

 Jo-Jo
> Just my opinion..
>
>
> Andy Vincent
> ____

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