[Harp-L] Kava on Ricci

["M. N." <mnessmith@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Our pal Brad Kava just wrote a nice bit in his San Jose (Calif.) Mercury 
News column about Jason Ricci. Check it out at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/music/13114474.htm

Or here's the text:

Ricci rivals big-name acts in our midst

Brad Kava

In the rush of this perfect storm of Big Classic Rock Concerts, there are 
some little squalls -- great, great club shows you shouldn't miss. In fact, 
if I didn't have to go to one of these stadium affairs, I would be much 
happier to hit the clubs.

At San Francisco's Biscuits and Blues on Sunday is a young musician who has 
the charisma of Mick Jagger and the voice of Steven Tyler and plays a meaner 
harmonica than John Popper.

If he's so good, how come you haven't heard of Jason Ricci?

Well, for the past few years, he's been living the crazy music tour life -- 
on the road 300 nights a year in a van with a band that gets tighter as 
their transmission gets looser. Turns out, it's more economical for Ricci to 
tour the East, where cities are closer together, than out here.

As a harp player, Ricci can do things even Popper can't do, hitting every 
note on the usually limited harmonica's scale and making them 
jackrabbit-fast and bluesy at the same time.

If you go to harmonica nerd Web sites, you see testimonials that take on a 
religious fervor: ``I just saw this guy Jason Ricci, and it changed my 
life.''

Then, as new apostles, they go on to lavish praise on the performer they 
just saw, almost in identical words to the person who saw him the night 
before in Tuscaloosa. I guess they call that word of mouth, via Internet, 
and it's a great thing.

You can check him out yourself. He puts concerts online for free downloads 
at www.jasonricci.com and has collectors across the country downloading and 
saving them.

You can catch him at 9 p.m. at Biscuits and Blues, 401 Mason St., San 
Francisco; $10; (415) 292-4583.