RE: [Harp-L] MJ Tate

[backbender1 <backbender1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Through my years at SPAH and Buckeye I had met many
men...

There was a man at my first SPAH who was building his
own custom instruments, and found the time to not only
talk to me, but also ask me to play his custom
instrument in public (he said) for the first time.

Then there was this man who had taken time to talk to
me when I communicated about my personal performance
anxiety issues, who had shared some of the same
insecurities and had re-assured me I was on my right
path, and for me to not get in my own way. 

There was also this classical player I met who had,
once carefully talked into it, gladfully joined me in
one of my seminars playing chromatic harmonica through
a bullet mic and made amazing sounds no one seemed to
expect from him...including himself!

Also, at many of these conventions, there was also a
man who would always set aside time to do an imitation
of the Michigan J Frog dance with me (we both had an
affitinity for MJ Frog due to our ability to relate to
his shyness).

Then there was also this world-class musician who
heard me play a very poor rendition of Harlem Nocturne
(in the hotel pool!!)  and insisted on arranging it to
play with me on stage that weekend, much to my
surprise.

This also reminds me of a man who had spent time with
me concerning my opinions on the chromatic harmonica
(which I consider myself to be a novice....he a highly
regarded expert), and insisted my thoughts were
valuable to him and others.

Then, of course, there was the man who would answer my
false brit accented "hey you bloody bloke" with his
own ridiculous version of an americanized accent,
simply calling me "dude". 




Doug Tate was many different things to many different
people. He will remain to be all of these things to
me...and more.

I'm surprised the Good Lord was able to wait this long
to be in his company...

-Dennis Gruenling









		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com