[Harp-L] Ernie Morris



A long time ago Winslow wrote:

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Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2001 08:46:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: Winslow Yerxa 
Subject: Ernie Morris


Maybe it's time to turn the spotlight on Ernie Morris.
One of the original members of the Borrah Minnevich
Harmonica Rascals and the only African-American,
Morris has never received the attention accorded other
members like Leo Diamond, Richard Hayman, Johnny
Puleo, Blackie Schackner, Jerry Murad, and others who
had solo careers post-Rascals, perhaps because he
seems to have had no post-Rascals career.

The two recurring things said about Morris are that he
had great tone and now, from a suddenly increasing
variety of sources, that he was using overblows in his
Rascals career.

I have two, no, three questions:

1) What else is known about Ernie Morris?

2) Can anyone cite specific recordings or film
appearances where he used overblows?

3) How do you know they are overblows? I have to be
careful here for two reasons:

- Not everyone understands that overblows do not
refer to high blow bends

- Rascals sometimes made use of what Fuzzy Feldman
used to call "stunt" harps - special tunings created
to do something not normally possible

If anyone can forward me copies of such recordings,
I'd be very appreciative.

Winslow


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Recently there's been a lot of discussion on the Jazz-L list and the OTR List about JUBILEE, the
war-time variety radio show aimed at black troops.  Over 400 Jubilee's were broadcast featuring an
incredible array of talent: Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Count
Basie, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Otis, Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Criss, Wardell Gray,
Anita O'Day, Betty Grable, Jack Benny, Rochester, Lena Horne, Jimmy Lunceford, Billy Eckstine,
Dexter Gordon, Helen Humes, Slim Gaillard . . . the list goes on and on and on.

So this afternoon I was listening to Jubilee #41 from September 6, 1943 when ERNIE MORRIS came on
and played "In the Mood".   His style was very startling.  At first I thought he was playing a
diatonic, but then I thought it was a chromatic and now that I've read Winslow's comment about him
being an early overblower, I'm really scratching my head!

But now I'm listening to it again as I write and I'm convinced its a chromatic.  He play with a
lot of growls and high bends and chords and hand effects that you wouldn't usually hear on a
chromatic.  But I'm sure its a chromatic.   He's good!  I would like to hear more!





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