Re: [Harp-L] Re: William Galison

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jason Rosenblatt wrote:
> As far as my second post goes, until I hear otherwise, I will 
> stand by my original statement that Howard Levy is the only 
> diatonic harmonica player that can play jazz at a high level. 
> Again this is not to disparage the capabilities or take away from 
> the achievements of Jason Ricci, Carlos Del Junco (or my own for 
> that matter) in the styles of music that we choose to pursue.

I think this is just a matter of where you choose to draw the line.  
There are plenty of folks out there playing diatonic at what *I* 
would call a "high level" -- maybe it's only "high" because I'm 
craning my neck looking up to them.  Howard is without a doubt the 
top of the heap, but it's not that easy to discount a lot of other 
great diatonic players out there.  

In my humble opinion, when you reach a certain point with the 
attempt to make diatonic harmonica chromatic, as is required in much 
complex jazz, classical and other styles of music, it starts to fall 
apart, regardless of the mastery of the player.  

-tim

Tim Moyer
Working Man's Harps
http://www.workingmansharps.com/