Re: [Harp-L] Re: From the heart

[nonidesign@xxxxxxx]

In the early 90's I had a large loft in Chicago and not much else. I had a wooden door that laid across two boxes with a pool air mattress for a bed. The air mattress had a small leak in it so I would have to wake up in the middle of the night and refill it to get any more sleep. The only other thing I had in this space was a turntable, amp, and (2) great JBL tower speakers that I refused to pawn (I still have 'em!). 

The night I moved in I set up my joke of bed and threw on a vinyl copy of "Deliver the Word" by War and dropped the needle on "Gypsy Man". Now, I had heard this song countless times all the way back to when they played it on AM radio but I have to tell you Lee Oskar's solo at the end reveberatring off the walls of that huge space was a chiller. I always liked how his tone was so incisive yet contrasted by the almost vaporous character of his style. The solo in that song is a prime example of less is more. There is tons of space and the playing is all the more full as a result. The solo trails-off into nothingness with a subdued thumping beat below it. You can actually "feel" it disappear. It still hits me when I play that song.



-------------- Original message from SONNYTONE@xxxxxxx: -------------- 


> >From the time I have been reading the list, and with all these guys trying 
> to get notes that many times are not pure, if just a hair off, not so good, why 
> have we never discussed Lee Oskar. My first influence on harp, with War from 
> the 70's, who I got to meet and jam with in 1978 at a studio in Seattle. We 
> became friends ever since, his music and playing literally stands the hair up 
> on the back of my neck, goosebumps. He is so right in the soul that if you 
> don't feel it, I don't know what to say. He took ideas for the harp and 
> instead of fighting with a traditional diatonic and force notes from it, fought 
> against the mega giant Hohner and created his own tuned harps, which he plays 
> with extreme beauty. Not understanding music theory puts me at a disadvantage 
> with them, I have spent my life with two different styles, working 3 jobs, and 
> never took the time to learn. At the Dave Barrett Masterclass in 1998 or 
> 1999, Lee was there, it was good to see him for the first time since we met in 
> 78. We had spoken on the phone all the time, been through hard times at 
> periods of our lives, so good to feel his energy again. He never changed. At 
> one 
> point in the jam session on Friday I think it was, I looked over at Lee and 
> just said, "Let's do something". All he said was, "Sure". We went onstage and 
> he 
> asked me what key I had, then pulled out one of his tuned harps, and I 
> started laying down a Sonny Terry rhythm. Lee chimed in over it with his 
> beautiful 
> style, and the two melded. Then he looked up and started playing the base, 
> and I took off and tried to put my love of his style together with my own, and 
> we just let it rip. To this day I cannot remember a single thing about what 
> we played, it just was there for the moment. Dave Barrett said it was one of 
> the coolest things he ever saw. People like Lee bring out more in you than 
> you really have on your own. His music, playing style, and feeling should be 
> listened to if you have not. Go to _www.leeoskar.com_ (http://www.leeoskar.com) 
> and get his CD's, they all are great. His discography is impressive. 
> Whenever we have time together he always plays Brazilian beats and music like 
> that 
> for me, that is where his inspiration comes from. In Japan he is a God, too 
> bad we don't appreciate him here like we should. Just my opinion, but no one 
> on this earth does to my soul what he does. These are things I think we should 
> focus on, along with other simply harp related things. There is so much to 
> talk about besides how great we all are. My mentor said, "it's hard to fall 
> when you're on your knees". 
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