Re: [Harp-L] Re: How we learned diatonic harmonica in the "olden days"

[<jruss433@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I guess it's time I got in here, as I'll be turning 50 in about a week.  SO 
this is how it was and what harp-playing has become for me.  Much thanks to 
all of you that have drawn me out in recent years.  This is truly a great 
community, ragtag and irreverent as it can be sometimes.

At the age of 14, I started singing in a rock and roll band and about that 
time, my grandfather gave me the Superchromonica (1949) that my uncle who 
was killed in Korea played.  Of course, it was way over my head and I played 
at it for about a year, but kept singing.  My parents were always into 
Crooners, Big Band and Jazz.  That began to rub off on me and became more 
important than rock music.

I moved to Costa Rica a the age of 17 (1973) and bought a Marine Band on my 
way out.  I thought that while I was isolated and learning Spanish, I would 
have something else to do.  I started listening to and playing Bob Dyland in 
those days, as his phrasing seemed relatively simple and easy to follow in 
my 1st position phase.  In my senior year of high school there, I got hooked 
up with surfers and the blues and began to bend notes.  I also discovered 
Magic Dick and the J Geils band and moved into my 2nd position phase.  I got 
stuck there for a long time, but no regrets - it was all fun.  Our school 
was in a house in a residential area.  There were 2 ceramic tile bathrooms 
in the building - great places to jam!!!

Hot on the blues when I returned to the states in '75 I tried to get into 
blues bands, but ended up working with a folk and Grateful Dead cover group. 
Some blues, but not enough for me.  I was seeing a local band in Bethesda, 
Maryland in those days called the NightHawks.  Mark Wenner, the harp player, 
became a sort of inspiriation to me.  I was also bitten by the jazz bug 
about this time when I discoverd the Nat King Cole Trio.

In '78, on a trip down the Connecticut Coast, I jammed some jazz in a piano 
bar in Niantic and the piano player recommended I get a copy of "Affinity'" 
with Bill Evans and Toots.  That changed my approach to things and I began 
listen to more Miles, Toots, Coltrane, Gilespie and Stan Getz.  I played and 
sang - off and on in bands in various places in the country where I've 
lived - right up into the '90s

A few college degrees and professional life have intervened, but I kept on 
singing and playing.  I discovered SPAH in '99 and got re-started on 
chromatic learning.  After that I revisited the learning process with both 
chromatic and diatonic harps in tandem, so progress is slow but rich.

I've learned a lot and continue to do so.  I got serious about Harp-L last 
year and the list-serve has also taught me a great deal.  I know now that I 
will always work for assholes, but I will never again allow their agendas to 
impede my harmonic development.  I play with a small jzz band now in 
Springfield, Illinois and continue to work on my chops.

I'm sure now that I'll pass on to the great beyond with a harp in my hand. 
For those who are wondering what kind, it could be either, for my love is 
great.

Mark Russillo
a.k.a. The Rhode Island Kid