[Harp-L] SPAH

[George Brooks <gbrooks1@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi, all-

It took me an extra day to get back to Vermont because of some air 
travel issues, and I am just now catching up with Harp-L.  So many 
people played so well.  I have been working hard, and I thought that 
maybe I was making up some of the distance between me and the heavy 
guys way out in front.  Michael Peloquin set me straight with a solo at 
the Tuesday night harp blowoff.  Whew!  Ben Nathanson continues to be 
one of the most compelling and affecting blues players I have ever 
heard, dead or alive, on a record or in person.  P.T. Gazell plays 
nearly flawlessly, and with a superhuman sweetness.  Tim Moyer's 
playing was huge this year.  Jason Ricci rocked harder than anyone I 
have ever heard.  Chris Michalek has always had amazing tone and 
technique and a refreshingly original approach, but his playing has a 
new coherence and solidity that made him not only good this time, but 
scary good.  Jimi Lee is a phenomenal talent, and plays everything with 
a conviction that is truly inspiring.  Buzz, Filisko, Tom Albanese, 
Jellyroll Johnson, Johnny Bishop, James L. Gordon, Dennis Gruenling, 
Allen Holmes, Mojo Red, and no doubt some I am omitting due to fatigue, 
fabulous and inspiring players all, and all in one place at the same 
time for a four day party!

But the break-out player for me this year was Warren Bee.  He plays 
with wit and soul and humor and conviction, and he had the complete 
attention of everyone in the jam circle every time he put the harmonica 
to his lips.  And not just blues.  Chris (the pot stirrer) wrote:

=============================================

On saturday night (actually sunday morning) Buckweed, Jimi Lee, George 
Brooks,
Allen Holmes, Jimmy Gordon and myself had quite the cool little jam as 
we
finished off Winsolw's bottle of Bushmills. We were making up 
progressions on
the spot and some were quite difficult, Warren had no issues playing 
great stuff
where some of us otherwised fumbled through...

=============================================

This was a great experience, an example of SPAH magic (Tom Albanese was 
also there and played great, but Chris was too drunk on Winslow's 
single-malt to remember).  Jimi Lee and Buckweed worked out a 
progression with an unusual chord in the bridge (did it go to the sharp 
5?; help me here).  Warren covered it like it was a standard turnaround 
to a 12 bar blues he had been playing all his life.  It was completely 
fluid and utterly stunning.  I went over to him afterward and told him 
that I had not heard better playing all week, and I meant it.

Plus he's one of the funniest people I have ever met, and wonderful at 
working a crowd.  His introduction of Buzz's set had me laughing so 
hard that I almost hurt myself, but it was also masterful in that he 
managed to convey to a large crowd in just a few minutes the essence of 
the phenomenal soul that is Buzz Krantz.  His spontaneous comedy 
routine with Mojo Red at the blues jam was also fantastic, but it was 
probably one of those things where you had to be there.  For me, SPAH 
is special because of the people more than the performers or the 
organized activities, and Warren Bee is one of the people I'm most 
looking forward to seeing at future SPAHs.

George

p.s. How brief is glory.  A few minutes after Warren played at our 
after hours hallway jam, Jimmy Gordon took a turn on his CX-12.  There 
are no words for my reaction to Jimmy's solo other than "Yikes!" and 
maybe "Good Gawd" (he removed the harmonica from his mouth after a 
single chorus, too, while most of us expounded at length like Fidel 
Castro haranguing the crowd with one of his nine hour speeches).  I 
prize honesty, and so I must be honest myself.  I got back up, tapped 
Warren on the knee, and whispered that his solo was as good as anything 
I had heard right up until the moment that Jimmy played.  Damn!

p.p.s.  Winslow, thank you for your generous gift of the Bushmills.  We 
greatly appreciated it!

p.p.p.s.  This being Harp-L, and me being a diatonic player, I write 
above about the diatonic players, but there were great players on 
chromatic and XB-40.  Phil Caltabellotta, Jim Lohman, Ron Kalina, 
Bonfiglio, Michael Polesky, David Fairweather, Smokey Joe....I could go 
on, but won't.