[Harp-L] Missed SPAH but caught Jason & many others

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey List,

I've missed Harp-L for about a month due to my move out to Colorado.  My 
move timed very nicely to coincide with SPAH, except I was busy and 
exhausted all last week and never did make it to any official SPAH events 
despite the short drive to Denver.  I regret that but so it goes.

I did get a chance to attend the Blow-Off and meet many great players and 
Harp-L posters, including Chris Michalek, Michael Peloquin, and Dennis 
Gruenling.  I heard there were many other Harp-L people there that night, 
but unfortunately I don't know what the rest of you look like!  All of the 
acts that night were great, and I even liked Gary Primich (more for his 
vocals than anything, as I was harmonica-ed out by then), but the most 
impressive act of the night IMO was Buddha's Groove.  If you are interested 
in a harmonica-led band that goes way beyond the blues, even way beyond 
jazz, these guys are amazing.  I don't think Chris's frequent MP3 samples 
really do any justice to the phenomenal sound of his band.  The robot 
effects I could have done without, but they were used sparingly.  Chris 
played so chromatically and smoothly on this one song (don't know the name) 
that my ears heard a chromatic harmonica even though my eyes saw a diatonic. 
It's an incredible feat, but of course he used the diatonic's own advantages 
to great effect in other songs.

Then, on Sunday, a friend and I drove down to Sprucewood, CO to hear Jason 
Ricci & New Blood.  We were considering seeing them at the Longmont Jazz 
Festival until we realized their slot was only for an hour.  At their 
exclusive engagement at the charming Sprucewood Inn, nestled in the Rocky 
Mountains, we listened to JRNB hammer out four hours of excellent music, 
even though the crowd never swelled above twenty-five people and ended up 
closer to fifteen.  These guys play their hearts out no matter how many 
people are listening; that's what I call professionalism!  Eventually I went 
up to request my favorite song (as I always do), "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy". 
Jason said they would play it if I came up later to play something.  Were it 
not for that contract, I might have chickened out on his invitation to sit 
in.  I'm glad I didn't.  Jason sat down to listen while New Blood and I 
worked out "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Amazing Grace", the latter 
a song I learned after hearing Jason's gorgeous version.  Both seemed to go 
well despite my nerves.  The rest of the night played out as before, with 
much dancing from the small crowd despite the rapidly declining temperature 
at the outdoor stage.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, even though the 
guys in the band were worried about their van and other tour troubles.  The 
moral of this little story is that you shouldn't be afraid to go hear Jason 
in a small venue, because it will be a full-sized and full-quality show.

Oh, I also met Susie from Harp-L at the Sprucewood show, and she was 
wonderful.  She mentioned that SPAH badly needs a new website and that it 
could help attract younger players who may bring in more of the 
"advancement" that some people think is missing from the organization.  I 
could donate a feeble HTML site, but my web coding skills are very limited. 
If anyone has more sophisticated web design knowledge or has a friend who 
could make a nice site for SPAH, please contact the adminstration.  I'm sure 
they would be exceedingly grateful for the help.

Jonathan Metts