[Harp-L] Re: howard's harps

[<jaguire@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

gary sez,......"

".funny thing was, i was sitting at a little bar table right near the stage. 
when howard
came in, he was standing right next to us, with this heavy backpack over one 
shoulder.
someone called to him, and as he turned he almost knocked my 11 year old 
daughter
off her barstool with his backpack.  later, when i was explaining to her how 
impressive
the 12 keys on one harp thing was, her response was to ask me, "if he only 
needs one
harp, how come is backpack is so heavy"


...........yep ,   when i saw howard play a concert at chris michalek's 
truly unforgettable Minneapolis Harp Summit  ( toots, mike turk, rob, 
hendrik muerkins, bonfiglio, chris of course, etc. etc . oh yeah,  tony 
shepard playing piano)  he walked out on stage and opened folder after 
folder (large dave barrett Masterclass-type, dozen per folder at least ) of 
harps onto a stand. double-thickness reed plate Filiskos no doubt.  this guy 
howard laid out EASILY 3 dozen harmonicas for one relatively short set. 
this is FAR AND AWAY the most harmonicas i have ever in my life seen a harp 
player have ready to go on stage .    oh, he spent the whole prior 2 or 3 
days telling us how supposedly he can do it all on one harp.   he was a 
truly astoundingly talented harmonica player, absolutley amazingly 
talented....too bad ever third note was badly out of tune . pretty much like 
fingernails on a chalkboard in that regard.   what a paradox!   also, more 
than a hint of hypocrisy .

the quest is undoubtedly noble , just don't let that technique out in public 
too much...it's best for business when the harmonica sounds big and full and 
thick and sexy and badass... not lame and thin and out of tune.    gimme an 
off the shelf Bassman with a couple tube swaps, an old bullet mic and a 
couple of marine bands, point the amp at the solar plexus and turn it up to 
just a little past 4 .   oh, and it goes to 12 .

cletus white