[Harp-L] re: jazz instruments

["Jonathan R. Ross" <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think Michael makes a good point about instruments coming and going in
the jazz context--one I missed out on.  But, I also think it shows that
so far the harmonica (any) hasn't broken that barrier.  I wish it would,
especially for guys like Mike Turk, William Gallison, Bill Barrett(sp),
Hendrik Muerkins and others (actually, Muerkins and Maret both seem to
be getting more notice lately).  I find it really strange that with all
the attention Madelyn Peyroux(sp) is getting that her truly excellent CD
with Gallison is rarely mentioned in reviews or press releases.  I have
to wonder if that would be the case if William were playing something
other than harmonica on the cover (his top-notch guitar is all over the
album, btw, as well as his chrom playing).  I think the fact that
Charlie Leighton never recorded albums of his own is one of the shames
of the traditional jazz record industry.  (Right up there with the fact
that, as far as I can tell, the amazing accordionist Alice Hall only
ever recorded one song--the three CD "Planet Squeezebox" set is worth it
for that song alone!).

I'm not saying that the system is good, just it is what it is.  I wish
it was different, and maybe if enough top-notch harmonica players are
out there eventually their mass will make it a more common instrument
(thus my violin analogy), but right now I don't see non-harmonica jazz
fans really looking beyond Toots and discovering the really great
players that are out there.

>I think Howard Levy, Paul Butterfield, Bob Dylan and John Popper are
the >best thing to happen to our humble instrument in the last 40 years
for >different reasons.

I think anyone playing the harmonica in any setting is good for the
instrument, even the dreaded Alanis Morisette:).  I bet if most people
knew it was harmonica playing that great riff in War's "Low Rider" it
would blow their socks off.  I also think that leaving Stevie Wonder of
any list like the one above is beyond my comprehension (especially in
comparison to Howard--the main denominator seems to be popularity, and
much as I like Howard, there's no contest between him and Stevie in that
category).

In a fairly unrelated discussion, I think the difference between
Howard's influence within the harmonica community and outside the
harmonica community is pretty significant.  I don't want that to be
interpreted wrongly, but rather it's an observation: Howard is massively
influential within this group, but is he as influential as his
contemporaries outside this group?  Contemporaries like Lee Oskar, Magic
Dick to name two?  I don't necessarily think that's the case.  And I
really am not trying to dis Howard in any way by saying that, rather
just making an observation.  As an example of a similar situation, Duane
Eddy was massively influential on guitarists, but not nearly as major a
figure in the music scene in general.





 oo    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()()   & Snuffy, too:)
`--'