RE: [Harp-L] Madcat has a new band

[r_mcgraw@xxxxxxxxxxx]

> That band and Madcat's electric playing was extremly influential for 
> me.... He's an amazing player and one of the true original 
> voices on the harmonica. 
---No question about it. Madcat Ruth stands in that line of progressive diatonic players who have enlarged the domain of the diatonic harmonica.[something I'm all for, by the way, in spite of my recently expressed qualms about intonation problems in certain musical situations]. His work with Sky King, Dave Brubeck,etc...his merging of rural blues sounds with a rock esthetic...his solid state amplification and use of effects and "unconventional" mics...his forays into jazz and world music...simply put, Madcat Ruth is one of the most important harmonica players alive, a player who has resolutely gone his own way. There are  few harmonica players whose sound is so distinctive I can recognize them immediatly. Madcat is one of them.
WVa Bob