[Harp-L] young chromatic players

[MICHAEL ZAKLAN <tinsandwich@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

   Didn't seem to be many responses to Robert Bonfiglio's specific request. Sort of confirms my suspicion that the instrument isn't doing too well attracting young players---at least in this country.
     I'm hoping that we'll see some good young classical and jazz chromatic players coming out of Cuba in a few years.  Before the Bushies cut off humanitarian aid to the island; a group of jazz musicians was bringing in annual shipments of donated instruments and other supplies to a kid's music school outside of Havana.  At the time, there weren't enough instruments to go around at the school.  Much of the stuff they did have was barely playable.  Anyway, I managed to talk the guy in charge into accepting chromatics and eventually got fifteen (3 rebuilt 270s and 12 CX-12s) placed down there.  No one at the school had ever seen a harmonica before; the instrument is practically extinct on the island.  Being such an oddity, the first batch wound up being shown on national tv.  Also managed to get instructional material by Doug Tate, Blackie Schackner, and John Sebastian Sr. to the school along with spare parts and recordings by Reilly, Fields, Adler, Galison, Kalina,
 Thielemans, Leighton and Levy.  Enough to sustain the players for awhile.  The school has grown to about 450 kids (ages 6-18) and is ground zero for one of the world's best musical education systems.  Kids are working with the harps and hopefully some good players will eventually come out of this experiment.  Not that it does Robert or his producer any good right now.  But if restrictions ever get lifted; I'd love to be able to hit the island with him, get him to visit the school and do some workshops and concerts.  I'm told the level of musicianship is unbelievable at the school and throughout the island. They are producing excellent jazz and classical players in impressive numbers. There ought to be some harps on the ground to soak some of that up! 
   
  ---Mick Zaklan