Subject: [Harp-L] jason ricci habitat benefit

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Garry writes:
 
"saturday night was probably the best night of my life,
musically  speaking.  jason ricci and new blood played
an incredible show at my  spiritual home, the morristown
unitarian fellowship, to help us raise funds  for our 13th
annual habitat for humanity trip.

it was an amazing  night.  our meeting room full of friends
and family, new fans and  old.  i'd been a little worried
about whether this was the right choice  for a band; most
of the concerts here are more in the choral, classical,  or
folk vein.  but jason won the crowd over immediately, and
had them  bouncing in their seats the whole time.  it was 
funny seeing some  members of the congregation that i think 
of as very staid and laid back  grooving along to this music.
i had people coming up to me all weekend  telling me how
completely blown away they were.  most had no idea  what
they were in for.

it was great having several friends from the  list there.  warren, 
elizabeth, and reach were there.  zig zeller  taped it, along with me.
forgive me if i've forgotten anyone; the evening was  a bit of a
blur for me.  thank you all so much for coming, it made it  really
special for me.

but as impressive as jason was saturday night,  he was even more
so sunday morning, when he came to speak to the kids in  our
youth group.  he talked about his journey in life, good times  and
bad, and how he became who he is today.  it was inspirational.
it  was such a gift for our kids, and for us adults too.

we ended up raising  a little over $3000 for the habitat project.
our expenses were low, since  jason refused to accept payment
for playing.  he said it would sully it  for him.  given how
tough it is to make a living on the road, his  generosity is
overwhelming. i'm hoping he gets some benefit from  increased
exposure; he certainly had a roomful of new fans by the time
the  show was done, and many are anxious to do what they can to help.

i lost a  lot of sleep the week before, fretting over details
and worrying about  whether it would work out well for all.
turned out my worries were  groundless.  the crowd was happy,
the band was happy, we made some money  for a good cause.  
that's worth losing a little sleep over.   

the show is up on the archive now,  at:
http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=34740
if you like  it, you might consider adding a review to that
page.  you'll need to  register, a free and painless process."
 
....I was waiting for you to write your review first before chiming in,  
since I'm beginning to sound like Jason's personal cheering squad.  I've  written 
a review of the night for the archive and his website and said pretty  much 
what you did.....that people I didn't expect to like it  could so  easily have 
left at intermission since they were there to support Habitat...it  says a lot 
for Jason & New  Blood (and you) that they stayed all the  way to the end of 
the show. I know for sure he's acquired a whole slew of  new fans.   I was 
sitting with him when one very lovely (and older)  couple came up to take his 
hand, thank him for a wonderful time, tell  him how very much they enjoyed his 
music and add  "now we know what  Garry meant when he was raving about you all 
this time".
 
People listening to the downloaded music should pay special attention to  two 
tracks:  "Blue and Lonesome" and "Sonya".  I told Jason I thought  they 
should issue Sonya as a single, or at least make sure it makes it onto a  new 
CD....but I'd love to hear them as complementary tracks....they are  both quite 
beautiful...and epitomize what I'd love to hear more of from  JR.  I love 
everything he does, but these two tracks are at the top of my  list: slowed down, a 
change of pace, more emotive and showing his  heart. I've heard him do Sonya a 
couple of times now ...it was written by  Shawn Starsky his guitarist, and is 
an absolutely lovely piece of music for the  guitar and harp together even 
though Jason claims he "messed it up" that  night!  Some harp players would kiss 
the ground to achieve  the  level of his "messing up".  I know I would!   
 
I too very much enjoyed meeting you again and your brother, daughter, other  
Harp-L'ers I already know (Warren, Reach) and new ones (Zig....a very  
entertaining and really nice guy).  Besides Jason, Shawn was just  astonishing that 
night as well, but he always is!....and Steve was in rare  form...I haven't 
heard a solo of his at all the way he played Saturday.  He  looked as though he 
was having a great time.  New Blood's new bassist Todd  "Buckweed" Edmunds in 
one of his extended solos, showed just why Jason chose him  to replace Slim 
Louis.  He's phenomenal, this kid.  Makes people who  don't get or like Bass 
guitars realize that it's an instrument worthy of solo  enjoyment in the right 
hands.  It was a magical evening.  All your  sleepless nights were worth it, 
Garry.  So, thank you.  That between  you and Jason you raised such a nice amount 
of money for Habitat, is just the  icing on the cake...and that was good too!  
Putting on such a great show  then having some food/soft drinks available for 
a nominal sum and a half-hour  break during which to enjoy it, was absolutely 
perfect.  We had a long way  to drive without having time to eat, so it 
worked out perfectly for us...Whoever  came up with the idea should be applauded.
 
What goes around comes around, and it seems Jason might already  benefit from 
his big-hearted generosity....the French/European tour I'm getting  hints 
will  work out well after all, keeping our fingers  crossed.  He sure deserves it.
 
Elizabeth