[Harp-L] best harp/answer

["Haka Harri" <harri.haka@xxxxxxxx>]

Debates on music are never ending and I want to finalize this thread from my part. Stevie is great on harmonica and I actually just purchased his harmonica-only album Eivets Rednow. In the original discussion only living players were accepted as benchmarks of the harmonica. If we  take comparison to all-time masters of the instrument then, I'm afraid Stevie drops down about 50 notches. Harri

> Thanks JR for your comment on my post but it's out of context  
> since  I replied only to the claim of SW being the best harmonica  
> player on earth.
That's why I quoted the entire paragraph.  While your post may have  
been directed, the implication of his not being a harmonica  
specialist as meaning de-facto that he's not as qualified is carried  
through to this post (see your second to last sentence).
> I did not imply that him being a multi-instrumentalist would as  
> such make him any worse than  some other harmonica player. Neither  
> did I say he is not serious or good on the instrument but I still  
> stick to him being far apart from the players I mentioned.
The later is fine, but I'm pretty sure that even if you hadn't  
intended it, you are still implying that he isn't as good a harmonica  
player as someone who has "dedicated [themselves] to the instrument  
full time".  I think this is a false view.  As I said, while most  
musicians only record on one or two instruments, most that I know  
actually play several.  Indeed, if I were to see a flaw in modern  
musics (all genres) it would be the increased specialization.
> Odd assortment of people these world class harmonica players? Maybe  
> you mean differences in playing style or age?
I mean simply that I found it an odd assortment.  It groups people I  
would view as particularly significant with others I wouldn't, and  
leaves some out whom I would put in.  That's to be expected--it's a  
list of your favorites, and as such will be odd to most other people  
who don't exactly share your tastes.  I'm sure most people would find  
any list of my favorite harmonica players to be similarly odd.   
Perhaps moreso.

Back to the part where I feel you are implying that multi- 
instrumentalists should be thought of as lesser than specialists:
> Just take an example, forgetting musical genres. Stevie Wonder has  
> performed and recorded for about as long as Rod Piazza.
Longer.  Piazza's first record wasn't until much later, IIRC--don't  
forget, Stevie was a star at the age of 15.
> Stevie has played the occasional harmonica solo through the years  
> while Rod has been dedicated to the instrument full time for more  
> than 40 years with good critical acclaim. Both are absolutely top  
> musicians  but if I had to vote for one of the two as best  
> harmonica player on earth...
I agree that "best" is subjective and therefore a useless debate but for some reason a lot of us music lovers like to keep debates going on.

This debate boils down to Stevie Wonder and I don't want to carry it any furth
You are again implying that simply because he doesn't play harmonica  
on every song or all the time Stevie is not as good a harmonica  
player as Piazza.  This is what I was talking about in terms of the  
dismissal of multi-instrumentalists.  Stevie can be every bit as good  
a harmonica player as anyone else in terms of technique and impact  
and yet also be a top-notch keyboardist, drummer, etc...  The fact  
that he doesn't "specialize" (a false concept in my experience,  
created primarily by the nature of the recording industry) is being  
used as a reason to not take him seriously, or at least as  
seriously.  Is there some sort of "must use" policy at work?  If  
Stevie had only ever played harmonica and sung and hired others to  
play the various instruments on his albums would he then have been as  
"dedicated to the instrument"?

Moreover, I also think this points out a complete lack of  
understanding of the harmonica in Stevie's music.  While he may have  
played it less over time, it was as important as his voice (sometimes  
more) for at least the first decade of his career, not just  
occasional.  Saying this about Stevie's early playing would be  
similar to saying that Junior Wells occasionally added harmonica to  
his songs.




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