Re: [Harp-L] Playing in the groove...

["Planet Harmonica" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

<< And sometimes, we can see jazzy harmonica players trying to play the
blues, and they can play impressive songs, but they don't sound like
"authentic" blues, I don't know why. Maybe they're too precise ;-)
It's a very subjective impression, but I think it's quite the same
you're talking about.>>

Again, it's that groove thing. Note placement, phrasing, etc. don't sound like they belong to blues (plus a hardcore jazz player will have trouble not wandering harmonically, something that sounds weird in a blues context).

<< In the same way, I think, James Cotton's "Mr. Superharp" is a big
funky band with a true blues harmonica inside. The result is an
amazing CD, but still are two different influences in the same songs.>>

Well, there's a great tradition of funky beats in blues, and indeed the 1970s James Cotton band and the 1960s Junior Wells stuff are very representative of this. Still, it's very different from funk as played by say, P-Funk. But there's some overlap between blues and funk : the Meters, James Brown, Galactic, etc.

Ben FELTEN
http://harmonica.typepad.com