Re: [Harp-L] S.P.A.H. and an underappreciated player

["Planet Harmonica" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've never met Jim, and only heard one of his record which was, to these ears, not as distinctive as I hoped, but hearing Vincent Bucher and Matthew Skoller talk about him, you know he's someone special.

Ben FELTEN
http://harmonica.typepad.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mick Zaklan 
  To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2006 6:41 PM
  Subject: [Harp-L] S.P.A.H. and an underappreciated player


     These days it would take a stick of dynamite to blow me out of my house
  and separate me from the TV remote on any given night.  I drive all day long
  for a living.  The prospect of fighting Chicago's road construction traffic
  for two hours in the evening in order to catch someone playing harp in the
  city no longer appeals to me very much.
     Occasionally, though, I'll make an exception.  I don't know how Joe
  Filisko managed to coax harpist extraordinaire Jim Liban out of Cheeseland (
  i.e. Wisconsin) for a harmonica workshop at the Old Town School of Folk
  Music a couple of weeks ago, but I'm grateful he did. To the best of my
  knowledge, Jim hasn't had a harmonica in his mouth in Chicago for well over
  a decade. Furthermore, at the workshop Jim confirmed what I had suspected.
  Despite nearly forty years of brilliant harp playing in public; he had never
  before addressed a group of harmonica players about what he does on the
  instrument.  Apparently, no one had ever asked.
     "Professor" Liban spoke and played informally for about 90 minutes that
  evening.  For me, it was worth the trip alone to see the look of mild
  bewilderment on his face after receiving two standing ovations from the
  class and being swarmed at the end by harpists buying his hard-to-find
  cds--two and three copies at a time.
     I'm not the first guy on the list to bring this up; but I do so for a
  reason.  There have been three major harmonica conventions in Denver over
  the last few years.  Not one of them managed to incude Dave Therault as part
  of the entertainment.  A guy in their own backyard with a long-standing
  underground reputation as a significant, big-time player.  A guy who
  could've used the national exposure.  For whatever reason, it never
  happened.  I would hate to see history repeat itself in Milwaukee next
  year.  Jim Liban lives in Milwaukee.  He could fall out of bed and be
  anywhere in town within a half-hour.  Including a S.P.A.H. convention.
     We're not talking about a good local player here.  We're talking about an
  elite, important player.  A player Mark Hummel identified as among the "best
  of the best".  A player Joe Filisko called "one of the greatest living blues
  harmonica players".  As a guy who has tracked Jim for roughly 30 years, I'll
  throw in my two cents.  Chronologically; Jim started out at around the same
  time as Paul Oscher, Rick Estrin, Rod Piazza, Jerry Portnoy, Mark Hummel,
  and Kim Wilson.  Skill-wise, chops-wise, and dues-paying-wise; he more than
  belongs in their company.  Moreover, of that group, he is stylistically the
  most distinct and versatile harpist. I can tell you that Jim is also a fine
  country harpist (ask Kirk Johnson and David Allan Coe about that), a superb
  r&b player, and the best rock and roll harmonica player I've ever seen.  And
  he plays a mean Cajun harp, too. "It's all music", he'll tell you.
     I understand that Jim has turned S.P.A.H. down before.  That shouldn't be
  held against him.  S.P.A.H., the Milwaukee Harmonica Club, and Jim himself
  need to do the right thing here.  It would be a tremendous oversight to have
  a convention next year in Milwaukee that didn't include this man.  Front and
  center.  Frankly, S.P.A.H. would have a hard time finding a national or
  international harpist who plays American roots music as well as this local.
  Just my opinion, of course, and I don't mind being the first to pop-off
  about it.  Better now than after the convention entertainment is set.

  Mick Zaklan
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