[Harp-L] Re : Orthodoxies - One More Thing

["Hurricane Ramón" <party_man1@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Excerpt from Kenneth Diefik :

In the late 1990's Iron Man Mike Curtis paid a visit to my home. I played him some recordings I was working on, and he seemed to like them.

In the kindest way possible he said :

 "You know, there are alot of blues guys
who will dismiss you because they'll say you don't play blues harmonica."


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Hurricane sez:

I can not agree more on this fact of being your self on stage and choosing a repertoire that is " YOU ".

Blus artists have covered Country tunes and visa versa there are no clear cut rules ..

In a given performance besides The Bluse I play Rock , Country and standards/jazz and Hispanic compositions as well . I have evn written Spanish lyrics to Gherswin's :

" Summertime "

To crowds of non Spanish speaking people ( we're talking the Palm Springs southern California type resort communities ) and have been well received by the audience .

Doesn't matter if its' Blues , Rock or Martian . It does have to be sincere and real because people are not stupid at all when they throw down their $ at a club to hear someone or something good . Whether or not your a " pure " Blues artist , if your good your noticed and appreciated as well .

This fall ( the season here in the desert ) I plan to go whole hog eclectically running the gambit of Rock , Blues and Latin stuff mixed in with a healthy dose of Jazz & Standards and world beat stuff , try that if your so inclined , I personally love it all :)

When I do the first part of Gherswin's Summertime in Spanish it  first throws the audience a tad and I like that big bunches because keeping your audience guessing and keeping their collective attention is an art as well as a challenge . When I do the second turn around in English I see expressions on the faces of approving people . I do it in A minor using a D major harp , it's quite dooable and can be done gracefully & powerfully too .

It's a funny wonderfully strange thing of Gherswin's Summertime , I have been able to literally translate it with out loosing any of the songs content at all , a very rare thing in a song to be able to be sung in another language and not loose anything in the translation , not one thing . I'm very proud of this small accomplishment :)

If your good at being a strictly Blues musician I respect that sure it's a given when you see and hear such talent .

- - - But - - -

Listen to some of the contemporaries like the Ford Bros and even Keb Mo's stuff that bends the Blues differently if your not in this category of being a Blues purist musician/performer  .

Lately I have been listing to :

Nina Simone , Larry Carlton , Ray Charles , The Ford Bros. , Amy Winehouse , The Fallout Boys , Tom Petty , Toots , Alan Parsons , Magic Sam , Bruce Hornsby , The Ventures , The Doobie Bros , Chris Izaak , Albert King , Sony Boy#2 ,Keb Mo ,Corrine Baily Rae , Josh Stone , Robert Bonfiglio , Tom Ball's guitar work , oh there are so many more to show you ....

- - - And - - - 

>From Hawaii :

Kau Crater Boys , Kaleo , Gabby Pahinui ( The late great Gabby :) , Bob Brozman , Opihi Pickers , Ray Kane , Melvina Lead , The Brothers Cazimiro to name a scant few .

Hispanic stuff : :

Los Caifanes , Los Fabulosos Cadilacs , Mana , Fito Paez , Celia Cruz , Los Panchos , Gabor Szabo , Roberto Sandoval , Roberto Carlos , Mercedes Sosa and even that hip shakin blonde bombshell from Columbia , Shakira to name a few .

Explore music outside of your tiny microcosm is what the point to be comprehended , .......

Stretch man stretch , " go for  broke " ( The motto of the 100th battalion and the most decorated of WW2 from Hawaii ) as it is said in Hawaii , yeah don't you hold back .

Sincerely :

Hurricane Ramon

Aka :

Party_Man1@xxxxxxxxxx

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