Re: [Harp-L] Harmonica in Bluegrass - Personal Experience

[Miguel Weissman <harpburn2@xxxxxxxxx>]

Wow P.T,

That makes me not want to play Bills tunes anymore!!
I?m goina take the positive road on this although it
is not easy because I have went though the same thing
in a smaller level. 

I do play with a swing 20?s & 30?s band, The trumpet
player that was working with us quit just before 6 out
of town swing dance gigs a day before! With out time
to rehearsing we were in Philly playing to about 200
swing dancers that paid about 25 dollars for this
event. The press for this event was ?we are one of the
best-kept secrets in NYC? and here we were not playing
at our best and those Philadelphians let us know by
not looking at us when we got off stage!! Oh and the
week after one of our home grown fan came up to me
after the first set in Rochester and said {freaking
out} ?Miguel you guys need a trumpet player?!!

We do 5 to 6 gigs in the NYC Metro area every week and
we rehearsed as much as possible, I got the band cord
charts and studied the recording of the masters. That
was the beginning of June; finally two weeks ago we
did our first gig that we felt was our band best ever.
I stopped using an amp and use a glass cup for the
tunes that need a trumpet sound.

The dynamics of the band are on a level that I have
never experienced before and all the local fans and
pro dancers were there to experience this.  What ever
we are we are, fu$%#$#%$#%K classification, Just look
at Howard when he worked with Bella Fleck!

In the past I?ve heard that negative voice that did
not need to come form someone else it was coming for
my brain, so I gave up on playing professionally make
some money and now I?m back! 

If I was to tell you all the stories that happened
even before this trumpet player quit you would wonder
why I stayed. The reason why is because the band
wanted me to stay and I have something to prove. I
have not recorded anything that truly represents what
I have accomplished live.

Most of us know about the stories of Larry Alder?s
experiences.  Told that the harmonica is not a
legitimate, it?s a toy! It is an honor to be playing
the harmonica and the people that cannot see past
their ignorance are missing out, we must be the
Martian Luther king?s and Mahatma Gandhi?s of music,
some of you might see what I?m really saying is that
everything is a microcosm of something even bigger.

We need to continue with the work we are doing and
only hear the positive voices, even if it is not in
our life time, one day people will see all this for
what it truly is. Pease continue P.T. and you other
harpers to push the Boundaries of music conception.
That is the reward. 
Now Bill Monroe in music heaven and he feels guilty
for what he said!! I wish P.T. would have spoke to him
before he died and told him of his decision, older and
wiser he might have apologized right there.

A big love to you all,

Miguel.


--- PT Gazell <ptgazell@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> As most of you know I tend not to post to much...
> but having followed this thread over the last two
> days I feel I should weigh in with my own personal
> experience. I attended Bill Monroe's Beanblossom
> festival for the first time in 1974. Being 21 and
> bullet proof meant that no matter what kind of dirty
> looks I got I was going to play. Now suffice it to
> say that I knew the songs, and I mean the melodies,
> not just jamming over changes. There were a lot of
> people there that were glad to have me play and a
> lot that simply shut me out. One particular jam that
> was really cooking had drawn quit a crowd...I
> believe we were playing Salt Creek...I had just
> finished my turn when I felt a presence in back of
> me. I turned around to find Bill Monroe starring
> right at me. He waited till the song was over and
> then said directly to me..."Son, that's some mighty
> fine playing, but that ain't no Bluegrass
> instrument." Well, that pretty well summed up my
> career in Bluegrass...despite releasing a Harmonica
> Bluegrass record on Sugar Hill and many summers of
> festivals and clubs...I finally gave up the quest
> and went to Nashville to make money playing Country.
> Now, do I think harmonica fits in
> bluegrass...yes...does the rest of the world...well
> despite the fact that I went the extra mile to play
> the songs correctly, I've found Smo-Joes comment to
> be true more times than I care to remember.
> 
> P.S. I'm also the idiot that's trying to play swing
> jazz on the harmonica now...
> 
> PT Gazell
> pt@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> www.ptgazell.com
> www.myspace.com/ptgazell
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Joe and Cass Leone 
>   To: IcemanLE@xxxxxxx 
>   Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
>   Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 8:27 PM
>   Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Harmonica in Bluegrass -
> Personal Experience
> 
> 
> 
>   On Aug 7, 2007, at 6:03 PM, IcemanLE@xxxxxxx
> wrote:
> 
>   > The die hard bluegrass folk would say Bill
> Monroe is the father of   
>   > bluegrass
>   > and "Bill Monroe didn't have a harmonica in his
> band", therefore  
>   > it  doesn't
>   > belong in bluegrass. This is not too different
> than the blues  
>   > purists  who say
>   > "Little Walter didn't OB, therefore OB doesn't
> belong in blues".
>   >
>   > It is just a perception and attitude held by a
> certain group of  
>   > people. The
>   > reality is, if the harmonica can handle the
> music, add to the  
>   > groove rather
>   > than  bring it down, it is eventually welcomed -
> after an example  
>   > of "prove it",
>   >  of course. Welcome is a loose term as there are
> always the few set in
>   > stoners  that won't change their minds even
> after hearing the  
>   > proof. However, in
>   > general,  musicians will open up to new ideas as
> long as it is  
>   > shown that the
>   > integrity of  the music is left intact by the
> new addition.
>   >
>   > The Iceman
>   >
>   I can tell you this. Every Tues evening about 250
> or more spectators  
>   show up at Lashly Park in Punta Gorda to listen to
> 2 dozen musicians  
>   play in numerous groups in various corners of the
> park. The main  
>   kiosk is occupied by the blue grass players.
> Harmonicas are N O T  
>   welcome.
> 
>   smo-joe
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