[Harp-L] Charles Spranklin (WAS Chromatic player)

[George Brooks <gbrooksvt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Charles is a wonderful player with a huge sound.  He played and toured 
professionally as a young man many years ago, then went into the 
advertising business.  He has performed and presented seminars at SPAH 
and Buckeye and, in fact, is on the bill at SPAH this year.  I'm sure 
he'll be playing at the jazz jams as well.

He used to live in Yonkers and has been for many years a regular at the 
legendary jams held every week at Charlie Leighton's apartment along 
with William Galison, Randy Weinstein, and other heavy hitters.  He 
also writes, entertainingly and well, for the SPAH publication.  He's 
got more life in him than many thirty-somethings I know.

I first heard Charles at a party at Wade Schuman's loft in NYC put on 
by Wade and Rob Paparozzi in 1999 or 2000.  Galison and Leighton were 
both there, but I already knew how great they were.  There was this guy 
playing with them who I had never heard, or even heard of, before.  It 
was Spranklin, and his playing floored me.  A short time later, I flew 
out to Chris Michalek's Global Harmonica Summit, and I was asking 
everybody in sight what they knew about him.  I was fortunate enough to 
meet him at Buckeye the next year, learn more about him and, of course, 
hear him play again.  Charles Spranklin flat out rocks.

He's retired and living in Connecticut now, still playing, still 
turning heads and, evidently, still making jaws drop.

George