Re: Re: Subject: Re: Re: [Harp-L] But when it comes right down to it, ,

["Tim Moyer" <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'll stand by my original response.  I was referring to musicians in 
general as well, and only offered harmonica players as an example of 
one type of musician who most likely was in it for their personal 
experience, rather than trying to "cash in".  After all, this is 
ostensibly a harmonica discussion list.  

Certainly there are the Ashley Simpsons of the world, who see fame 
as a foregone conclusion, as her handlers hunt and peck for the 
right formula -- in the absence of actual talent -- to sell her to 
the public.  But for every one of those there are hundreds or 
thousands of others who play for the love of it.  Many of them are 
immensely talented, and audiences who find them love them.  

Yeah, lots of people immitate people like Miles Davis and Stevie Ray 
Vaughn -- not to mention Little Walter and Paul Butterfield -- 
because what these musicians did touched people.  After all, that's 
what they set out to do.  Some grow beyond immitation to find there 
own voice.  Some don't.  

I had a chance last weekend to sit in with Guy Forsyth, an 
incredible singer, songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and all-
around nice guy.  Talk about an original.  He was playing a double 
bill later that night with Ruthie Foster, another incredibly soulful 
musician (I had the pleasure of playing with Ruthie fairly regularly 
about 10 years ago).  

But if you want to find the original voice you just have to get your 
ass out from in front of the TV set or the Clear Channel Radio and 
see who's still got enough balls to get out there and beat their 
head against it every weekend.  The voice is out there, it's just 
drowned out by the volume of the industry machine.  

Please excuse me now, I have a gig tonight I have to prepare for.  
I'm already planning how I'll spend my $50.  Maybe a breakfast 
buffet with the family on Sunday morning...

-tim


iceman wrote:
> It's amusing to observe how my generic musician comment gets 
> filtered through individual psychologies eliciting responses 
> that reveal so much about the ones posting - the whole gamut, 
> from curious, complimentary, defensive, insecure and even 
> subtley antagonistic.
> 
> There is nothing indicating "harmonica players" in my original 
> post. I'm talking about the evolution of music from an art form 
> into a business (1960's onward). This same subject was a panel 
> discussion with jazz luminaries at an IAJE Convention. The 
> musicians that created an art form (be-bop, modal, swing, Chicago 
> Blues, Jump Blues) were not fueled by the change in the industry 
> regarding fame and fortune that occurred when music became a big 
> business. 
> 
> In regards to jazz, even the education has become a big business 
> - colleges offering courses and degrees along with the whole 
> publishing industry offering "How to's", "Transcribed solos 
> of", "Methodologies", "1001 Cool Licks", "Turnaround 
> Ideas", "Playalong CD's", and thousands of theory books. The 
> discussion was about "Why are there no new Charlie Parkers, Miles 
> Davis', etc" these days. There is no definitive answer, but many 
> within the industry agree that the focus has shifted from the art 
> for its own sake and developing an ORIGINAL voice towards "what 
> do I get out of it". The focus seems to be on recreating other's 
> original voices and playing fasterlouderflashiertributesto. This 
> is the state of the "art" today, agree the panelists (and me, 
> too).
> 
> Can't you see a parallel path in the blues world? (God love 
> Stevie Ray, but look at the clones ever since).
> 
> Holy Cow - look at American Idol and the fascination/popularity 
> surrounding it.
> 
> Original Voice - what a concept.
>