[Harp-L] creativity

[Jonathan Ross <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ansel writes:

"While I certainly acknowledge and appreciate the greatness of the  
likes of Ricci, I guess what I'm lamenting is that when I ask the  
question, the answer IS Ricci! "


For some.  Indeed for many on this list.  I pretty much wrote up the  
list of names you'd get as soon as you asked the question--it's not a  
new one around here.  And I also pretty much knew all the people who  
would be overlooked, as they always seem to be.  For creativity in a  
(more or less) blues context I would recommend a few people not yet  
named.

Peter "Madcat" Ruth.  Amongst the most innovative of players I know.   
He tends more towards a Sonny Terry influenced style than a Chicago  
focus, but in reality his style is unique.  He has been making heavy  
use of effects since the 70's and also tends to seek out new moods  
and feelings for each song.

Charlie Musselwhite(sp--as always).  One of the "old masters" he  
still tries to do something new with every album.  Not at all content  
to rest on his laurels, he has added music from Brasil, Cuba and  
elsewhere to his more recent albums.

Paul Oscher.  A long time blues player, he has been doing some  
extremely interesting work lately, adding bass harps and a generally  
inventive playing style to the blues.  His CD with Steve Guyger  
(perhaps not as innovative in general, but a very tasteful player who  
I've not heard do the same set twice, as per your first point) was  
amongst the most interesting usages of harmonica I've heard in the  
last decade blues-wise.

Wade Schuman.  His band Hazmat Modine features not only Wade on  
diatonics but Randy Weinstein on chromatic (amongst other things) and  
a tuba player for the bass.   Very innovative, very interesting and  
very different from most any other blues-based stuff you've heard.

Joe Filisko.  Joe is a chameleon with an encyclopedic knowledge of  
historic styles from the earliest to the modern.  He can fit in any  
setting, and does something new and inventive each time.

Those are five not yet named.  I could probably come up with more,  
now that I think of it, but I'll leave it there.  Things one should  
remember about this or any other list: it is insular and self- 
supporting.  Thus it's easy to get a skewed view of things.  That's  
not to say that those previously named aren't good or innovative, but  
they aren't the only ones by any means and really only represent the  
personal taste of a group of people who tend to be amplified by self- 
support, and thus a skewed perspective emerges.  This happens with  
all lists, and is just part of their nature.



 ()()    JR "Bulldogge" Ross
()  ()   & Snuffy, too:)
`----'