Re: [Harp-L] RE: Real creativity / Rod Piazza

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've read that Muddy Waters used to demand of his harps players that
they reproduce in live performance the already-familiar solos (usually
Little Walter's) from his records.

While there is a widespread assumption that improvisation is the
"correct" way to approach instrumental breaks in the blues, there's no
law about this. Some artist prefer to find something that works and
stick with it; others like to change it up each time they play, either
a little or a lot. Rod seems to fall in the "stick with what works"
camp. Can't fault it for the effect on his commercial success or for
the impact of his live shows, and it seems to suit his comfort level.

Winslow


--- Ansel Barnum <Ansel.Barnum@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> There's no need to defend the greatness of Piazza to someone who has
> his CDs, learned his solos, and
> attended his concerts. Yes, he's created innovative music with his
> own patented sound (and mic, and
> amp....) to boot. But every song I've heard him play live has
> essentially been a reproduction of the
> song from the CD. (The fact that I know this is testimony to how
> close I listen to him!) So the
> disillusionment was the realization that his music/solos are entirely
> composed like a classical 
> piece, rather than (or in addition to) being improvised as is done in
> jazz.
> 
> 
> Ansel
> 
> -------- Original Message  --------
> From: harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Harp-L] RE: Real creativity / Rod Piazza
> Date: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 10:16:20 AM
> 
> > ------------------------------
> > 
> > Message: 4
> > Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 13:21:23 +0300
> > From: "Haka Harri" <harri.haka@xxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: [Harp-L] RE: Real creativity / Rod Piazza
> > To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>, <icemanle@xxxxxxx>
> > Message-ID:
> > 	<E5FFA6164834E94397A82AF6BCCEEF030172BE7A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
> > 
> > The Iceman wrote:
> >  
> > "I had the same reaction to Rod, hearing him 2 nights in a row.
> After
> > the second night, hearing even the "Yeah Baby" vocal inserts in the
> > exact same places, he was diminished in my opinion of what I look
> for in
> > a performer."
> > -----
> > I saw Rod Piazza twice at the Lucerne Blues Festival in 2004. The
> sets
> > were quite different from one another. The first one was late at
> night
> > and was centered on his then most recent album. The second set was
> a
> > "Blues brunch" with lots of older stuff. In this set the band was
> joined
> > by ex-Mighty Flyers guitarist Alex Schultz. They played for more
> than
> > three hours on that early afternoon and the place was rocking. On
> both
> > sets Rod and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves and so was
> the
> > crowd. I couldn't care less if the solos repeated something played
> > elsewhere. Improvisation can be really good but it can also be
> terrible.
> > I'm happy to witness excellent technique and inspired playing even
> if it
> > contains less improvisation.
> > 
> > As to creativity, Rod has released more than twenty albums through
> the
> > years. All of them contain new material, a lot of it self penned.
> From
> > the earliest Dirty Blues Band releases Piazza has had a distinctive
> > vocal and harp sound. The albums don't repeat themselves except in
> the
> > ears of those who claim that all blues sounds alike. Some of the
> > recordings are excellent and some are just very good (IMO). Rod
> Piazza
> > has also been guest or featured harp player on several artists'
> albums
> > inluding Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Rogers, John Lee Hooker and Pee Wee
> > Crayton. Looking back at his 40 year long career as recording
> artist and
> > live performer I would say that Rod Piazza is creative and an icon
> of
> > the blues harp.
> > 
> > Harri 
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