Re: [Harp-L] What is the minimum blues band?

[Ken Deifik <kenneth.d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:15 PM 5/26/2007, Richard Hunter wrote:
> (Note: the leader of "Treat Her Right"'s next band after that, "Morphine", 
> had no guitar--just 2-string slide bass and baritone sax. Now that's an 
> original sound.  Great, too.)

Andy Statman and I had a band in the early 70's called the Bluebirds.  The 
instrumentation was harp, mandolin, dobro and bass.  No guitar.  That 
forced us to really be creative with the arrangements, and I still get 
email from old friends who remember that band fondly.

The bassist got really interested in dobro, so sometimes the main dobro 
player and I would sit out completely and let him do Mack The Knife with 
Andy on mandolin, and of course no bass.  Andy may have played clarinet or 
tenor sax on some numbers, I can't recall anymore, I would have taken over 
as the rhythm instrument, with the harmonca.  I LOVE playing rhythm 
harmonica. We only gigged locally and never recorded.  We broke up when 
Andy got busy with Dave Bromberg.

Leaving out the bassist and/or the guitar players can really teach you alot 
about how to fill out a band sound.  When you get it right, the audience 
sticks around, when you don't they don't.

Also, leaving out instruments within your set lets you change colors and 
feelings, and give your set more of a 'show' feel.  Last summer I did a gig 
where, for one song, the great drummer Sinclair Lott and I played a one 
chord thing, with Sinclair playing on a very sparse kit.  Though this was 
not by any means the first time that combination was used, it sure kicked 
the audience up to the next place.

Buddy Miller played what he called an 'alto guitar', which was an electric 
guitar downtuned by a register I think, on the vonBrellas recording of Whoa 
Back Buck.  We didn't use any bass on that cut, and the alto guitar filled 
everything out nicely, though filling things out nicely is Buddy Miller's 
stock in trade.

But the original question is about the minimum pieces for a blues band.  I 
suspect that means the guy with the question doesn't mean a duo, but rather 
something that people in the audience would agree was a band, White Stripes 
notwithstanding.  In that sense, a really strong bassist with guitar and 
harp would probably qualify.  The real key in smaller bands, no matter how 
they're constituted, is to make very, very sure that each song has its own 
personality.

If you've got more than two slow blues, practice them all together -- that 
way you'll won't be able to fool yourself about whether they sound too much 
alike, which they should not, and you'll be able to start developing strong 
details that will give each song its own very distinctive magic.

The audience is king, keep them interested and excited.  A small group is 
the best way to learn how to make each blues song, no matter what tempo, 
sound distinctive. Richard Hunter can play a show with just harmonicas and 
never repeat himself even once.

So by all means, try some small configurations out.  There is no rule book 
that says what a blues band is or is not.