Re: [Harp-L] In Praise Of Stevie

["Rick Dempster" <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Who among known chromatic players sounds like a machine to you?"
....well, me, for one Winslow; and a pretty broken down one at that.
I also play steel guitar, but no pedals. The same argument applies, and
is often discussed among steelers.
The more technology you have, the easier it is for your sound to be
overwhelmed by it, and have the instrument play itself rather than the
player play the instrument.
A chromatic player like Tommy Reilly, for example, plays the instrument
almost like a keyboard, and does not attempt to overtly change the
natural  tone.
I love Tommy's playing; there is a wonderful innocence to it. The stuff
he cut with Indian harpist Skaila Kanga is sublimely beautiful.
Stevie's approach is the complete opposite. In between, I would place a
lot of the pop or novelty stuff, in particular the trios and larger
all-harmonica bands. 
Mark you; I've got a fair bit of that stuff, and it ain't for sale: I
have two copies of the Harmonicats Latin album, and I love it! But it
falls into the 'novelty' catagory for me, no matter how well played and
produced.
Obviously there is a lot of great music played on the chromatic, your
list below bearing witness to that. I saw Will Gallison here in
Melbourne a few years back, and I was over the moon.
Mentioning the 3rd position blues players here is irrelevant, as they
are not using  'the machinery', if you see my point.
Yes; a stereotype perhaps, but not one without discernable origins. The
harmonica started life as a novelty, and it's history has been one of
overcoming that status. (can I mention Pinnochio again?)
By the way, just scrolling through my emails while I let this one
'cool' (don't like to send without a pause for reflection - especially
if I think I might be upsetting anyone) I see this from regular poster
Elizabeth (hope you don't mind the quote, Elizabeth): "the 'norm' is for
 
feeling and emotion.....just look at SmoJoe's YouTube videos (among so
many  
other fabulous chromatic players, including yourself!) and not the
oldstyle  'mechanical' style of playing"
Anyway, to quote from an old gospel record: "Now I wasn't talking about
anybody, I was just singing my song"
Regards,
RD

>>> Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx> 28/09/2007 7:44 >>>
Who among known chromatic players sounds like a machine to you?

If you listen to Larry Adler, Toots Thielemans, Mike Turk, Robert
Bonfiglio, Douglas Tate, Little Walter, William Clarke, Dennis
Gruenling, Paul deLay, Hendrik Meurkens, Phil Caltabelotta, Randy
Singer, George Smith and, well, the list could get very long indeed -

Listen to any of those players playing the chromatic harmonica and
tell
me if they sound like voices or machines. My take is they all sound
like voices, and very expressive ones.

But listening and playing are two different things. To someone who is
primarily a diatonic player, it may *feel* to you like you're playing
a
machine when you play chromatic. It may or may not sound like that to
a
listener. If you're comfortable on the instrument and have developed
some rapport with it, it won't.

Not to take anything away from Stevie - he's a gifted musician and a
wonderful harmonica player. But the "machine" thing as related to the
chromatic is, in my view, a stereotype.

Winslow

--- Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Not to say there aren't some wonderful chromatic players around; but
> on
> the whole, the chromatic has always had a tendency to sound like a
> machine rather than a voice, and takes some sublime artistry to make
> it
> the latter rather than the former. Stevie is to the chrom what the
> Blue
> Fairy was to Pinnochio. (Check Wikipedia's 'Pinnochio' entry if you
> don't get that; or better still, your local library)
> I second what you say anyhow.
> RD    
>     
> 
> >>> chris smith <harpshredder@xxxxxxxxx> 27/09/2007 15:05 >>>
> I just happened to look over an old thread and
> felt compelled to share what a very well-established
> composer told me when I asked him if he'd ever heard
> Stevie (Wonder)'s version of "Alfie". He said,  "I saw
> him do it at the Hollywood Bowl and it was like
> watching Jascha Heifetz." That pretty much took my
> breath away. I totally got the immensity of that
> compliment : a consummate virtuoso who plays
> effortlessly with tremendous feeling sprinkling
> surprises in with great power. 
>     We may never get there but it's a beautiful light
> at the end of that tunnel.
>                                                       
>                       Chris "Hammer" Smith
>     
> 
> Chris "Hammer" Smith
> Hammer Smith Band
> Official Myspace Page http://myspace.com/chrishammersmith 
> harpshredder@xxxxxxxxx 
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