[Harp-L] RE: any good solo pieces

["Stachnik, George C (The Podcast guy)" <george.stachnik@xxxxxx>]

Joe Glover of Sydney asked:
> hey does anyone know any good solo harp pieces that are good?

There are a fair number of blues records that start out with an unaccompanied harp solo before the band kicks in.  The J. Geil Band's Whammer-Jammer is like that.  There used to be a group out of Chicago called the Siegel-Schawall band, and back in the 60's they covered Jimmy Reed's "Hush-Hush".  They recorded it live at the now defunct Quiet Knight club in Chicago.  Corky Siegel kicked the song off with a couple of minutes of solo playing.

During the solo, Corky had a way of using difference tones to fool your ear into thinking that he was bending one note up (sharp) and another one down (flat) simultaneously.  On the record, you can hear folks in the audience literally gasping in disbelief.  Corky's still around, and he's one of the geniuses of the instrument who doesn't get enough credit.  I wouldn't be playing today had it not been for him.

-Little George