[Harp-L] Harmonicas and respect- Lil Walter

[David Fertig <drfertig@xxxxxxxxx>]

Why assume Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs did not have a solid grasp of music theory?
 
Little Walter was well-known to be to be perfectly capable of(when not too wasted, but even then) playing complex pieces of different genres, including jazz, and with great facility playing various positions on diatonic harps.  He was a master of the chromatic harp; he was among the most respected studio musicians and concert performers of his day, he played guitar extensively as a  respected pro, too. Jacobs had a fine ear ("perfect pitch"?)if a difficult temperament.
 
He might have pulled a gun on some of us wise-a$$es here, but he might've also invited us up to the stage to sit in while he went out and took a toke.  And after listening to us play he could have critiqued our pieces technically, played them note-for-note backwards and forwards,  and then created something hitherto unheard-of from our riffs.  Between sets.

Little Walter was a bloody genius, he knew more about music than most, and could implement it.  He didn't talk about it much, though, he didn't need to. 

-Dave Fertig