[Harp-L] Harmonica within a larger Musical Framework was RE: Summertime

[IcemanLE@xxxxxxx]

In the "harmonica world", (probably about .005% of the total world), there  
are always those that love almost anything harmonica regardless of what it is.  
That's OK. I'm sure we all would like to promote harmonica and upgrade its 
image  to the 99.095% not enamored by this world. 
 
However, sometimes I feel that good taste and musical responsibility take a  
back seat to the fact that "but it's HARMONICA". That's OK, as my orientation  
has always been "Musician first. Harmonica player second".
Because of my orientation, I've spent a great percentage of my life  studying 
Music (albeit Western music - 12T ET with a small side trip into exotic  time 
signatures and alternate scales). This includes a college education in  Music 
Theory, Analysis and History and many years as an active player.  Personally, 
it is Miles Davis and all his incarnations that has grabbed my soul,  so I 
draw deeply from this well of inspiration. I choose to place harmonica  within 
this framework and work towards moving away from cliche' d harmonicaeeeee  
sounds. My best moments are met with feedback "I never knew a harmonica could  
sound like THAT". It is on this path that I like to promote the harmonica.
 
That being said, my opinion regarding placement of harmonica within a  bigger 
musical framework has lead me to listen for the musical intent and how  well 
the instrument matches up to this world. 
 
There was a time, even in recent jazz history, with all the players coming  
out of Universities rather than the old school of education (gigging and 
touring  with big/small bands all around the country), where the music produced was 
also  being criticized for a number of reasons - some of the comments were 
that the  standards  were just being used to set up wild improvisations that had  
nothing to do with the lyrical or musical intent of the melody of the tune. 
The  impression was that the performer somewhat played the "head" as a means to 
get  to the ego driven solo and then had at it - mostly showing speed chops, 
pattern  memorization and cut and paste sections that fit over specific chord 
changes. In  other words, say the song had a standard Rhythm Changes outline 
(as a LOT of  tunes do). The solo for these tunes would sound very similar, as 
musicians would  practice patterns to be played over these changes and use the 
same pattern  approach no matter which tune with Rhythm Changes was being 
performed. What was  lost in the shuffle was the fact that the MELODY of the tune 
was based on  certain note choices pulled from the chords underneath and that 
the signature of  this song was mainly due to this factor. The creative 
artistry was in coming to  a solo that reflected this fact along with an 
understanding of the Rhythm  Changes, so that each tune had an individual quality to it 
even though the chord  changes were the same for many songs.
 
A high level of sophistication can be developed if one uses familiarity of  
the chord changes not as the end result, but as the first level of  
understanding with more focus on the individual fingerprint of the  melodic line of the 
song, which is drawn from the chords. 
 
A simple understanding of all the previous verbiage could be presented as -  
pretend you turn on the radio in the middle of a solo - it makes a great 
impact  if, when listening to the solo, one can deduce what the song was because of 
some  attachment to what made the song individual in the first place - 
perhaps weaving  a variation on a theme or a snippet of the melody within the solos 
rather than  just blowing over the changes.
 
Most of what I've heard from harmonica players has been, get through the  
"head" of the tune in some fashion and then let me show my stuff - speed  
patterns, use of OB's, big vibrato, wah wah, hands waving in the air, etc.  
Unfortunately, perhaps because of the lack of total musical education and  immersion, 
these solos can even move away from the chord changes, sometimes  ignoring them 
in favor of harmonicaeee. (Since I clearly hear chord changes and  am always 
striving to understand note choices within this framework, a lot of  the 
offerings by harmonica players on these types of tunes starts to sound  slightly 
embarrassing and even a bit illiterate to my educated musical  ears).
 
My opinion is based on my own life experience and is by no means exclusive  
to everyone, so I'm not trying to argue about whose perspective is best. I only 
 offer an approach that will help raise the image of diatonic harmonica 
within  the world of music. 
 
Those that play chromatic seem to be more in line with my observations. In  
general, chromatic players are more learned in music and adhere more closely to 
 the "rules" - a firm understanding even allowing them to break the "rules" 
as  well.
 
So, while I may enjoy Christelle's passion, I found her version of  
Summertime to display a bit more self involvement and a bit less understanding  of the 
music for my own taste.
 
The Iceman
 
 
In a message dated 10/20/2008 12:37:02 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
EGS1217@xxxxxxx writes:

If her  version of Summertime is what 'throwing everything in but the  
kitchen  
sink' is, I'll take it.  EVERYONE has a right to   interpret/play/arrange any 
piece of music as they choose, as I think you  agree  if you enjoy Billy 
Stewart's  version. 

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