Re: [Harp-L] video--"amazing grace"- HOWARD LEVY

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

Richard,
             I must say I share your feelings; very brave of you to speak up; people will always think 'Sour grapes', but I think it's dangerous, when it comes to someone like Howard Levy, that no one feels they can criticise because of his unique technical prowess.
             I own none of his recordings, so I wouldn't like to comment too broadly. However, over the years, I have heard a fair bit of his playing.
             The scope for any kind of harmonica playing in the public sphere is small; narrow that down to diatonic harmonica
and that's getting very fine.
             Instrumental virtuosity is little valued in popular music (whatever popular music is these days..I dunno....remember when we all just loved the Beatles?)
unless it's showboating metal guitarists or elite (and growing ever more elite) jazz artists. 
            Then there's cabaret, which I see more and more from the American acts 
that seasonally drench the local festivals here in Australia (some level playing field! oh well - at least we've given them Peter Harper more or less permanently hahahaha!)
            I have heard Howard play some beautiful stuff; it's as if he's a victim of his own success, and must base at least one aspect of his musical career on being a public magician or alchemist or something.
            As the old boys back home here used to say of Larry Adler: "Struth! he can just about make the bloody thing talk!" and you knew, of course, that if Larry had done 'I want my Mama', that would have been for them the crowning moment, and far more impressive than  'Hora Staccato' or whatever.
            In another age, at the very least, Howard could have trodden the boards with the likes of Roy Smeck and Harry Reser, on the Vaudeville circuit.
            For now, he's like the greatest exponent of Esperanto the world has ever known....
            Don't know what Esperanto is? See what I mean?
            A salient examples: Coltrane was at one stage a member of Earl Bostic's band, and evidently thoroughly picked his brains on technique, because Bostic's technique was massive. Try listening to a few sides of Bostic, however, and see how long you feel. Then take two sides of Lester Young and lie down...you'll feel better soon.
            Finally, it's natural to try to expand the possibilities of the instrument, but let's try to keep some balance, and not forget the broader aspects of the music, and  let technical virtuosity be a useful tool, not a bar that everyone must needs leap over.

RD


>>> Richard Hammersley <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 7/04/2009 6:25 >>>
I am going to be heretical here - Howard Levy has the most amazing  
diatonic OB harmonica technique of anyone, but this showstopping  
performance did not move me at all. In fact, I have yet to hear  
anything played by him that moved me. I realise that this is most  
likely my problem rather than his, and I am going to keep trying to  
appreciate his music, but so far I can't get into to it.

Is there anyone one else on harp-l who struggles to enjoy HL, or is  
this a personal perversion of mine? I like world music and complex  
jazz, so it is not an issue with his type of material in general. Nor  
do I fail to hear that he has made the diatonic harmonica a serious,  
non-novelty, instrument.

It kind of bugs me I cannot enjoy his music, which I feel in one way  
ticks all the boxes of what I 'should' like, so if anyone has  
suggestions for what is musically best to listen to (not what is  
harmonically best) then I would appreciate it. My problem is that in  
what I have listened to so far, he loses my interest before he has  
finished soloing. Now, I am a chap who listens to later John Coltrane  
for pleasure, so it is not my limited attention span that is the  
problem.

In the past I have found that it sometimes takes me a while, and the  
right tunes, to 'get' where an artist is coming from musically. Please  
help me 'get' Howard Levy.

Richard


On 5 Apr 2009, at 19:13, Bradford Trainham wrote:

> That's all amazing enough..., but my favorite part of the whole  
> thing was
> when..., after those pseudo-orgastic runnings-off into first  
> position, and
> that subsequent unbelievable romping into twelfth position...  (I'm  
> assuming
> he's playing an e-flat harp.  I don't know that for a fact.)
> He calmed down in second position and played a verse more or less  
> straight
> with that drone in the bass and that serious nod-and-wink to the  
> sound of
> the bag-pipes.
> But yes, that one's "amazing" and it'll certainly take 10,000 years  
> to get
> over all that amazement.
> Thanks for posting that one,
> Brad Trainham
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:harp-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx]  
> On Behalf
> Of Randy Singer
> Sent: Sunday, April 05, 2009 10:57 AM
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
> Subject: [Harp-L] video--"amazing grace"- HOWARD LEVY
>
> the man with two brains plays amazing grace that sounds like to  
> harmonica
> players at the same time.
>
>>
> http://www.videosift.com/video/Howard-Levy-plays-Amazing-Grace-on-harmonica 
>
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Richard Hammersley
Grantshouse, Scottish Borders
http://www.last.fm/music/Richard+Hammersley 
http://www.myspace.com/rhammersley 
http://www.myspace.com/magpiesittingdown 




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