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

["John Kerkhoven" <solo_danswer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

My two cents on HL's Amazing Grace...

I've followed the posts. I watched the Levy video earlier today. Watched the
McMillan version tonight. After that, I watched the Levy video again. And I
listened to parts of McMillan's version again in the midst of writing this
e-mail.

I think a lot of what Levy does most harp players don't do or can't and not
only that but he does it well. That may lead many of us to hear the
technique more than anything else.

I liked Levy's version the first time I watched it, thought some of it was
"amazingly" lovely (1:15-1:30), less impressed by other bits (the burst run
at 1:38). I got distracted towards the end. But overall I was pretty
impressed.

McMillan plays well and he plays with lots of heart. He's got a whole band
and choir behind him, so it's worth editing that out as you listen. His
playing on the song is good, but it doesn't vary much, and the switch in
harps is only a key switch. What I like most about his version is the
country feel it has.

I enjoyed Levy's version more the second time I listened to it. I even liked
the burst at 1:38 -- it's very brief and plays against the rest of what he
is doing.

Levy's version is solo. It's just him and the harp and the mic. He
establishes tone and feel and theme and takes us through an interpretation
of the song.

On Mingus's tune Three or Four Shades of Blue (on the album of the same
name), the piano player (either Bob Neloms or Jimmy Rowles, both are listed
on the tune) plays the wedding march and interprets it over a couple of
minutes. Unless your wedding party is crammed with Mingus fans, you probably
won't be playing this at your wedding, but it's very cool, taking such a
standard tune of popular repertoire and unravelling it.

Levy is doing much the same with Amazing Grace. I don't think there's much,
if any, gratuitous technique going on.

The McMillan version may move and inspire you, or help you to celebrate and
rejoice, but it doesn't bear repeated listenings for what's going on
musically. I didn't listen to the whole thing the second time.

In contrast, I wasn't distracted the second time I listened to Levy's
performance. He has something to say. And I think it is neither dull nor
trivial nor technically hamstrung, but rich with musical ideas worked
together and carried through to the place he stops.

FWIW.

John