Subject: [Harp-L] Genre hoping ??

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Did you mean Genre hopping or hoping in your subject line?
 
As to missing Ben's point? Not at all. Most of us are intelligent  enough 
to have understood. However, he used the wrong musician to make said  point.
 
I believe you expanded on his post to make it about 'any' musician  
'automatically' being great in other genres. Ben didn't quite make that  
point...the 'automatically' language was yours alone. Benoit singled out Robert,  to 
which several of us responded.
 
The original poster - Jim Alciere, merely asked that Robert now play music  
from the Neville Bros. and others. Many of us love RB's CD's which display  
his abilities in other styles, so I gather Jim's suggestion was based on  
the fact he already knew of Robert's proven abilities to play in other 
genres,  not mere guesswork.
 
For my part I agreed that there are most definitely 'some' musicians who  
certainly should not attempt other genres since they do not translate 
well...but  what right does anyone (harmonica player or not) have to decide for  or 
disparage any musician who feels pushed to expand his/her horizons into  
different genres?  
 
Yes, we've all heard lame attempts by people in over their heads musically  
either rhythmically or with no sense of the style they're  attempting. 
Their results are usually met with silence from fans,  translating into no sales 
of a CD....which clues them in quite quickly to the  directions in which 
they should not go. 
 
But where is it written that a musician 'must' stay within  certain 
confines? That's rather an absurd conceit...especially when so many have  proven 
otherwise and broken down those boundaries successfully. 
 
In the harmonica world Brendan Power comes to mind...playing Trad Irish,  
Riverdance, gorgeous ballads, Pop, different styles of Jazz  (other genres  
I've probably missed) and now even the most astonishing modern 'rock' along  
with LDMiller's harmonica beat-boxing. I don't think there's anything 
Brendan  couldn't achieve if he'd a mind to.
 
Robert's response story is about Toots much further along in life wishing  
to play classical better than he believed he did. That's quite different.  
There are so many people young enough to encompass more than one genre  
within their lifetimes...who's to say they can't ...or won't?
 
And just to be clear: use of the word dilettante when it comes to  someone 
like Robert ...or Toots for that matter, is not now and would  never be 
'apt'.
 
Elizabeth
 
 
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 12:13:15 -0500
From: Jonathan Ross  <jross38@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Genre hoping
To:  "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

I think people are missing  Ben's point.  If I understand right, he is  
making the case that  being a great musician in one genre doesn't mean  
one can or will  automatically be a great musician in another genre.

I couldn't agree  more.  The world is quite full of examples which  
prove  this.  The reason is simple: to be truly great in a genre   
requires dedication to the forms, structures and idiosyncrasies of   
that particular genre.  Also, it requires truly feeling and  loving  
that particular type of music to an almost obsessive  level.  Those  
things don't translate musical styles  automatically.  The former need  
to be relearned, the later  reignited.  And all that requires almost  
the same amount of work  it took to get to the top of the previous  
genre.  The technical  stuff is not quite as bad, but any genre has  
it's own forms and tricks  to playing which need to be learned.

Technical and musical gifts are a  great start, but without the hard  
work they are no guarantee of  success.  And all too often the word  
dilletant is not just an apt  description but a rather generous one.



JR  Ross