[Harp-L] Re: Butter TV spot

[Ev630 <eviltweed@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tom,

Regards your quote below... A lot of harp players have said or had it said
about them that the harp mimics a human voice in terms of expressiveness and
communication of emotion. It's a pretty bold and I would think controversial
statement to say that you haven't heard ANY harp player since Butterfield
"communicate true feeling with his playing". You can't possibly mean that in
a truly objective sense?

I'm enjoying this analysis of Butterfield, and in that context I am asking
this seriously.

Drew


It's that pitch range of an alto that just grabs your senses and has a
> communicative range you can't ignore.  And that to me is one of the most
> impressive things about Butter, espcially "late period" Butter (before the
> drugs and decline of the last ten years):  His playing was so emotional;
>  Butter's comment that the harp was "the heart's horn" was no off the cuff
> remark.  He saw the instrument as potentially expressive as the human voice
> and to my ears was always striving to communicate true feeling with his
> playing.  I haven't heard anyone do this since then.  And that's what makes
> him so special, and why he sits in that small circle of icons we all revere.
>  TOM ELLIS/Tom's Mics
>
>