Subject: R: [Harp-L] scary fast playing

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

Short answer?  You don't.  
 
You seem to have a misunderstanding of the thread. (Hopefully?)  no one is 
saying that EVERYone should play fast or 'scaryfast' as it's  now been dubbed. 
 
I'd suggest that you only and always play as you want to and how it  suits 
you. That's the beauty of harmonica...it encompasses players who play  only 
Country or Irish or Jazz or Rock or Blues....or who prefer  to play 
Ballads...chromatic or diatonic...and even some people who can  actually play all of those 
styles and both of those instruments...and who even  then want to learn other 
types of harmonicas like the tremolos, chord  and bass versions which are 
rarely talked about here but which are  just as much a part of harmonica history as 
are the 10-hole diatonic and  chromatic.
 
Where would the harmonica trios of the past have been without their  chord 
and bass players?  Yet these people rarely get  a chance to talk about or BE 
talked about on harmonica  lists.  There should be (and is) room for everyone, 
every  style and yes - every speed, in discussion.  Probably why a lot of  those 
people go to harmonica conventions...so they can be heard and play the  
styles and instruments of their choice.  
 
The key words in Randy G's post are: 'unless you are more talented than I  
am' in his post about playing fast, when he wrote: "The  problem is that,  
unless you are more talented than I am, tone suffers, so  I use it  sparingly and 
only when most of the crowd is more drunk than I  am..
 
Since the reality is that there are players out there who  can play fast and 
with brilliant skills and tone to die for (sorry John  Potts, you're entirely 
wrong about it being an 'either/or' situation or a  detriment to tone if one 
plays 'fast'), they will always be the ones who stay at  the top of the 'envy' 
list of some people, just out of reach of most average  players...which is 
another reason their CD's actually sell.
 
Here's a great review incorporating a mention of several  players who choose 
to play fast but can (and do) slow it down and play  brilliantly either way). 
More specifically, it's a review of the Brendan  Power/PTGazell album 'Back to 
Back' by Richard Hunter, but gives a good synopsis  of 'fast playing': (I've 
extracted only the two relevant snippetts from what was  a long and excellent 
review which can be found in its entirety here:
 
 
_http://www.ptgazell.com/Reviews.html_ (http://www.ptgazell.com/Reviews.html) 
 
 
Richard writes:
"The solos are striking, and when they play together, it's just fabulous.  
It's interesting to note how fast these guys can play, too.  When I wrote  "Jazz 
Harp" in 1980, I basically said that harp players were never going to play  
at saxophone speeds.  Well, since then we've had Levy, Popper, Ricci,  Power, 
Gazell, Gregoire Maret, Harmonica Boris, Clint Hoover, and more prove me  
wrong.  It's official--harp players now play fast.".
 
.....and another snippett about the album:
 
"People who are into jazz on the harmonica will play this record until the  
plastic wears out. Anyone who wants to hear some truly new harmonica ensemble  
textures is well advised to pick this up too.  This is the current state of  
the art in harmonica horn sections."
 
"state of the art"....is the phrase which leaped out at  me  because Brendan 
and PT as well as the others he mentioned (and  some others of my personal 
favourites) are the players I've found who  personally make harmonica so exciting 
today.
 
Speed isn't restricted to any one genre. Bluegrass musicians play at  
blindingly fast speeds...harmonica players who love that genre have to  learn to play 
fast to keep up if they want to be included, and this is equally  true of a 
lot of Irish/Scottish music...no doubt music specific to certain other  
countries as well.
 
I'm a huge fan of Brendan and PT....their shows at SPAH or other  conventions 
are 'can't miss'  since they bring something completely  different than most 
of those audiences are used to hearing.
 
...So too my favourite Blues/Rock player is Jason Ricci who can play a  slow 
ballad as wonderfully as anyone else (seek out his accompaniment  of Heidi and 
the ElCats on 'Going to California' and 'Mexico' for some  gorgeous harp 
playing (and his current studying of and playing chord  harmonica which seems to 
be surprising everyone except me since I know him as  first and foremost a 
musician). What HE does is play along at the same speed and  achieve the same tone 
as his guitarist, Shawn Starski.  There are times  where it's virtually 
impossible to tell which instrument is creating the  sound one is hearing, Jason is 
that good. It leaves the audience agape and  stunned, especially the first 
time they hear him. I haven't met anyone yet  who doesn't want to go back for a 
2nd time after hearing him play. 
 
SmoJoe Leone wrote a review here on Harp-l of his experience at a Jason  
Ricci Live show which I tried to synopsize but couldn't because his points need  
to be understood in their entirety.  (This is from November, 2006)
 
""Weight...... 154 lbs 3 oz
Height........6' 0   1/2"
Reach........Yes he does
Age............   32
Record.......Yes

Introducing, from Nashville Tenn., The heavy   weight champion of the  
world

I had only met him recently.   It was the Buckeye Harmonica Fest (circa  
2005?)
I hadn't   really heard him till then. I mean really REALLY heard him.  
What   I mean
is that I had heard OF him, and everything I had heard was   positive.

Well I got to hear him a second time at the blues blow   off at  
Herman's Hideaway
in Denver this past August.  We got  there late and I was only able  
to catch a snippet. Then   his
set at the SPAH hotel locale, gave me a tantalyzing third all   too  
brief snipett in an all too sterile
environment. For, you   see, he is meant to be heard both live AND raw.  
One needs   to
FEEL the power, feel the angst, feel the pain, feel the passion,   feel  
the youth, feel the virility,
feel the strength. And it   must be live and in living color. And the  
color would have to be   blood red.

You see, this amazing human being from the planet earth   (yes he IS  
from earth) bleeds his music.
He literally  opens  up his arteries and bleeds his life out for you.  
It  doesn't  matter if there is only
one of you, ten of you, a  hundred, or a  thousand. He gives his all,  
regardless.

Now  I have made  it no secret that way back in 19 and 60, I was a mere   
lad of 18  a hobo for a time. During that
short period I had the  good fortune to  develop a love for blues to  
add to my jazz  addiction. I got to  hear
some of the best over these 46 years, and I  had never ever   
experienced anything like the champ.

Are  there harp players who  can match his speed? Maybe, but I have   
never heard one. Can  anyone
match his clean accuracy? Maybe, but I  am unable to recollect  one.  
How about the ability to 'catch'  bent notes in any one of  4? steps  
and do it spot on? Hmmm, still  thinking. What about 13  straight  
minutes of flourishes at 262  beats per minute? Hey, you  got ME by the  
halo. Now then, what  about the ability to change  the flourishes and  
come up with a  mind boggling number of  variations, so as to never  
bore the  listener. I'm stumped to  answer.

Unlike most players who show you  everything they have in  their  
'Tucker-Bag' in the first tune or  two, 'DA Man'  can
keep up an unrelenting barrage of so many different  calibre  guns,  
it's like the battle of Midway. So here we are in  a  country that has  
this annoying penchant for making everything   into a contest. I get  
sick and tired of that. It's not that one   player is better or worse  
than another. It's as simple as   'Everyone is just different'. But if  
we MUST think from a   competitive level, then this man is definitely  
MY   choice.

I got to spend two nights with him at a tiny oyster bar   named Bert's  
in the scenic little swamp fishing village of   Matlache (phonetic..  
Matt La Shay), and I gotta tell ya. MY life   will never be the same. I  
even tried to adopt him.

So,   who IS this marvel (who wears no mask, no sun glasses, no funny    
hat(s), uses no gimmicks)?

Winner..FOR the title...By Knock   out... 2 min 55 sec of the second  
round...............Jason   Ricci

your humble scribe....smokey joe"


So...It's whatever floats your boat musically, Riccardo.  No one is or  
should be expecting everyone to play 'scaryfast'.  The  musicians who play fast do 
so because it suits them. And some are  absolutely brilliant at it. It's 
actually just that simple.
 
Elizabeth
 
"Message: 4
Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2009 23:01:13 +0100
From: "Riccardo  Grosso - RGBand" <riccardogrosso@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: R: [Harp-L] scary  fast playing
To: "'Harp'" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>

For me the  question is: WHY DO I HAVE TO PLAY SO FAST?"





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