Re: [Harp-L] ancestor worship

["michael rubin" <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

To the list:  I really debated sending this, hopefully no feathers
will be ruffled and you can take this for my opinion only.

Garry,
When you say there is no comparison between Gruenling and Walter, you
seem to be suggesting that Gruenling is the superior player.  Is that
what you mean?

IMO, I love Dennis as a person and a player, he is a nice guy who has
technique up the wazoo and can technically control the harp with such
skill that I have to concede that unless I devote my life to that
style of music and find incredible teachers, I am never going to
achieve his technical ability.

However, when I listen to Little Walter, and for that matter Rice
Miller, Big Walter Horton and George Smith, I hear technical ability,
personal style and feeling that I like better than Greunling's.

IMO, the only living guys who achieve anything near the technical
ability, personal style and feeling that I like as much as those
mentioned in the previous paragragh are Cotton, Estrin and Wilson.

I do agree with you that Estrin's concept that the old dead blues guys
are better than anyone living is a concept that will limit our growth
as players, yet in this situation, I agree with his opinion.

Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com

On 1/14/09, Garry Hodgson <harp@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> bostonmoejo <bostonmoejo@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > http://www.filmbaby.com/films/3717
> >
>
> one thing i take issue with is his statement at the
> end: "the very best ones, they've been dead a long time".
> now, ancestor worship is all well and good, but i find
> this notion that the golden years of harp are long gone
> to be ridiculous.  yet it comes up all the time, either
> explicitly or implicitly.
>
> maybe i'm just oblivious to the subtler nuances, but i can
> listen to little walter, and then to, for example, dennis
> gruenling, and there's no comparison.  sure, walter was
> the groundbreaker, the inventor of this stuff, and terrific
> in his day.  i respect him greatly for that.  but time
> doesn't stand still, music moves on, and the bar keeps
> creeping up as each new generation starts with greater
> expectations and understanding of what can be done.
>
> it's not just harp, of course.  when i listen to the
> music i grew up on, artists that i revered in the early
> 70's, a lot of it's just not that amazing anymore.  it's
> good, and i still enjoy it.  but i hear guys all the
> time, even just in our local blues jam, that play rings
> around (for instance) what clapton was playing, back when
> clapton was God.
>
>
> --
> Optimism and pessimism don't exist for me.
> I'm a blues man.  I am a prisoner of hope.
> I'm going to die full of hope.
> - Cornel West
>
>
>
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