[Harp-L] re: little walter

[jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx]

I agree with Richard.

Compare "In the Mood" by Glen Miller and "Juke". Sounds to me like Little
Walter was rocking the big band popular music of the time. Sort of melding
the big city pop with the rural blues. Maybe this was done for artistic
reasons. Maybe this was done for financial reasons. I imagine it went over
big with the Mississippi transplants. An electrified quartet or quintet was
just as loud and a lot cheaper than a full orchestra. The band members
were urban sophisticates, but they're putting in the good old familiar rural
blues in a new slicker version.

Given Little Walter's roots, (he was born in Louisiana) he'd be familiar
with jazz meaning all kinds of jazz, jump, boogie woogie, etc.He certainly
would have heard Latin music, and probably be familiar with a lot of the
island rhythms . He'd know gospel. Given that he stayed in Memphis, and he
was a guitarist, he'd familiar with country-western. I'd bet he listened to
Charlie Christian. The top forty would be on the radio. Most important,
Little Walter heard a lot of experimentation, genres being blended and
expanded, new instruments being used, so when he got a new distorted sound
out of his harmonica, he wasn't afraid to take the concept and run with it.

So if you want to progress artistically and be the next Little Walter, I'd
say listen to a lot of different genres, experiment with your sound, and
synthesis your own blend of traditional and uptempo contemporary pop. I'd
pass on all the cover band mentality that seems so popular in modern blues.



-- 
Rainbow Jimmy
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1372404/dhoozh_chapter_1.html
http://www.myspace.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals