[Harp-L] Jack Ely - an appreciation

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

I was saddened to learn in recent day of the passing of Jack Ely. I'm glad to see that today it's being acknowledged online.

For those who don't know him, Jack Ely was a huge guy with a huge love for the harmonica and harmonica players. And he showed it by putting on the Buckeye Harmonica Festival in Columbus, Ohio. It was hosted and staffed by the Buckeye Harmonica Club, but I think it's fair to say that it was mainly Jack's creation (though for many years he had strong input and help from Connie Hassler).

It was said that the entire festival resided on a piece of paper folded up in Jack's pocket. Somehow, he pulled off this entire multi-day, multi-artist, multi-event festival without a hitch and in a way that seemed to create magical moments and to deeply please everyone involved.  

What made Buckeye special wasn't just down to Jacks' organizational abilities. He had a special touch, a way of bringing talent together and creating an atmosphere that allowed music to flow spontaneously. He was open to possibilities - you could suggest something to him and see his eyes widen and twinkle - he was intrigued. Then his eyes would narrow - he was trying to figure out how to pull it off, and he would start asking pointed questions. I never got the sense that he was bringing prejudices or preconceptions that limited the possibilities. Nor did I ever sense agendas or politics or personal disputes that would get in the way of Jack presenting something that was all about digging the music and the personal/musical interactions that would take it a step further.

In going beyond speaking about Jack and speaking about Buckeye, I'm reminiscing, as I haven't been in several years. But that doesn't mean that Buckeye is in the past tense. As PT Gazell noted, Buckeye for this year is still coming up, and I hope it's a celebration of Jack and the spirit he brought to it. And I hope it continues for many years in that same spirit. 

So what's so special about Jack's creation, the Buckeye Harmonica Festival?

Buckeye was a smaller festival than SPAH, held in the spring until recently, and during the years when SPAH seemed hidebound and out of touch, Buckeye always seemed hip. For instance, Buckeye would spend an entire festival featuring jazz harmonica players like William Galison and unique individuals like Don Les, the Harmonicats bass player who was a diatonic jazz whiz back in the 1950s.

Many of the things that are now treasured features of SPAH either started at Buckeye or had their incubation period there. 

For instance, one of SPAH's greatest attractions, the nightly blues jam. When I first started going to SPAH, the blues jam was banished to a separate building from the rest of SPAH, was held on a single night, and was an open mic with signups, which limited participation to a handful of those brave enough to get up on stage and front a band. Now, the SPAH blues jam happens every night, in the ballroom or other large, central, convenient room in the hotel, and it's open to anyone who wants to play. With moderation by someone like Buzz Krantz, you get two choruses when your turn comes up in the circle. Buzz will tell you this actually did start at SPAH, but in my experience it was nurtured and developed at Buckeye.

Some of my personal connections to other harmonica players likewise either started at Buckeye, or were developed there, all with Jack's direct encouragement.

It was Jack who recruited both me and Douglas Tate to come to Buckeye in 1996, where I met not only Doug, but Bobbie Giordano - and watched them brew up the first plans for the Renaissance chromatic - and blues writer/singer/guitarist Cathi Norton and her husband Stuart, along with many others. 

It was Jack who encouraged me to give a concert with the lineup that became known as the Bunch O'Guys - a new take on the harmoncia enselbme, with mostly diatonics playing like a blues/jazz horn section. Alimni of that group include some names now widely recognized and valued in the harmonica community, including Joe Filisko, Dennis Gruenling, Chris Michalek, Allen Holmes, Larry Eisenberg, Michael Peloquin, Richard Sleigh, and Damien Masterson.

I'll miss Jack. And I'll always remember and treasure his personality, and the creativity that led him to do so much for me personally and for the harmonica community.

Winslow

Winslow Yerxa

Author, Harmonica For Dummies ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5