Re: [Harp-L] Jazz Jams at SPAH 2009 - and not just jazz


On Jun 3, 2009, at 1:56 PM, IcemanLE@xxxxxxx wrote:

It's normal for different people to have different memories of an event -

Especially if we are talking about DIFFERENT events...which we are.

My memory of the Jazz Club contradicts Smo-Jo's.

No, they don't. Your recollections are about YOUR events, and mine are about MINE. Take Denver 01. There were only 4 people who played on that one. Randy, Rob, Mike (Turk) Mike (Polesky). I don't recall anyone else taking a shot at it. And there were a lot of other good players there. The lighting was Wrigley Field, the atmosphere was conference hall, the acoustics were echoey.

You may be talking about 99. Unfortunately I wasn't there. That's the one that included Toots. I DO have an audio of the event.

Acoustics were good,volume was under control, lighting was tempered (Bob Williams wanted to give the
flavor of a Jazz Club), attendees knew what was going on, attendance was
good, multiple mics let three harmonica players on stage at the same time,
which lead to a lot of interesting interplay,

That's the way it SHOULD be.

and Randy had a solid handle on controlling some of the egos. It did run concurrent with other events,
but the idea was to have a World Class experience in which it was impossible
to attend everything and there was a lot to choose from. Beginners were
intimidated, as it was a much more professional situation. However, it gave
those with experience a chance to really play with excellent acoustic
musicians.

At the time, SPAH was moving in a different direction than Buckeye, which
was more geared towards the beginner.

Let's talk about that statement. So, what's wrong with gearing an event that caters to the 'bread & butter' (so to speak) of the harmonica brother/sisterhood?

. The 82.5 % who MAKE spah, Buckeye, GSHC, VHC, et al. can actually GET something useable out of spah, and to whom spah SHOULD represent. Look, there are 82.5 % of attendees and their spouses or other significants, who are average blokes. THEN there are 8.75% whom are good enough to do the shows. That leaves 8.75% who are in limbo. Not quite good enough to do a show slot, but also a little too high up the food chain to sit there and listen to players and seminar instructors who aren't any better than they are.

The idea was that, between the two
events.


both beginner and more advanced players would find exactly what they
needed.

What you're saying is elitist. It smacks of "Hey, if you're a beginner, go to Buckeye, we're not interested, but if you're advanced, come to spah". Ok, so the fact that I played Buckeye 03, 05, 07, (and other years) makes me a beginner. Now I understand. I'm one of the 8.75% in limbo.

Randy was instrumental in creating the Jazz Club

And I GAVE him the credit. Now I can't say anything about Bob as I had no interaction with him, but on several occasions, I made suggestions to the rest of the establishment (Mitchell, Dobson, Harris, etc), and it fell on deaf ears. Ya know why? No respect.

and we were behind his
ideas to bring in the professional musicians and PA, piano, etc. Perhaps Randy
has his own recollection of the Jazz Club to offer.

Lame it was not, in my opinion.

My use of the word lame was in reference to DENVER 01 and Denver 06.

So, we leave the "viewer to determine which, if any, is the truth."

Doesn't scare me at all..................smo-joe Sosa



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