Re: [Harp-L] Joe Filisko and Ron Sorin



Hey Mick. I'm sorry that I missed Joe's OTS class that night. Ron Sorin is
all that; totally his own player. I still love listening the the stuff he
did with the band Big Shoulders back in the late 1980's. Fresh, original,
soulful, and not at all straight up blues, even though he can play straight
up blues with the best of them. Definitely worth seeking out.

t.a.


On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 3:04 PM, Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>   Joe Filisko's classes at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music continue
> to be a valuable resource for harmonica players.  I'll use myself as an
> example.  A month or so back I emailed fellow list member Tom Albanese and
> asked if he knew whatever happened to Chicago harpist Ron Sorin.  I used to
> cross paths with Ron in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.  Simply put, he was one
> of
> the best and busiest blues harpists in the city during that period.  There
> were quite a few fine blues harpists in Chicago back then; but to my
> ears, Ron Sorin had elevated himself above most of them.  A thoughtful
> and articulate guy, I enjoyed listening to his observations about the
> instrument almost as much as I enjoyed hearing him actually playing.
>    Anyway, Tom had also lost track of Ron.  But a few days after my inquiry
> to him, I received my usual weekly email update from Joe Filisko's Old Town
> classes.  I'll be darned if Ron Sorin's name wasn't listed in their
> calendar
> for an appearance on June 22.  I went last Monday and it was a terrific
> experience.
>      I'm not sure Ron Sorin expected all the fuss.  He's a very introverted
> person who has always been content to be a sideman.  Doesn't sing or record
> under his own name.  Remarkably, someone took the time to collect 14 of
> his best solos on other people's records, put them together on a bootleg CD
> and burned a few dozen copies.  They were for sale at the class for 10
> bucks
> and went quickly.  All money going to Ron.
>   Ron probably played nearly an hour of blues harmonica, soloing over a
> variety of grooves provided by an ace blues band playing at a
> nice, quiet level.  He never ran out of ideas and I got the impression that
> he could have gone on indefinitely.  Which was remarkable because Ron
> had been off the scene for a long while, supporting a family.  His first
> position work was especially outstanding to me.  At times I had trouble
> distinguishing it from his cross harp, it flowed that naturally at every
> tempo.  Moreover, there was nothing "sweet" about it, it was just plain
> nasty.  Sounded absolutely primeval on the lower end and guitar-stinging on
> the upper.  While most guys neglect the middle octave in that position, Ron
> had no problem making it sound bluesy and swinging.
>   One thing that I've always dug about Ron's playing is that he manages to
> sound deeply immersed in traditional blues harp, yet fresh and inventive at
> the same time.  Quite a bit of his playing sounds traditional but you can't
> quite put your finger on where it came from.  Probably because he has
> tweaked it.  "When you change it, you own it," he explained to Joe's class.
> He also has no problem mixing influences in a single solo.  He might follow
> something that sounds vaguely Little Walter-ish with a quote from Sonny Boy
> ll or Junior Wells and it almost always works.
>    In between playing, Ron fielded questions.  Some of his answers appeared
> to run counter to the Filisko approach to blues harp.  For example, he
> didn't feel it was necessary to spend your playing life chasing or
> worshipping the Big Walter tone.  In fact, Ron seemed to feel that once you
> reached an acceptable level of tone, your time might be better spent
> developing technique and ideas.  He also stated that he was mainly a pucker
> player.  Which is as close to blasphemy as you can get at Joe's class!
>   Sorin is entirely self-taught.  His father, who passed away when Ron was
> 12, played viola in the Chicago Symphony.  Ron began learning blues
> harmonica a year later at the age of 13.  In a slightly poignant moment,
> Ron
> reflected that he had chosen an instrument and a genre that his dad
> probably
> would have hated.  He confessed that he was self-taught because of his
> natural shyness.  Though he went to see all the great players regularly, he
> never had the nerve to ask any of them for lessons.  His learning, like
> that
> of many, consisted of dropping a phonograph needle down over and over again
> on a record to learn solos and parts.  As a single guy, he spent many of
> his
> evenings at home playing along with the all night blues program on the
> radio.  He told the class that he used to sneak into old apartment building
> lobbies to play; just to hear the resonance from the ancient tile floors.
> He did this with such regularity that the tenants would hit their buzzers
> to
> drive him off.
>   A couple of Ron's observations that struck me as interesting.  He stated
> that he does quite a bit of playing while walking.  He never specified
> whether or not it was being locked into a rhythm or physically relaxed that
> helped him, but insisted that ideas came easier and he had developed quite
> a
> few harmonica instrumentals while walking.  He also stated that it gave him
> great pleasure to play counter rhythmically against the groove.  To mess
> with time.  Part of this had to do with a sort of musical
> claustrophobia.  Ron said that he occasionally felt "trapped", almost
> panicky while playing a 12 bar shuffle groove and had to do something break
> out.  He also confessed to being addicted to the elusive "zone" where ideas
> flow effortlessly.  He said he's happy if he can hit that moment once in an
> evening and it's what keeps him coming back to the harp.  He also espoused
> an interesting theory that if one makes "mistakes" in the course of playing
> the blues that either sound like they fit or can be musically resolved to
> sound pleasing; these "mistakes" ought to be taped or memorized.  That
> enough of these aberrations can used to help build yourself a unique style.
>   I recall when I met Ron nearly 30 years ago, he told me that he had been
> copping T-Bone Walker horn charts on harp.  He found that they made great
> background riffs behind vocalists and soloists.  That's so Ron Sorin, a
> thinking man's blues harpist.  Truth be told, probably every region of the
> country has a little known monster player like this.  I'm grateful that Joe
> Filisko stumbled upon one of Ron's obscure recordings and started
> investigating.  It was great to see Ron get to have some long-overdue
> recognition.  Kudos to Joe Filisko for ferreting out a wonderful player and
> showcasing him for other harp players.
>
> Mick Zaklan
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