RE: [Harp-L] Re: YouTube-Les Thompson - and Cham-Ber Huang

[Michael Peloquin <peloquinharp@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: oatss_oatflakes@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: YouTube-Les Thompson - and Cham-Ber Huang
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> CC:
>
> Let's ask Robert B he'll know LOL
>
> --- On Sat, 9/5/09, Winslow Yerxa  wrote:
>
> From: Winslow Yerxa 
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: YouTube-Les Thompson - and Cham-Ber Huang
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Date: Saturday, September 5, 2009, 2:39 PM
>
> The story I related is also first hand from Cham-Ber himself. Which is accurate? Heaven knows.

>
> --- On Fri, 9/4/09, Emile Damico  wrote:

> He said his opposite playing worked great when  he taught because it was like the
> student was looking into a mirror. This is first hand info.
>
> --- On Fri, 9/4/09, Slim Heilpern  wrote:

> Funny thing about this. When this post came in, I had just read the
> section on Cham-Ber in Al Smith's book "Confessions of Harmonica
> Addicts" (which is very informative and entertaining, btw) and there it
> says that Cham-Ber had learned to play as a kid on diatonic tremelos
> with the high notes on the left and that when he got his first chromatic
> he wanted to have the button on the right because he was right handed
> but didn't want to have to start over with the high notes on the right,
> so he customized the harmonica to have the slide on the right with high
> notes on the left.
>
> So, I just checked. I have two Cham-Ber Huang LPs and both show pictures
> of him playing with the button on the right ;-).
>
> If I remember correctly, Jerry Adler plays with the harmonica
> upside-down, like Les.
>
> - Slim.
>
> www.SlideManSlim.com
>
> Winslow Yerxa wrote:
>> Here's the weird part.
>>
>> Cham-Ber Huang plays harmonicas with the low notes on the left (same as most players) but with the slide button also on the left - extremely unusual, and perhaps completely unique.
>>
>> Why? He says it's because the first chromatic harmonica he received in China as a youngster was set up that way, so that's how he learned to play.
>>

>> --- On Fri, 9/4/09, Emile Damico  wrote:

>> Cham Ber Huang does

>> --- On Fri, 9/4/09, mike wesolowski  wrote:

>> I was watching with amazment at Les Thompsons playing and then noticed that he's working the button with his left hand.   Is he playing the chromo backwards?   Not that it's the wrong way to play.   I was wondering how many chromo players on the list play this way.
>> I've seen some diatonic player play with the high notes on the left but never a chromo player.

The way I heard from CBH in 1978 (granted, I was 18) --

his first harmonica when he was a child was a Hohner MB? where the top
plate was standard MB cover plate and the bottom plate had Chinese
characters. He figured the Chinese side went on top as that was his
language.

When he started on chromatic, he stayed with that configuration, as that is what he knew.

I only ever saw him play chromatics with te slide button on the right,
but he modified them all so that the button was on the right and the
high notes were on the left. I agree, let's ask Bonfiglio!


Michael Peloquin

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