Re: [Harp-L] Spontaneous creativity

["Suave Blues Man" <res6k2zt@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Brother John,

    And where can we get a CD of this?

Be Blues...And Jazz,

Suave Blues Man

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John F. Potts" <hvyj@xxxxxxx>
To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 12:36 AM
Subject: [Harp-L] Spontaneous creativity


> So, the guitar playing jazz band leader with the Masters in Music  I’ve 
> been playing with for a while tells me this week he’s going to  use a 
> vibes player instead of a drummer.  The vibes player is VERY  good, (I’ve 
> played with him before, but always with a drummer). So  for this gig it’s 
> vibes, string bass, and electric jazz guitar,  joined by me on amplified 
> diatonic harp for the last set.
>
> We do “Equinox” and a couple of other jazz tunes. The crowd loves it. 
> Then the leader decides we should do “All Blues” which we all know  pretty 
> well. But with the unusual instrumentation, and no drummer,  the 
> arrangement was spontaneous and somewhat loose, with a lot of  interplay 
> interspersed with solos and either the vibes player or me  laying out 
> quite a bit before coming back in.
>
> Then, at one point, the guitar player (who’s playing a fat blond jazz 
> style guitar) gets out his slide (!?) and plays an extremely  tasteful 
> solo using the slide. Totally spontaneous and unplanned.   It sounded 
> PERFECT! The vibe, the groove, the unusual instrumentation  --everything 
> just sounded right and the slide solo fit perfectly.  Then he put the 
> slide down and played without it for the rest of the  tune.
>
> Incredibly aesthetic musically artistic statement by the guitar  player 
> who, I learned afterwards, just decided to do it on the spot  because he 
> felt like it and thought it would sound good at that moment —and it sure 
> did.
>
> When we got done, the vibes player (who has never played with a  harmonica 
> player before playing with me) tells me that he really  liked what I had 
> been playing and thought it was a “really unique”  sound. Of course, it’s 
> always easier to sound good when you are  playing with really good 
> musicians.
>
> I guess the moral of the story is that there’s very creative and 
> artistically compelling music that can be played when musicians  interact 
> and are not caught up in trying to imitate some recording or  another.  I 
> mean, this sure as hell wasn’t like anything anyone has  ever recorded 
> that I’ve ever heard, but it worked so well, and  sounded so good, I was 
> thrilled to have been part of the  performance.  And it was all made up on 
> the spot. And the applause in  the small venue when we finished made it 
> abundantly clear that the  audience really liked it, too.  Better to play 
> what you feel, IMHO,  than try to imitate what someone else has already 
> played before.
>
> FWIW,
>
> JP