Re: [Harp-L] Re: Genius? LOL

[Grant Walters <grant@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I must respectfully disagree...
every time I follow up on this site ...I am amazed.
i follow the links provided and I am astounded by what each new player has to offer.
Granted, there is only one Howard Levy...but that is already understood.

The Beauty of your comments...
I can't wait to follow the links to the "everyday folk" like me 
who just open  a new doorway  every day..

 To me, it is not about the the new positions or the overblows
but being able to put the heart and soul into the playing 
that matches  the music that is being played..

Today, I played a gig with Andy Santana..great Blues harp player.. " Festival of West Coast Blues"
my favorite part of the day was when we all got on stage and played a Jimmy Buffet song.."pirate at 40"
at a blues festival..no less...
We played horn lines too..on other tunes...

The talent that I have heard of on harp-L is so far superior to what I was exposed to before ....
I can't even imagine what it was like before I discovered that there are a bunch of you 
people out there who actually listen to what is coming out and what has been recorded before
and breaking it down...like I have for years ( and much better than I ...I must say).

yes, there are the harp players that we all worship, but what I am blown away by is the people on this list 
who can flat out blow...

In each of our little worlds, I imagine we are the harp guy., but in the world of Harp-l ...that guy is in every town.. or so it seems..
I love it ...

keep up the good links...I always check them out and am rarely disappointed.
Can't wait to see what these comments will expose...

My best solo today was a Bill Withers tune called "use me up"
sung by Shana Morrison.

Using the low F harp, I was able to play the line on this song with the sax player only to switch to the normal F harp for the solo...
Simple approach but just fine results.
More and more, I  am finding the switching between the low F and the high F harp is a funky way to handle the soulful tunes.
When comping, one stays in a lower "baritone" mode and when you solo, it just has amazing energy on the normal (high) F harp.
Today,with  a sax player..it was just the thing...
Anyway..that was just today and I can't wait to see what  you guys are up to so just keep posting the links and don't worry about How 

>> "nobody in the field of the harmonica currently whose breaking any new
>> ground"

I think we are breaking new ground every day.....but you already knew that....

Grant...just another harp player .Walters







On Apr 25, 2010, at 9:00 PM, Ev630 wrote:

> Howard Levy, yes. Agree he was groundbreaking.
> 
> But who's done anything honestly new in the last 20 years?
> 
> As for the rest how are they doing anything innovative that they didn't
> derive from other instruments or genres?
> 
> I'm not questioning their virtuosity, I just doubt we are discussing genius
> in these instances.
> 
> On Sun, Apr 25, 2010 at 9:41 PM, Bill <bill.eborn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>> "nobody in the field of the harmonica currently whose breaking any new
>> ground"
>> 
>> Howard Levy? Gregoire Maret? Brendan Power? Sebastien Charlier? Vincent
>> Bucher? Olivier ker Ourio?
>> 
>> To name but a few - all breaking new ground I'd have thought, all really
>> distinctive....
>> 
>> Bill
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ev630" <eviltweed@xxxxxxxxx>
>> To: <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 6:57 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re: Genius? LOL
>> 
>> 
>> To me, the word genius has to have some element of groundbreaking vision.
>>> 
>>> Yes, perhaps. But there's nobody in the field of the harmonica currently
>>> whose breaking any new ground. And thus we return to the assertion that
>>> sparked this discussion. I don't see much innovation in any musical genre
>>> currently. (And of course innovation isn't necessary for enjoyment).
>>> 
>>> No doubt folks will throw up some usual suspect names, but I suspect that
>>> says more about their narrow taste in music than supports the assertion
>>> the
>>> players they "really, really like" are innovative or possessed of any
>>> genius.
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>