[Harp-L] Reflections on SPAH

[Greg Heumann <greg@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I posted this on the Modern Blues Forum but thought it should be  
posted here too....

Last time I was up until 3AM or later on 3 consecutive nights.... was  
in college, or maybe never. Why did I stay up so late? Because SPAH is  
so freakin' fun you simply cannot put it into words. Jazz jams, old  
school jams, bluegrass jam, and blues jam start around 11PM, after the  
formal concerts by people like Andy Just, Steve Baker, Brendan Power,  
Rob Paparozzi, and ...... Howard Levy - who performed on the last  
night to the utter amazement of some 400 harmonica players who  
actually know something about how utterly impossible it is to do what  
he does - yet he does it without breaking a sweat.

So the concert lets out and you find your way to a circle that, in the  
early part of the jam may have as many as 30 people. And every one is  
going to play 12 or 24 bars to the same groove, which the guitar  
players (should be nominated for sainthood) keep steady for everyone.  
In ANY other situation, you'd hear 3 or 4 good solos, 3 or 4 competent  
ones and a bunch of beginners. Nothing wrong with that. But at SPAH,  
every solo is different, creative, and beautifully played both  
technically and musically. There are pros in the circle like Baker,  
Joe Filisko, Dennis Gruenling, Dave Barrett... gifted up and comers  
like Jay Gaunt, Alex Paclin, Brandon Bailey... harmonica wizards like  
Chris Michalek, Todd Parrott and Michael Rubin, and then there are  
guys like you and me that you probably never heard of before, for whom  
playing harp may NOT be a full-time occupation - and they're ALL good!  
I mean, REALLY good! Your jaw drops. There is certainly nowhere else  
on earth where the average level of talent is this high, ever.

It IS a little intimidating to have Howard Levy towering over your  
right shoulder when you solo - but everyone is supportive and  
respectful and it is just the coolest thing on earth.

Sooner or later someone brings some beers, or a bottle of scotch and a  
bunch of cups, ... the jokes are almost as good as the harmonica  
playing. Around 1:30AM the jam begin to break up and smaller groups  
begin to form. These end up all over the hotel in lobby areas on  
couches - and become more intimate. There, for example, I played with  
the wonderful Ronnie Shellist, Will Scarlett (a delightful character  
who played harp with the band Hot Tuna way back in the 60's and was  
doing overblows THEN) and a few others, accompanied by a player who  
just decided to support us by playing his mandolin instead of blowing  
harp.... until 3 on Friday night.

And that's just the night time. I was at my table all day every day  
sellin' stuff - so I didn't even get to participate in the wonderful  
and huge variety of seminars and jamming activities during the day. If  
there was ever a time I wanted to be in multiple places at once, this  
was it.

You shoulda been there. If you weren't, next year it will be in  
Virginia Beach. Start saving now. You won't regret it. SPAH never  
fails to deliver a religious experience.


/Greg

http://www.blowsmeaway.com
http://www.bluestateband.net
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/duracool/id343874731