[Harp-L] Charlie- Good Morning America

[Dennis Moriarty <yodennis@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

            I was truly surprised about how much verve she sang with myself. I didn't watch the program on TV but when a link was posted I thought "why not". While I revere Charlie for catalyzing my relationship to the harp via Christo Redemptor decades ago and do a rendition of his toneful/soulful Tom Wait's tune "Way down in the Hole" ( Charlie along with the Blind Boys of Alabama) from "The Wire" I'm not a big active fan anymore. I play with singers all the time (I backed a parade of singers for 4.5 hours last night as part of an Ashford and Simpson's blues project) and I know they call the shots so I doubt Charlie had absolute control over his volume and playing density. Also I don't expect fire from Charlie. She sure does show him respect during the performances though and that's a real currency too. I've been hired to record harp continually and simultaneously with a singer as per her instruction- it felt antithetical to my intuition but it was her recording on her dime. As an active player backing singers and having a decent female vocalist in my own band I think from the audiences perspective the abc thing would be entertaining and yes: pretty musical. I'm not exaggerating the verve (I always would rather listen to a vacuum cleaner than Cindi Lauper) just expressing my positive surprise as a kind of neutralist. The amp didn't sound very sharp imo but anyone that knows anything about performances knows there are a bunch of variables with such set up and it's audibility/recording. d
http://www.myspace.com/blowintheblues