Re: [Harp-L] Is it all Howard Levy's fault?

[tacopescado@xxxxxxxxxxx]

I think the hypothesis behind this presumptuousness is pretentious and  
preposterous. There was an Elvis, Beatles, Hendrix, Grapelli,  
Ellington, Goodman, Armstrong, Stones, Calloway, Louis Jordan, Miles  
Davis, Beethoven, Van Halen, Little Walter, et. al. to infinitum  
because there was and needed to be. They and so many others did what  
was the obvious next step to them. Sam Friedman is just another in a  
long line of inventive or innovative musicians that began with  
unknowns a few thousand years before Mozart. I like his playing better  
than Levy's because to my ear it's more spot on. I can't discern his  
bends and overblows as well. Don't get me wrong - when it comes to  
technique Howard Levy in one of the harmonica gods.

Using Little Walter as an example... there isn't one amongst us that  
doesn't play Little Walter licks when we play electric blues. He wrote  
the book. Everybody since has recycled his riffs or innovated but  
we've been a far cry from inventing. I can't think of a blues  
harmonica player, and I like and have emulated a lot of them, that has  
approached his genius.

TP


On Feb 6, 2012, at 7:39 AM, michael rubin wrote:

> Randy Singer posted a clip of of Sam Friedman playing diatonic jazz.
>
> Remember Elvis?  I maintain that Elvis would have happened without
> Elvis.  The blues, R and B and Gospel were already popular and well
> developed musical styles.  All we needed was an Elvis, a talented,
> good looking, white singer to bring it to white culture.  It could
> have and would have been someone else if Elvis had not come along.
>
> Remember the Beatles?  Although they also studied these musical styles
> and it showed on the first couple of albums, suddenly they started
> putting out VERY original music.  In my opinion you could not have had
> the Beatles without the Beatles.
>
> I maintain overblows were in use at least since 1929.  I maintain
> Theilemans, Turk and Scarlett used overblows in an advanced way as
> early as 1967 and there are probably many other examples I did not
> know about.  Jazz was a popular and well defined musical style long
> before Levy began to play.  In my metaphor, Levy is Elvis.  We could
> have had Levy without Levy.
>
> All due respect, he is a great player and what I am saying is
> conjecture.  In harmonica history, Levy popularized overblows and no
> debate can take that away from him.
>
> What do you think?
> Michael Rubin
> Michaelrubinharmonica.com