Re: [Harp-L] cool horn band w/harp

[Cljdm@xxxxxxx]

Hi all,
 
I agree with RH here. Harp on! Tone is soooo subjective. I thought he  
played some tasty lines in this video. What gets me mad is he has gotten this  
far in his abilities in only 6 years of playing ;). Keep up the good work  
Jackson!
 
chris mastakas
 
 
In a message dated 7/17/2012 11:04:51 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:

rosco  wrote:
<as the guy who started this post and actually saw the band live,  I would
<like to say that Jackson did a fantastic job of playing lines  with the
<horns when he could and using nicely tweaked effects when  comping behind
<them - - I should have mentioned that and I don't think  any of the 
youtubes
<do him justice. Tasty harp in a horn band is a  *good thing* we should all
<support.

I checked out the video  mentioned in the initial post, and I thought the 
guy did a very good  job.

I'm a little dismayed to see some of the comments the band got on  this 
list--I don't know exactly what some folks expect. In a blues band, harp  
stands out in front of everything else, and plays a very specific leading  role.  
(One of Magic Dick's innovations was to put the harp into the  rhythm 
section, as opposed to keeping it out front all the time.) But this  ain't a 
blues band. In a horn band, harp is intrinsically linked to the horn  section.  
I thought the harp worked very well alongside the horns in this  
performance.  He was playing a high-pitched harp, probably an Eb or  higher--perhaps 
that's why somebody thought he had a thin tone.  Didn't  sound thin to me--it 
sounded like it worked with the horns.  A big fat  Chicago style sound might 
have worked, but might not.  

In any  case, I've heard a lot of complaints about harp players doing 
high-profile  gigs, the general tone of which is usually something like "he 
didn't play the  gig the way Little Walter would have."  I'm glad to see a harp 
player up  front, even if he doesn't play the gig the way I (or anybody else) 
 would.  More harp players up front eventually translates to more gigs for  
harp players, which I'm all in favor of.

regards, Richard  Hunter   





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