[Harp-L] Blues is a feeling (was race and the blues)
- To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
- Subject: [Harp-L] Blues is a feeling (was race and the blues)
- From: "Richard Hammersley" <rhhammersley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 27 May 2012 08:27:35 +0000
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Blues is a feeling, and a musical genre, and a collection of songs. Between about 1920, which is roughly when the blues as we know it began, and 1960s, almost everyone who recorded blues was a black American. Between the 1970 and 2012 almost everyone who has recorded blues has not been a black American. In the 1960s there was a pretty even mix. Way I see it, phase 1 blues was a folk tradition rooted in the the black American life. In phase 2 that gradually stopped. being the main thing. Phase 2 has now lasted longer than phase 1. However the "race" (records not people) thing lingers because some of the best blues songs ever written were composed by black Americans such as both Sonny Boy Williamsons, Leroy Carr, Big Bill Broonzy and Robert Johnson. Now I know that "composing" here means assembling bits of traditional lyrics and licks into a pleasing whole, but it is still composing not "plagiarism" as Joni Mitchell once characterised Bob Dylan. Who are the great blues songwriters since 1980?
Richard
Richard Hammersley
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Subject: Harp-L Digest, Vol 105, Issue 50
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 105, Issue 49 (Roger Myerson)
2. 12-hole fourkey harmonicas available from Seydel (Roger Myerson)
3. Re: Dublin and Stockholm in June (Richard Hunter) (Rick Epping)
4. harpmicgaskets (Lare Sattler)
5. Re: Dog with perfect pitch...on a keyboard...no gimmick.
(Rick Dempster)
6. Wayne Shorter's ''Infant Eyes'' (Konstantin)
7. Re: Steve play'n Burt... (Michael Easton)
8. Which is better, his harp or his vocals? (Daniel McKernan)
9. Just A Feeling (Daniel McKernan)
10. Subject: Re: Yakety sax (EGS1217@xxxxxxx)
11. Re: Race, Gender and Blues (Mike Fugazzi)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 23:00:10 -0500
From: Roger Myerson <rmyerson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 105, Issue 49
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx, dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <4FC0554A.6070304@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Hi David:
Seydel took fourkey tuning off the list of Configurator templates for
their 12-hole harmonicas a couple of years ago because fourkey tuning
could not fit on their 12-hole harps with brass reeds. With brass
reeds, difference in ranges between their low hole #1 and their high
hole #12 was too great to fit fourkey tuning. But the Soloist Pro 12
Steel has steel reeds in holes 1-9 and brass reeds in the high holes
10-12, and steel reeds have a higher range than brass reeds of the same
size. As a result, the new Soloist Pro 12 Steel is compatible with
fourkey tuning.
Now that now fourkey tuning can fit on the new Soloist Pro 12 Steel,
presumably Seydel will eventually add it to the standard 12-hole
templates again. But until they get around to doing that, yes, you have
to enter the notes one at a time; and, yes, that can be frustrating if
you are not sure what layouts can fit. That's why I have offered help!
I posted a guide that shows note layouts for 10 different fourkey
harmonicas that are feasible in the Configurator for Seydel's Soloist
Pro 12 Steel; see
http://home.comcast.net/~rbmy/fourkey12s.pdf
For each of the feasible layouts, I show the notes in rows like the
Configurator entry form, so it should not be hard to copy them into the
Configurator.
Five of the feasible layouts that are shown in the guide have the
third-position tonic in hole 1, and in this pattern you can get a
fourkey harp with first-position key of C#, D, Eb, E, or F. (In
addition to the first-position key, a fourkey harp can also play the
next three major keys in the circle of fifths without bends or
overblows. So when the first-position key is F, the fourkey harp can
plays the major keys of F, C, G, and D without bends.) The other five
layouts that are shown in the guide have the fourth-position tonic in
hole 1, and in this pattern you can get a fourkey harp with the
first-position major key of F#, G, Ab, A, or Bb.
-Roger
On 5/25/2012 9:11 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Hey Roger, have you actually tried plugging it in to the Configurator? You pick a reed for each hole based on whatever reeds are available. Sometimes you can try to plug something in and you'll get one or more holes where the pitch you want isn't possible for that hole. They put a lot of other tunings in there for the Solist Pro 12 and they have fourkey on other models, so I'm thinking there may be a reason they don't have fourkey on that one.
> ?
> David Payne
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com
>
> ________________________________
> From: Roger Myerson<rmyerson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 10:48 PM
> Subject: [Harp-L] 12-hole fourkey harmonicas available from Seydel
>
> Seydel recently introduced a new line of 12-hole harmonicas with steel reeds, the Soloist Pro 12 Steel harmonicas.? With Seydel's Configurator, these Soloist Pro 12 Steel harmonicas can be configured in fourkey tuning.? So thanks to Seydel, 12-hole fourkey harmonicas with a range of 2.5 octaves are now commercially available for the first time!
> Seydel has not yet added fourkey tuning to the Configurator templates for these harmonicas, but I have posted patterns for instruments in two different layouts, each of which is feasible for the Soloist Pro 12 Steel in enough keys to cover all twelve major keys without bends or overblows.? These 12-hole fourkey patterns can be found at
> http://home.comcast.net/~rbmy/fourkey12s.pdf
> More information about fourkey tuning is available at
> http://4keyharps.wordpress.com/
> -Roger Myerson
--
Roger B. Myerson, Glen A. Lloyd Distinguished Service Professor
Department of Economics, University of Chicago
1126 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
Phone: 773-834-9071, Fax: 773-702-8490
http://home.uchicago.edu/~rmyerson/
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 23:06:33 -0500
From: Roger Myerson <rmyerson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] 12-hole fourkey harmonicas available from Seydel
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <4FC056C9.9050404@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Sorry, the previous email with subject line
"[Harp-L] Re: Harp-L Digest, Vol 105, Issue 49"
should have had the subject line
"[Harp-L] 12-hole fourkey harmonicas available from Seydel"
Please make this substitution in any response!
-Roger
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 06:08:47 +0100
From: Rick Epping <rickepping@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Dublin and Stockholm in June (Richard Hunter)
To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
Message-ID:
<CAJFTUGyHWFszWPfVyHU4uA=bmAtTGPe=b-6_iQarQQL4h+cDAw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
June 21 is Ireland's National Music Day, with plenty going on in Dublin.
I'll be playing there in the Lá Ceoil concert with The Unwanted. More info
here: http://www.lovelivemusic.ie/blog/
Hope to see you!
Best regards,
Rick
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 12:59:39 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
> From: Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Dublin and Stockholm in June
> To: "harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID:
> <
> 19972192.1337965179780.JavaMail.root@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> hi all,
>
> I'm visiting Dublin and Stockholm on business in June. I'll be in Dublin
> June 21-24, and in Stockholm from the evening of June 24 to the morning of
> June 27. Recommendations for listening and jamming appreciated.
>
> Regards, Richard Hunter
>
> author, "Jazz Harp"
> latest mp3s and harmonica blog at http://hunterharp.com
> Myspace http://myspace.com/richardhunterharp
> Vids at http://www.youtube.com/user/lightninrick
> more mp3s at http://taxi.com/rhunter
> Twitter: lightninrick
>
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 22:34:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lare Sattler <lmsattler@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] harpmicgaskets
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID:
<1338010449.84015.YahooMailClassic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
I just got back my "main axe" mic that I sent to Jeff at harpmicgaskets.com. I had been wanting it painted candy apple red for a while and I saw that Jeff did powder coating, so I sent him an email for info. I can only give the highest praise for the amazing color (it looks just like a halloween candy apple with a slight, fine metalflake), and that he was a real pleasure to deal with. He sent pictures of the color options he had and kept me informed with pictures of the progress as he did the job. He was very quick on the turnaround and I felt it quite reasonably priced. I will be pleased to give him any more business I may have and pass on my praise. This is a totally unsolicited testimonial and I'm getting nothing but the satisfaction of trying to help a brother out.
Lare "Shine Man" Sattler The Little Chicago Band Canton Ohio
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 19:22:04 +1000
From: Rick Dempster <rick.dempster@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Dog with perfect pitch...on a keyboard...no
gimmick.
To: <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <4FC12D5C02000066000A2B2B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
I always thought perfect pitch was when you could throw the accordion over your shoulder and hit the banjo player...nyuk nyuk!
>>> Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx> 26/05/12 11:09 AM >>>
Yeah, he has a good memory, but I noticed that he is only right handed.
On May 25, 2012, at 8:58 PM, fjm wrote:
> The dog is perhaps a good ear player but that is not the same as absolute pitch. fjm
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 12:39:38 +0200
From: Konstantin <nitnatsnok.muha@xxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Wayne Shorter's ''Infant Eyes''
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <4FC0B2EA.6050609@xxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-15; format=flowed
Hi everyone!
This is a small recording of me playing Wayne Shorter's beautiful ballad
''Infant Eyes''. I used a Hohner Golden Melody in Ab.
Sorry for the small leaps in the recording. I don't know what happened
there but I won't make a new recording because it would be completely
different then.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQPeOKqO6zw
Best
Konstantin
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 07:55:24 -0400
From: Michael Easton <diachrome@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Steve play'n Burt...
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <3319BA86-0C97-4E10-9ED9-65C3622E2604@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes
It could be one of the 64's wtih aluminum reed plates. The plates were
plated to look like brass and
they were thick. I own one that was factory tuned to Cm.
There is a video that came up after that. "That's What Friends are For."
Stevie is playing a custom 64 with a metal comb. The cover plates
don't look stock.
Short profile and no tabs.
Mike
On May 25, 2012, at 10:11 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Message: 8
> Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 15:15:11 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Emile Damico <oatss_oatflakes@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder play'n Burt B...better thatn WH 64
> vs suziki
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Message-ID:
> <1337984111.16833.YahooMailClassic@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
>
> Your right it leaves the suzuki in the dust.
> You can't get that 64 any more. It looks like one of the
> old ones that had the double think plate. Not two plates together
> but one
> single thick plate. I've only seen one recently.
>
>
> --- On Thu, 5/24/12, eben ross <ebenross@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> From: eben ross <ebenross@xxxxxxxxx>
>> Subject: [Harp-L] Stevie Wonder play'n Burt B...better thatn WH 64
>> vs suziki
>> To: "harp harp-l" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
>> Date: Thursday, May 24, 2012, 9:26 PM
>> Wading through the drivel is a bore
>> jump to 1:29...
>> .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZyB8PPDDAA
>>
>> ....I like the 64 Hohner...much better...but the younger
>> man puts a lot into it...
>> the simpering audience in both videos ...is
>> unenterprising.
>
Take Care
Mike
www.harmonicarepair.net
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 05:46:41 -0700
From: Daniel McKernan <danm11758@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Which is better, his harp or his vocals?
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID:
<CALBWQo5fHTY9GQr=9BMjB6Qt8Mjj7UDyLjGhjL49=dgdH9fahA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Charlie Musselwhite has monster tone but I think it's his vocals that
really knock me upside the head in this one. What do y'all think?
http://youtu.be/ALU5g6Qqi08
Charlie Musselwhite/Richard Bargel (Just a Dream)
The audio on this video is really good!
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 26 May 2012 05:49:27 -0700
From: Daniel McKernan <danm11758@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Just A Feeling
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID:
<CALBWQo58qgNxpA6m2H=0iVPVeuUG6RHV4TBxH7wLqKag5=kD5A@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hi guys, sorry I had the wrong song title on my last post about Charlie
Musselwhite. It was Just A Feeling not Just a Dream. Oops, sorry.
Daniel McKernan
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 22:22:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: EGS1217@xxxxxxx
Subject: [Harp-L] Subject: Re: Yakety sax
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <12514.17b7f297.3cf19861@xxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hadn't seen this before but stumbled on it. The inimitable James Conway:
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V02iMVVVabc&feature=player_embedded_
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V02iMVVVabc&feature=player_embedded)
this is the most amazing.... ;)
Elizabeth
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Fri, 25 May 2012 07:18:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Fugazzi <mikefugazzi@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Race, Gender and Blues
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <aabf0291-c172-4ea5-9aad-873fc41f9dec@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Wonderful post! Thank you!
Slightly OT as this is directed more to the whole, "I got screwed", thing
than the specifics of race and gender, but the model can be applied to
harmonica and the theme of this thread...
LONG story short (two years at least), I've learned a couple of things that
I think are pretty much universals that I always kinda felt (even as a
child), but can now defend with a lot of personal experience:
1. There are lots of good people good at a lot of good things out there.
2. Interpersonal relationships trump just about everything.
3. Ego and ignorance can trump relationships.
Metacognition is a wonderful thing, but it is also quite the beast of
burden. My only advice to others is to consider the balcony view of things
when possible, and assume no malice. Not so much as to try and be
optimistic or nice, but rather as a means of self-preservation.
If there ever was a metaphor for the world around me, it would be the world
of blues harmonica. It is scary. I don't know if that is the reality I
created, or if I am the result of that reality. I am not huge into the
whole destiny thing as prescribed by the mainstream, but part of me wonders
if a part of the journey cannot be avoided.
I still can't figure out things like the Kardashians, Tony Romo, or
politics, so I try to just not care and realize that as a species we are
far dumber than we think and that is either something I can't control or
something that is just the way it is. Life, unfortunately, isn't fair, but
I am just as much a part of the problem as the next guy.
Enjoy playing harmonica. Enjoy things like blues music. When they
frustrate you, put them down and do something else for a while. Try to
avoid becoming jaded. It would be easy to hate the harmonica and blues,
but you essentially let the stuff you are upset about win.
On Wednesday, May 23, 2012 10:21:15 PM UTC-5, Howard Herman wrote:
>
> I have been a lurker and have been quite content to just bask in
> everyone's
> wisdom regarding various topics up till now. This is my first post.
>
> I have carefully followed the thread about the subject of Race, Gender and
> the Blues. I admit I was clearly warned by another poster, but I am one of
> those people who has had their blood pressure elevated.
>
> I do not now, nor have I ever cared, whether a blues performer was black,
> white, female, male or Samoan. My sole interest has always been to enjoy,
> appreciate and listen to a great performance by a great blues performer.
> Greatness was never measured by whether the performer allegedly had some
> special insight into the blues or "street cred" by reason of possessing a
> particular type of genitalia or being a part of a specific racial group.
>
> The article/post I am responding to is just the latest confirmation for me
> that we have now devolved into a "Balkanized" country with many and varied
> identity groups seeking various kinds of entitlement. You simply have to
> be
> a part of some special group for certain specific purposes and pursuits
> these days. Positions in all walks of life now have to be reserved for
> members of various racial, ethnic, sexual orientations, and gender groups.
> Sheer talent, ability, art, and reaching out and holding the audience
> spellbound is no longer enough. Is the author of the underlying article
> that created this controversy suggesting some form of affirmative action
> for blues performers?
>
> There used to be an old TV show called "Queen for a Day" where the person
> who told the most heart-rending, humiliating and horrifying life story to
> the studio audience was voted to be the "winner" and received valuable
> prizes. Are we now having such a contest about which person or group has
> suffered the most with regard to man's inhumanity to his fellow man (and
> of
> course that includes women)? I believe that you don't need any particular
> background or have to "qualify" racially or otherwise to play the blues.
> How does having ancestors a number of generations ago who suffered the
> horrible abuse of slavery make the current generation of performers in any
> way better? Does blackness or "femaleness" uniquely qualify someone to
> perform this particular kind of music? Should Charlie Musselwhite or
> Dennis
> Gruenling (and others too numerous to mention) be considered "less
> authentic" blues performers because they are of the Caucasian persuasion?
> I have found their live performances just as wonderful and satisfying (if
> not more so) as any others I've heard. Should one or both of them be
> disqualified from playing a gig because there is no other slot available
> for a black or female performer to play that night?
>
> I grew up in a neighborhood in NYC among far too many people with numbers
> tattooed on their arms. They were imprisoned under unspeakable conditions
> and had watched unarmed family and friends tortured and killed in the most
> inhumane ways imaginable. These people had "thousand yard stares" whenever
> there was any discussion (however gently it was attempted) of the
> Holocaust
> and their lost family members. There were over 6 million Jews who were
> slaughtered like cattle. It would be absurd for me to claim that this
> religious/ethnic experience awards me any "points", "qualifies" me in any
> way, or should somehow entitle me to a slot as a performer to play blues
> anywhere. Does having this experience mean that only thereafter I was
> entitled to credibly play the blues? Unimaginable sorrow and
> discrimination
> are not the exclusive province of any racial, ethnic group or gender in
> this or any other country or human endeavor. I don't see playing the blues
> as requiring payment of some sort of emotional "ante" in a poker game of
> "can you top this" played with horror stories. Heartache and sorrow are
> equal opportunity experiences.
>
> I am a neophyte musician. My time is better spent working on technique
> than
> it is reflecting on ancestral sorrows. But even if I were a far better
> musician than I currently am, I refuse to accept the premise that my
> experience gives me some entitlement or credibility with respect to
> performing the blues. I could undoubtedly argue that extermination is
> worse
> than slavery, and that these events I have related happened far closer in
> terms of time. However, I refuse to make such absurd comparisons and play
> that destructive game as it does not make me a better musician. The only
> qualifications I can think of for a blues performer are the quality of the
> player's musicianship, forming a solid connection with their audience, and
> how well the performer interprets blues music as an art form.
>
> Is being sick, sore, lame, divorced, beaten, addicted, descended from
> slaves, victimized, jailed, fighting in a war, being disabled (or fill in
> your particular life's personal tragedy) a prerequisite to play or perform
> blues? If so, we are all qualified because there is more than enough
> tragedy, death, sadness and heartache in each of our lives for us all to
> appreciate and understand the blues. I would even go so far as to say that
> maybe it does help to channel some of the pain inherent in being human
> into
> blues music. I just don't think any particular kind of pain or tragic
> personal experience is necessary. Notwithstanding the roots of the blues,
> it has evolved to where it does not belong to any one race or group long
> ago. I refuse to believe that you have to be a beaten down and depressed
> individual, or rendered inconsolable by a claimed lack of social justice
> of
> one kind or another, in order to perform/play the blues.
>
> My novel suggestion is to JUST LISTEN TO THE PERFORMER AND JUDGE THEM
> SOLELY ON THEIR MUSIC!!
>
> Howard Herman
>
End of Harp-L Digest, Vol 105, Issue 50
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