Re: Subject: Re: [Harp-L] SPAH 2013

[Joseph Leone <3N037@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Aug 30, 2013, at 12:00 AM, EGS1217@xxxxxxx wrote:

> I do too, Mike--the thing is..it's been discussed and thought about and  
> pondered for SEVERAL years now (ever since I suggested the idea and  requested 
> that we try to do it ages ago). 

The original jazz jams were very informal. Just a couple guys around a piano. When I proposed the idea to spah, Norm Dobson and Gordon Mitchell weren't interested. THEIR claim was that it wouldn't draw enough people to make it justifiable and they would have to hire musicians. You have to understand that at the time, the crowd was STILL an older
crowd, BUT it was a crowd from Vaudeville, Burlesque, and supper club days. Mostly chromatic, mostly Harmonicats type stuff oriented. 

Now Iceman mentions the trio they used to get when he and Bob Williams took over and at the end of their reign finally gave it the go ahead. That trio was my friend Chuck Robinette. A Pittsburgher transplanted to Detroit. I used to sit in with him when he played in Pgh. Yes, he would have filled the bill. OR I could have gotten just him..for a deal. 

One of the problems with a jazz jam is that you will invariably have a number of class 8 and 9 players there. This will intimidate class 4 & 5 players and give class 6 & 7 players cause to hold back wondering if they should 'dive in'. Having no other way to class players, my business systems background dictates that I assign them numbers. To keep it simple I will group them: 1, 2 ,3. 4, 5, 6. and 7, 8, 9. 

Now group 1, 2 & 3 players have open mike. Group 4, 5 & 6? Probably open mike. Your class 8, 9 & 10 players have those juicy evening show slots. So what do class 7 players do? I'll tell you. Not much. Mostly jamming in the halls, lobbies, and late at night in the nether regions of the hotels.

One of the things I am for is to not let the big star ships..the one's with those big juicy evening show slots monopolize the jazz jams. I have been blessed in that this hasn't happened. But I can remember a few times when they did. 
Another thing is to not let the same TYPE of harmonica play back to back. Just as I would vary the alto, then trumpet, then tenor, then trombone, then flute, and yada yada in an effort to vary the sound and not let it be too repetitious in TIMBRE. And this is no hack on diatonics as I play both..on the same tunes..but they can be very, shall I say, bright. And THIS was the reason..just as Randy Singer said, why I was having a hard time controlling the sound.  
> 
> 
> I quite understand the difficulties. There's so much going on at a SPAH  
> (especially this 50th Anniversary)...and Manfred DID ask for other 
> contributors  to Seminars before SPAH so there might have been space for such a thing, 
> but my  idea (long ago), was to have something similar to the late-night 
> jazz jam they  held one night at Buckeye.

This was the initial flagship try out of the informal jazz jam. What we used to do at Buckeye was to have the players who WEREN'T on the show bill, play on a combined showcase and do a tune. The jazz jam was after the evening show IN the main hall, AT the front tables, and a lot of players who don't usually get a chance to play were able to at least do SOMEthing and not just stroll around like abandoned children. See a lot of people go to conventions and while some are shy, some would 'like' to play. But get overwhelmed by the star ship intergallactic cruisers.  

> Oh it was fabulous: the lights were 
> dimmed,  tablecloths appeared on round tables with small glass candles giving 
> the  illusion of a nightclub, and the good players took turns getting up on 
> stage with some backing (I think a trio) and had at it. 

The Carol Beth Trio. She came in from St. Louis but the bass & drums were from Ohio state. (I also had the benefit of the rhythm guitar). 
> 
> I was entranced by that evening although very  intimidated by the playing 
> level and the idea began cooking if we couldn't  eventually plan to do 
> something similar on a lesser scale for us newbies who  weren't yet ready to jam 
> onstage along with the big guns.

I have had that feeling for years. Mainly because I don't consider myself up to the 8, 9, 10 standard. I class myself as a 7.  lolol. Iceman has mentioned many times
that he and Bob Williams were on a quest to raise the standards of spah to an ultra professional level. But I don't know how more professional you could have gotten than what 'Used' to be spah. Back when the headliners were ALL stars. Most of these stars are now dead. So we have to look for NEW stars. 

One way is to give the lesser known a chance to be seen/heard. Now I came to spah 22 years ago at age 49 and hadn't played for 30 years. But now even 'I' am 71 (in Sept), and it's time to turn over the reigns of this chariot to someone younger. After all, I had been in telethons, movies, stage, T.V. radio, cruise ships. That was then this is now. It's time for me to give back something.

Problem has been..I don't know where to start. I have even flow charted the whole enchilada and I'm stuck for a starting point. I play by rote, some play by ear, some have to read. 

> Maybe WE could have a  more casual circle or 
> seated around similar candle-lit tables where  we'd be totally relaxed in a 
> 'homey' type of setting for those hoping to learn  how to improv? We don't 
> require  musicians--backing tracks would  be enough - Phil Caltabellotta has 
> long been bringing his Bose player to  SPAH and doing afternoon jazz jams 
> using either Hal Leonard or Music Minus One  CD's, which gatherings are 
> always well-attended (but Enrico  Granafei lent us his guitar in a lobby at GSHC 
> one late night--which is  where I first enjoyed Take 5, in fact). That was 
> very cool since he played for  and catered to everyone willing to give it a 
> try. It helped fuel my thoughts  about this 'amateur jazz evening'. I still 
> can't play Take 5 although I  must have filmed dozens of harmonicists playing 
> it--mostly on chromatic, but  when Chris Michalek and Peter 'MadCat' Ruth 
> got up to Jam on their  diatonics, that was fabulous. With Peter we were 
> getting THE guy who still plays  with Chris Brubek. There's a video out there 
> somewhere of him guesting with  Randy Singer in Brazil I think it was, both 
> playing Take 5. Fabulous. I've loved  that tune forever--want to master it 
> very much.

Spah is too short to go into theory, so we would need an initiation meeting? round table? conference? to plot our approach. 
> 
> I don't want this 'Amateur jazz' dream to be an early morning or even  
> afternoon seminar--to my mind that doesn't lend itself to jazz improv (at least  
> for me).

Right, not a seminar..but at least an introduction to the genre. I don't know theory, and we wouldn't have time, but we need at least a starting point. 

> I'd love to have the room set up just for those willing to spend 
> some  time with a couple of those great (and very giving) teachers such as 
> Phil,  Smokey or Rob whom I already know are more than comfortable stepping 
> back to  allow others to play while providing pointers.
> 
> To me there's nothing worse than the fluorescent lighting in the  typical 
> Hotel seminar room. Atmosphere is everything and a 'supper  club'/evening 
> type set up can be so conducive to better playing, and is  what I see in my 
> mind's eye. ...so this will take some 'extras'.

Right, the actual playing should be 'club' atmosphere. But the intro doesn't matter. I (myself) hate the lighting and atmosphere in the hotel rooms. I am used to playing out. I am used to live musicians. I am used to subdued lighting. But tracks and lights to start with could work. The music is what's important. 

> Getting the  room for a couple 
> of hours (at the right time) with the materials  (tablecloths/candles, 
> etc.) which I wouldn't mind providing but how to get  them there from 
> NY?...logistics get in the way. The problem too is that it  would be ruined if it 
> turned into yet another showcase for the jazz players  who'd be sure to stop in, 
> which any jazz play tends to do the moment any of the  great players come 
> into the room. I wouldn't want to play in front of them,  frankly. 

Yes, I mentioned this earlier. Players who are at 8, 9, 10 should stay at the late night jazz jam. And even THEN they shouldn't over play. They shouldn't hog the mics, not put them back into their stems, but continue to hold them, and in effect give people the impression that they are playing so no one else need apply. Hasn't happened to me, but I remember a couple years where 3 or 4 would lock up the entire jam. 

The (and let's not call it beginner..let's call it basic) jazz jam would include level 7, 6, 5...and even maybe 4 players. Any lower than 4 No, it wouldn't work.  Why? I have belonged to several harmonica clubs. They are a thing of the past. Younger players won't join. They won't sit there in pain while the most senior (by age or years in the club) play for the first couple hours the same songs they have played for 53 years...still badly... and then when the newer player gets a turn, the oldies had all gone home for a nap. Nope, ain't gonna happen.    
> 
> I originally discussed my ideas with Smokey and others years ago and he's  
> been pondering how to make it work ever since. Separately he'd also been  
> thinking of an amateur jazz teaching seminar, which is a wee bit different 
> from  what I've had in mind.

No, not a seminar...just a introductory presentation to get us started. In other words, trying to get everyone on the same page. Maybe even listen to players to determine where to work them in. Jeez, the more I flow charted it, the more it got to look like a Filisko thing. And that would be too extreme. And I'm no Joe Filisko and could never run something that big.

> We've tried to figure out ways to combine our 
> ideas. So  far it's still a dream, but I'm sure that ONE of these days and at 
> ONE of these  SPAHs we'll figure out a way to put it together.

A couple people are kicking it around. 

Smokey Joe (last of the Cafes)

> 
> At least it's something to aim for. :)
>