[Harp-L] Don Les and cross harp

[Mick Zaklan <mzaklan@xxxxxxxxx>]

   Great points by all and thanks to fjm for posting the Dave Therault 5th
position cut again.  It's been around for years and still sounds fresh and
cutting edge.  It's something that shouldn't be forgotten.
   I get both sides of the debate but I'd like to point out that
diatonic 2nd position blues playing makes the harmonica an extremely
accessible instrument.  It's a great entry point for people who want to
participate in music.  It gets them onboard.
   Many years ago at the Memphis convention, a young guy told me he had
spent a previous evening at the hotel bar with a bunch of chromatic
"legends".  They were all griping that nobody was interested in their
instrument or music anymore.  The kid laid one of their quotes on me; "When
we go, it all goes with us!"  Well, I knew that was bull**** the moment I
heard it.  Every serious blues musician I knew owned a chromatic and
usually played it once or twice during a gig.  Many of them were toying
with standards and jazz tunes on the side.  Billy Gibson cut an album of
standards, Charlie Musselwhite usually includes a chromatic piece in each
recording, George Smith cut "I Left My Heart in San Francisco", Mark Hummel
does a beautiful "Summertime", and Lynwood Slim a nice "Do Nothing Til You
Hear From Me".  Several famous chromatic players started out playing the
blues on diatonic harps.  Today, the chromatic has a long list of great
players.
   This idea that blues playing is some sort of threat to the chromatic or
musicianship in general is absurd.  Blues players have helped fill SPAH's
membership rolls and coffers.  I get that some folks stick a short harp in
their mouths, play the same riffs over and over and are happy with it.  So
what?  Plenty others don't stop improving.  As far as second position
being a place to stagnate or posture, the late Pat Ramsay once told me that
he could never figure out 3rd position very well and did almost all of his
playing in 2nd.  Within that confine, the guy was brilliant.

Mick Zaklan