[Harp-L] Re: Bored with blues harmonica

[Ray Beltran <raybluemax@xxxxxxxxx>]

Totally relevant, if you ask me.

Thanks David.

Ray.

www.reverbnation.com/raybeltranbluemax



> On TuesdayMay 5, 15, at 12:08 PM, harp-l-request@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> 
> ------------------------------
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> Message: 4
> Date: Tue, 5 May 2015 11:21:08 -0400
> From: David Kissel <dkissave@xxxxxxx <mailto:dkissave@xxxxxxx>>
> Subject: [Harp-L] Re: Bored with blues harmonica
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Message-ID: <14d24aa95a7-3f50-1f7c9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:14d24aa95a7-3f50-1f7c9@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
> 
> This post isn't about harmonica, but it may be relevant. 
> 
> 
> One of my best friends started playing  wife's piano after listening  to a heck of a lot of Otis Spann, Pinetop,  and David Maxwell. He now is an almost entirely self-taught  piano player: Blues/boogie woogie limited to 3 or 4 keys. 
> 
> 
> His wife is a classically trained  pianist who has won numerous awards.  She sight reads very well, and has a stack of sheet music (Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, etc.) at home. 
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> 
> 
> In the 35 years of our friendship I have NEVER seen her play a note in public. And I repeatedly ask her to play. She can't play a note without sheet music in front of her. I have seen her play a few times at home: Technically perfect, but dry as a bone. 
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> 
> Meanwhile her husband is asked to play everywhere there is a piano. I've seen him get  a room full of the stuffiest folks in the world smiling, dancing, laughing, and having a great time. He sits in with pros who ask him to play for the whole set. I saw him play at his father's funeral with so much emotion  that the preacher needed 5 minutes to recover. 
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> 
> Sure there are a lot of sucky harmonica players out there, including me. But something about this music touches people, even when it's played badly. 
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> 
> David Kissel