[Harp-L] Will Scarlett's place in the history of overblows

Michael Rubin michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxx
Fri Feb 11 08:27:39 EST 2022


Richard,
Definitely based on the release of Harmonica Jazz and the first Bela Fleck
record.  That's how everyone else became aware.  However, if you started
overblowing after that visit, that's notable, especially if you made a
recording that is available to the public.
Michael

On Fri, Feb 11, 2022 at 7:14 AM Richard Hunter <rhunter377 at xxxxx> wrote:

> Michael Rubin wrote:
> <I think he (Will Scarlet) was the most important player up til Levy.  He
> was the first <to play the diatonic harp as a fully chromatic instrument.
> <
> <Timewise
> <
> <1929 Blues Birdhead
> <1967 Toots Theilemans, Mike Turk, Paul Oscher (exact dates unknown by me)
> <1970 Will Scarlett
> <1985 Howard Levy
>
> Howard Levy was a good friend of a college friend of mine, and in 1973 he
> spent a couple of days at my college dorm.  I heard him play at length on
> that occasion on piano, steel clarinet, and harmonica, on all of which he
> exhibited mindblowing proficiency.  At that time he'd been playing
> harmonica for 2 years, and he was already overblowing very freely--quite an
> achievement considering the general build quality of harmonicas at that
> time.  So I think putting him on the timeline at 1985 is off by 10 years or
> so, unless you're referring to the release of some recording or other.
>
> Regards, Richard Hunter
> --
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