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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Howard Levy - Hohner Masters of the Harmonica
Howard Levy - Hohner Masters of the Harmonica
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kudzurunner
4913 posts
Aug 30, 2014
7:44 PM
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I assume that this video has been posted here at some point, and of course Howard's blues playing has been a topic of discussion. But this video, as it moves along, provides a great introduction to Howard's contribution to what we do today, for those who may not be aware of what he's about.
For me, the "Dang!" (admiring) moment came in the 30 seconds between 6:30 and 7:00. You realize that his whole approach to harmonica was formed by his jazz piano playing. This is not news, but it's an important point: if you bring something OTHER than harmonica to the harmonica, you've got a better chance of being a change-maker.
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Ted Burke
150 posts
Aug 31, 2014
7:30 AM
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I was speechless, really, when I first saw Howard when he was performing with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. He did as had done on this video, perform a duet with himself on piano and harmonica on a tricky , extended bit of unison playing, and then improvised a beautifully articulated jazz solo on harp while he accompanied himself with is right on keyboard, vamping bop style. I'd heard him years earlier at a friend's apartment who played me a release where Howard was tearing it up mightily on a Coltrane -inspired rave up , producing Butterfield quality bends and vibratos on the bluesy accents and textures, but then letting his solo evolve into something more chromatically(!) complex. A similar "a-ha" experience happened for me when I watched Levy on that PBS broadcast with the Flecktones; he is a classically trained jazz player who did the extremely rare thing, invented a new wa to play the instrument. The profundity of the accomplishment cannot be underestimated.
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I don't play too fast. You're listening too slow.
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ted-burke.com
tburke4@san.rr.com
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