I've just uploaded my new record. Harmonica as tenor sax! I did my best to emulate tenor sax sound and phrasing. This record is dedicated to my favorite saxman of all times - Jimmy Forrest. Please listen and enjoy! I hope you will like it :)
I dig the use of the swells, longer held out notes and the use of dynamics like the way a real tenor sax player does his thing and the way you're using the groove to drive the music rather than force it like the way you usually see harp players tend to do in damned near every open jam in the world and the ending with the use of a note that most harp players never use that gives everything a distinctively more jazzy feel. I never give out compliments to anyone, easily, so you clearly got my ear here! ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Ive been digging into horn and sax a bit more lately. I ve been interested in trying to play these parts on harp. That was awsome. As bob said the ending really did it.
Did you ever play the sax? I'm wondering how well you really have to know the other instrument to really emulate it. Because you surely did it. ---------- "Trust Those Who Seek The Truth. Doubt Those Who Say They Have Found It."
Wow! The harmonica is now the smallest member of the Horn Family! That is really cool how you have managed to produce that horn like sound and great phrasing too.
In all fairness Bob, most(and I am talking about good, well trained harp players with proper musical knowledge, breath control, dynamics, etc) are nearly forced to play loudly (and thus sound "shitty") because they have to deal with ego-fueled guitar heroes and rock drummers that are so hoped-up and still have the cocaine laced on their faces from the 8-ball they just snorted in the parking lot 15 minutes earlier;)
Last Edited by CarlA on Feb 18, 2016 5:01 AM
@CarlA -- What you say is true if the ONLY playing experience in a band situation you have comes from playing only in open jams, where to be very brutally honest about, you largely tend to deal with mainly really crappy, untogether musicians often times using volume as a macho thing and no real pro would be dumb enough or have the patience enough to put up with crap like that and if anyone in my band did that stuff to me, I can GUARANTEE you that if I didn't give them the biggest ration of shit about it with a one time only warning, I'd be firing their sorry ass right on the spot and trust me, I absolutely HAVE done that.
Rock drummers are another story and they RARELY ever make good blues drummers because not just the volume being the problem, most of them have never learned how to play behind the beat and also dynamics. You're more likely to find a jazz drummer who would be familiar with the concept of playing behind the beat and can play soft and understand dynamics.
Unfortunately for you, Carl A, your experience largely sounds like you are drawing your experience from playing in open jams most of the time. If you were to play in the snob jam/special invite/pro jams, where the overall musicianship is 100% BETTER as a general rule, and for the blues thing, often run by a REAL local area blues pro, that kind of crap won't be put up with, plus most of the jammers as a general rule along with the house band (and in many open jams, sorry to say,but many of them are only MARGINALLY better than the jammers, and that ain't saying much) and things you tend to see at most pro/snob/special invite jams is the fact that 80%+ of the musicians, both in the house band as well as the jammers have good to excellent time, have some understanding of time, pay full attention to every detail of what's going on, guitar players who can actually play rhythm, drummers and bass players with good time and can lock down a groove without a problem, all of which are things you RARELY see in 80% of the open jams anywhere in the world, and among the reasons I rarely ever go to any of them. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by barbequebob on Feb 18, 2016 11:06 AM
You are 100% right, and that is the extremely frustrating position I find myself in at 80% of local jams. Just enough of the "bad seeds" to prevent the good players from actually MAKING music, not just noise :)
@Carl A -- Then it's time for you to get yourself away from that crap because you're just wasting your time with these fools and from some of the videos you've posted being with them, they are unknowingly making you into a musician just as horrible as they are because, right off the bat, just the drummers alone have all had nothing but horrible time and if they had to deal with an extremely strict old school band leader like Albert King, they'd get fired right away and I remember seeing Albert King fire his drummer in the middle of the first tune of the night and I heard him off mike screaming at him because he not only lost the time, he dropped a beat, and if you're a pro, that automatically gets your behind fired, and I'm sitting way in back of the club, he's standing 10 feet away away from a mic, and I can still hear him to this day screaming at him, "you're f**king fired, mother f**ker! Now get your goddmaned ass off my goddamned bandstand!" I've also fired drummers for this reason, as well as bass players AND lead players as well.
It's more than about time for you to get yourself in gear and put something together yourself and never put up with crap like that because not only are those guys crap, they make you like even crappier and whenever you're surrounded by crappy musicians, the only music you can make is crappy music, and so it's time for you get away from that crap. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
barbequebob, Thank you so much for your words, Bob! I always read your posts and I know what you are talking about. So it's double pleasure for me! You know it's all about Jimmy Forrest and his magical music - his style is impeccable and it kept me in limits. I've read a lot of information and discussions, listen a lot of music and now I'm rethinking my style into more laconic way. thank you again.
Diggsblues, Rezonator, Adam, Ian and CarlA, thank you so much for attention and kind words!
Piro, lol! Are you talking about cosmic mic that was discussed in FB community? :) Yes, I have one! It's really a magic thing. Honestly... I live in Dnipropetrovsk. In USSR there was a big and famous plant that produced soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles. This mutes are their secret development! :)
Killa_Hertz , thank you so much! No, I never played a saxophone. I studied piano. But I really love that old bluesy-jazzy sax. My favorites are: Jimmy Forrest, Willis Jackson, Arnett Cobb, Rusty Bryant and Gene Ammons. Grey Owl, thank you so much, my friend! I'm so glad that you back to the MBHF! ---------- Konstantin Kolesnichenko(Ukraine) CDBaby Amazon ITunes Google Music my music on youtube
Last Edited by wheel on Feb 18, 2016 12:16 PM
@wheel -- You're welcome and I never hand out compliments easily. It's ironic that seemingly the only Jimmy Forrest tune anyone is familiar with is Night Train, which when strip joints had organ grinder bands until the early 70's, that tune was guaranteed to be heavily over played!!!!
All those sax players you've mentioned, I've listened to them and a whole lot more and taken plenty from them. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
To all you Detroiters out there, this Jimmy Forrest tune was the opening theme for The Famous Coachman's after hours blues radio show on WDET back in the day - great song and a great album.
Really liked wheel's sound on his cut - very different and did sound saxy. ---------- The Iceman
some of the rest of the posts just seem to be another B..b.. rant. I think I have most of it memorized by now...
Last Edited by Spderyak on Feb 19, 2016 4:14 AM
barbequebob, yes Night Train was very popular. My favourite version is by Buddy Morrow orchestra! But for me Jimmy Forest is associated with Bolo Blues and Most Much!. Bolo Blues has so much magic and mystic in it but it is still this good old blues that I can wistle all day long! I follow you on FB and I've found that we have pretty much similar tastes in this kind of music! ---------- Konstantin Kolesnichenko(Ukraine) CDBaby Amazon ITunes Google Music my music on youtube
