The song, while one of Sting's, is reminiscent of the writing Stevie was doing during his "Songs in the Key of Life" period. And the key, F minor, lies really nicely on a C chromatic.
Also, at one point he plays the highest C in the 16th hole. Chromatic players often complain about how shrill those high notes are, but in the hands of a master . . . =========== Winslow
Wow, that was great. This is probably not the place to ask, but I wonder where Stevie sits on the "all time top 20" list of chrome (not just blues) players? ----------
I don't think most people think of him as a blues player. He's certainly highly regarded as a harmonica player, though. Great tone, unique style, and tasty. He doesn't play fast note runs or use advanced jazz scales and vocabulary, so he doesn't really fit into the category of jazz harmonica players, nor does he try to play blues. He's really more in the pop vein =========== Winslow
I think Stevie is "jazzy enough" . . . When I think of pop, I think of . . . well, I can't think of a pop chromatic player. There's any of a number of other singers who play harmonica, that's where Stevie belongs--but his playing is considerably more advanced than any of "those guys". It's true that he stays within the diatonic scale, with ornaments, but rhythmically, he's very jazzy-- Don't get me started about mi-RAH-cles of love's glory tho . . . Ask me to tell you the joke about "jazz chord" . . . Hint--it's a Stevie Wonder song . . .
Pop chromatic players? A thinner herd than in some other styles, but I can come up with a few:
Larry Adler Tommy Morgan (Carpenters, Beach Boys, etc.) Gustavo Lezcano (Miami Sound Machine/Gloria Estefan) Leo Diamond (Offshore and other pop singles)
