Nice--thanks for sharing. I only got to meet Chris one time--I was passing thru Phoenix, and he and Laurie were nice enough to join me at a sushi restaurant for a meal. He was a nice man, and very talented. If he was also outspoken and abrasive, he was quite charming when we met. I wish he had had more success with his music career, and of course, he passed away before his time. Emile, thanks again for sharing.
Man his vibrato was so cool sounding. Very different from the normal blues throat vibrato. Like that Stevie sound.
His playing was so sweet too. Such a shame he passed so young.
I actually have a solid brass golden melody comb that Chris made. I bought it from Todd Parrot. It was used on one of his albums. I thought it was pretty neat.
I was lucky to meet him too. He sure could say what he meant. I can say that in an important way he's still around. He's the reason I added a Maxon Auto-Wah pedal to my board today. I've been trying to find one that works with a mic and responds to harp. Ain't easy. I saw on one of Jason's videos where he says he uses the Maxon and that Chris was the one who recommended it to him. So... thanks Buddha.
Last Edited by Littoral on Dec 13, 2017 5:02 PM
Chris is the featured artist on one of the tunes on American Music for Gypsy Souls The track is Howlin'. There are several other famous harmonica players featured on other tracks, it's worth listening to.
Last Edited by Gnarly on Jan 05, 2018 7:25 PM
Having been one of the original "new youngloods" in the diatonic harmonica world, a small group of influential players/techs that seemed to come together organically in the early/mid 90's, I was there when Chris first appeared on the scene, so have an interesting overview.
No one can deny his talent. That's for sure. However, it was the personality that seemed to keep Chris from wider acceptance and fame.
For some reason, he carried a big chip on his shoulder in regards to demanding respect for what he perceived as was his due - right from the beginning.
He used to harass me on Harp-L, posting stuff like "you know, Larry, that had I competed in that Hohner Competition, you wouldn't have stood a chance", to the point where he got booted off - creating his Buddha's Garden site, where he continued to bash me. (I do remember, in trolling the Garden site, that he and Diggsblues would reinforce to each other the venom spit in my direction, which was weird because I have never met Diggsblues)
The mean spirited things he put out there may have been truer to his personal demons than the nice guy image he would pull out when folk met him personally. He may have felt that talent excuses nastiness. I don't think he was fully comfortable in his own body.
So, he's a mixed bag. Once again, I won't deny his talent. I just feel he could have had more success and happiness had he handled it much differently.
Larry--was Chris unpleasant to you in person? I assume you had some face time, did you have the feeling it was personal? Perhaps he felt challenged by you . . .
Most of the time, in person, he was just OK, sometimes really not. However, when we were not face to face, he was really unpleasant. Perhaps he felt challenged. Perhaps it started when we were in Winslow's Bunch O' Guys project when he was the only one who showed up not doing his homework (as he seemed to feel he didn't need to based on his opinion of his own talent). Since I do my homework and actually kinda worked on everyone's part for fun, during rehearsal I stood next to him and, in a sense, "fed him his harmonica lines", which I figured was helping the project, but he really bristled at this. Perhaps it was when he hired me to do a seminar at his Harmonica Summit (and also wanted me to "manage" Kim Wilson for him when I got there - which I politely mentioned was not in our agreement) - and then I had to pursue him to make good on his contractual payment after the fact. Anyways, he really attacked me afterwards on Harp-L, making fun of my writing style (which, at the time, was modeled after Jack Kerouac's writing style which I was really getting into), disagreeing with many of my comments, etc...
As I said, he was a very talented but somewhat complicated personality. ---------- The Iceman
He left some good clues for that 12th position stuff that he had down--me, I cheat a lot with altered tunings to get a major sound in draw positions, he didn't. Like I said above, it's a shame that his music career didn't come to fruition, but I think part of that was due to the choices he made--staying in AZ instead of living in a van (oh Mooncat), staying true to himself instead of compromising. You only get one chance, unless it's different than I perceive.
Great player and he was a great teacher too. I still have 2 harmonicas he made me.
I have a bunch of live recordings and his album too if anyone is interested. Let me know and I can post a link. ---------- AJ Silverberg www.hearaj.com
Of course! I know I speak for a bunch of folks--great music is a source of beauty in this world, and the "Spirit of Buddha" will be carried on as long as his work is experienced. TIA!
Edit-- He's not on Adam's list--I would put him on, but he's not my favorite, so I am going to go add Bill Barrett, who is.
Last Edited by Gnarly on Dec 14, 2017 8:28 PM
For anyone else who is interested you can follow the link below to check out the Chris Michalek music I have been hoarding. Some of this might already be distributed. If its new to you please enjoy!! There's four random tracks and then one complete live set of music.
Didn’t know much about this guy, so took a look at his YouTube channel. Besides being a clever player, he seemed to have a very odd obsession with super aggressive dogs. If you’re looking for a window into his troubled soul, that’s probably a good place to start.
Last Edited by Sundancer on Dec 16, 2017 12:29 PM
Chris was a friend of mine. Only for a brief few years. I met him in what turned out to be late in his life. At the time his location in the Phoenix area was a very convenient place to stop and spend a day or two when I was regularly moving between work in Louisiana and my home in California.
I have many feelings and opinions about the Buddha. From my perspective all of them are warm and positive. I will concede that there are many who had their issues and hurt feelings with him. I'm not about to argue on behalf of the guy in regard his motives, attitude or demeanor. I'm not about to defend nor attempt to explain him. That is between he and others. I really enjoyed his conversation and company.
The dog thing was his other business. He trained dogs for security, law enforcement and executive protection. And, like his harmonica work, he was good at it. I spent time with his dogs when he was working them. It was impressive how well he understood dogs.
He understood people also. And he enjoyed pushing buttons for his own entertainment. Once you knew that, he was very easy to interpret. It was himself that he seemed to not understand. I think that manifested itself in his interactions with others.
I won't forget him.
---------- ~Buzadero Underwater Janitor, Patriot MBH poseur since 11Nov2008
------A lot can, has and hopefully will be said about our Buddy Chris and I'll probably agree with, understand or sympathize with most if not all of it on a few levels but... I'll just quote Louis Jordan and say: " I love all last weeks underwear"....
I never had one moments problem with Chris. We communicated a lot via email. He was, in my opinion, a pleasant man who I considered a cyber friend. ---------- Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
He was whip smart, that's for sure, and muy musical. Who among us has not sinned? Of course, he DID get thrown off this particular forum, just before he died, IIRC. So he didn't mind ruffling feathers. I, on the other hand, am holding back big time so I can make lots of friends. Merry Christmas!
And you! Hope 2018 is your year to shine--no pressure. You make us all look good! I'm going to Pocatello Idaho for Xmas--any harp players up there? It's literally going to be freezing--as in, below 32 degrees the whole time. So any playing would have to be indoors . . .
Last Edited by Gnarly on Dec 20, 2017 8:22 PM
Gnarly- Unlikely that you'll be down in Utah SLC-OGDEN, but if your holiday path should cross those parts let me know ---------- If you don't cut it while it's hot......
My recollection is that he was the youngest in a large and highly successful medical family: mother, father and brothers were all surgeons, and he was bound to fail, or terrified of failing, to meet the required predefined standard, so he deliberately chose a completely different field. Once in that field he had to bully people into believing he was the best. He was good because he had inherited good genes, but he was badly damaged. ---------- Andrew. -----------------------------------------
Last Edited by Andrew on Dec 22, 2017 4:20 AM
Did not know about Chris' family...interesting....but the "he had to bully people into believing he was the best" was what I experienced as well. ---------- The Iceman
After working 38 years in various counseling and child welfare roles I reached a determination that none among us is a flawless perfect human being. None of us has led a perfect life. Since retiring years ago nothing has changed my viewpoint on this.
While he was living I read Chris Michalek's sometimes acerbic and occasionally excessively critical posts in forums before ever meeting him. At 2008 SPAH I at times saw him display a superior elitist attitude toward those he perceived as lesser players when he was socializing with associates. They would challenge each other to play in difficult positions at blues jams, with a focus on showing off OB technique as opposed to playing the music well, though at times they achieved both. There was an apparent disdain of more basic non-overblow playing at jams.
I also heard his wonderful jazz playing and saw him teach harmonica to others in positive supportive ways. It was at his Filisko mob afternoon workshop table in St. Louis 2008 that I played my first recognizable (though flat) 6 overblow. In that group he was an extraordinarily patient and effective teacher. He guided other skilled overblow players to improve, and he was equally supportive of traditional players attempting to learn the technique.
I do not see any point in after-the-fact psychological and/or family dynamic analyses of those who have passed. Had he lived longer he may have eventually addressed any troublesome personal issues, or not. That is really not an factor at this point.
Chris was human and had strengths and flaws, as do all of us. Some experienced the strengths, some the flaws, some had a mix of each.
We all have choices in determining what aspects of others we will remember. I choose to value the positive contributions of those who have passed rather than focus on their flaws. I see no point in dwelling upon negative issues when they are beyond remediation.
Chris Michalek was an outstanding player and good teacher who showed patience in guiding students. I choose to remember his music and his willingness to help others. ----------
Chris could really play. I had a pretty bad argument with him the day before he passed; I like to think we would have sorted it out if we'd had more time.
There are, right now, a couple former MBH members that I am pretty good friends with on other parts of the internet, particularly parts where it's not my job to keep them from getting in arguments with other people. Chris butted heads with a few members here and usually when I butted heads with him it was when I was stepping into those situations to try to mediate. I liked him well enough to wish we'd ended things on better terms.
Wow Doug! That was great! Hey Nate...Bro... Chris did stuff just to do stuff... you know! It would of been and IS ok....All Hail Buddha! ---------- www.mooncat.org
I hear ya, Doug, but respectfully disagree on how to discuss talented folks.
Everyone is a total package - no one is just talent w/out personality/quirks/flaws. I enjoy understanding the whole enchilada - not just the guacamole and salsa contained within.
Those with extreme talent as well as extreme negative bias are interesting characters, for sure. For example, I read the Eric Clapton autobiography and was struck by what an extreme a@@hole he was - total blues nazi, took advantage of folks that helped him on the way up - leaving them high and dry at times, how he dealt with women, etc....part of the total package. I must admit that when I listen to his music, I do filter it through a greater understanding of the man behind the curtain.
Same goes for Miles Davis.
To understand (or at least examine) the totality of the person gives me greater insight into who and what he (or she) was.
So, while I did enjoy the musicality and talent of Chris, his total package will keep me from "Hailing" him.
Yes,he was certainly a complex personality. He could be very giving and also very nasty.His posts on here usually generated a lot of arguments. I kind of miss that.His viewpoint was aimed at a professional musician,which most of us are not.A lot of it was over my head at the time,but as time goes by,it keeps making more sense to me. RIP Buddha!
I always start to thinking about Chris this time of year. I only got to know him in his last couple of years, and in that time he welcomed me into his home, his life, and shared many of his trade secrets with me. All for nothing more than the fact he seemed to like having me come around and hang out once in a while. Yes, he was a complicated guy, but I truly believe it Al came from a good place - even if it was just his way of pulling a long, drawn out practical joke. But he did care about our instrument and our community. He was one of a kind, and I miss him. ----------
Chris was a master of making a compliment look like an insult. I remember some of his harp-l posts were designed that way, and had folks up in arms. But if you read carefully what he wrote, you'd realize that form and content were two different things entirely. =========== Winslow
I posted this to remember the date of his passing. It's nice to see his memory lives on. I remember giving him a recipe on Buddhas Garden. He and Laurie want to turn vegetarian. They tried but I don't think it lasted long. ----------
I don't think it is reasonable to expect good musicians to be humble or "good" people. In fact elitism and the like are responsible for the advancement of several music genres.
Would it be nice if some great players were nicer? Sure. But they are not in it to be nice, they are in it to excel at what they do.
I always found Chris to be an inspiration. I enjoyed his directness and his willingness to challenge note-oriented musical pedagogy with tone and timing first approaches.
He also gave me good feedback on my playing a few times. What he said always stuck with me - even before he passed.
I always value kindness, and try to be kind. Sometimes more than others. It's easy to be nice to people you like, that wasn't the tough part of, "Love thy neighbor as thyself" . . . Oh shut up Gary!
LevelUp writes, "I don't think it is reasonable to expect good musicians to be humble or 'good' people." Some of the best musicians that I know are some of the most humble people that I know. Many of them are also kind and good people. Many of those people have a pretty good following simply because they are a good hang.
I have also noticed that some of the most arrogant and nasty musicians are cut a lot of slack by people because they are musically talented.
