I don't know what it is - I Like Rachelle's playing, but I think I would use the restroom during this song.
This is not a critique of her playing - that is great.
Perhaps I don't like this song as an instrumental version. I am not a huge Stevie Wonder fan, but I would never change the station if he comes on the radio and I would go to see him live. I have seen and heard this song and just want more out of this... Perhaps just vocals...
Here is the real Stevie for comparison:
Maybe I just think that if you are going to do another contemporary artist's work, you better bring it...
I know this is an unfair comparison, but I can't stop the mental comparison when I hear Rachel's performance...
---------- Danny
Last Edited by on Sep 26, 2011 11:22 AM
Thank you for posting this up. Good to see another harp player I admire tackling this. I'm working hard on this tune and I'm looking to post a vid up as a response to the version Christelle put up. I play this with my 8 piece funk band band with me on guitar, so it's not like I'll be putting the guys to too much trouble.
It's interesting to hear the different little inflections and interpretations both Christelle and Rachelle put on this. I consider the tune more of a 'reading' than a piece I'd normally consider for harp. It's more to do with the fact that you 'can' play it, rather than it being a song that is necessarily good for harp, so I agree with Kingo, but I'm still gonna do it. It'll never see the light of day, gig wise as our singer does a splendid version, but it's all practice and a real goal for me.
I'm in total agreement with KingBad and Stevelegh on this.
The statement: "It's more to do with the fact that you 'can' play it, rather than it being a song that is necessarily good for harp", absolutlely nails it.
Kingo, I did the mental comparison as you did. Right on. It's a particularly difficult criticism to make because A) it's so subjective and B) the player is often technically brilliant, and the critique is often construed as an attack on the players playing skills.
But I think it's a vastly underrated skill to have a feel for what "works" on harmonica and what doesn't, which to me is a completely different skill than being "able to play" it on harmonica.
I posted a video a while back of Mark Knopfler playing Song for Sonny Liston live. That song is all about the awesome groove Knopfler was laying down on that Les Paul and the lyrics. Christelle swiftly posted a version with her playing along in the thread. While technically, her playing was awesome, it stepped all over Knopfler's guitar, which for me ruined the song. Same concept to me, the harp playing didn't really add anything to the tune and actually detracted from it. I never made that criticism then, because I don't think she takes criticism very well, her requests for it to the contrary. In fairness to her, it was just her fooling around on YT I guess, but I think the idea is the same.
Lastly Kingo, the restroom remark cracked me up. I'm a huge Springsteen fan and have seen him many times live, it was always a running joke among the group of us attending his marathon shows, which of his "weaker material" songs would be the "bathroom break and refresh your beverage" tune.
What Rachelle has done here truly impresses me. She's understood that this song--the original--is driven by two very different things: a cadenza-ish unison horn line with some hip changes; and a far more lyrical vocal line that swings in a different way. She's got enough technique and harmonic knowledge to translate the first line to harp, but she's lyrical enough to capture the flavor of Stevie's vocal line, too--to capture his vocal line much as he himself does in the harmonica solo on "Isn't She Loveley." In fact, she made me go back to the original of "Sire Duke," sure that Stevie, in fact, had blown a solo there. (I bought SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE as a college undergrad and played several songs from the album in my college band, on guitar.) He didn't. That's Rachelle's invention/adaptation.
Of course, this is a live performance, not a recording. In the studio, it would perhaps make sense to experiment with different harp textures--overdubbing or using an octave pedal during the horn line part, although not during the "vocal" part.
She's doing what jazz players often do: translating a powerful, memorable vocal performance into horn language, so to speak. That's half of what she's doing here. The other half is daring to translate an equally powerful, memorable horn part into HER horn language. The blues/R&B harmonica world needs this sort of inventiveness and audacity. Her playing itself is fluent, lyrical, and it swings enough to make it work--although obviously not as hard as Gruenling (or Gussow) would swing it.
Last Edited by on Sep 27, 2011 6:30 AM
I think she does a great job. If there is any failing here, it is with the backup not catching the timing quite right.. it is difficult because it is on the whole an upbeat, on top of the beat type of song, Wonder has a band and plays the keyboard such that they just hesitate enough and fall behind the beat enough at the right points to give it a funk feel and really groove. The band is just too on top of the beat for my tastes.. but Plas nails the leads, she phrases across parts nicely, but without the groove behind though, it seems to border on trite and poppy
I think she did a GREAT job! I agree it doesn't have a funk feel and it sounds different without horns, but she can play! I don't think she's been doing it long enough to put any of her own personality into yet. She did add a couple very nice sounding vibrato's though. Degree of difficulty is prabobly a 9 and she didn't fumble or make any funny noises that I heard. I'm not a fan of Jazz so it doesn't move me, but she is obviously very good and doing some cool stuff!
What I like about Rachelle is that she is thinking outside the blues box and adapting songs that most of us wouldn't think of playing on harp. I'm more and more searching for those kind of performance. I think it's the Gussow influance.
I found this version 5 minutes ago, this one has a sax player.
Martin
---------- Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Isaac Asimov
I have to agree about the band not hitting it right, but as I play this on guitar, I have to be a little defensive. It is a nightmare to play unless you're good enough for Stevie's band. This track is above most musos and way above me. I've played this about 200 times and it's always hit and miss with the entire band. We actually told the crowd on Saturday that it'll either go really well or really bad. Fortunately it was a good night.
Learning it on harp is a whole different ballgame. The 'just because a record has a groove' line is an exercise in 2 and 3 hole draw bends (great idea for a lesson Adam) and Rachelle's solo is stellar, apart from I prefer the placement of the solo in Christelle's version. Rachelle's 2nd position playing sounds like 12th position. Really separated, soulful and funky.
Thinking on this, I'm a good couple of months of hard practice away from pulling this off.
Last Edited by on Sep 27, 2011 12:05 PM
