Hey all, I was wondering what you think the coolest harp solos are? For context, I don't mean fast and flashy, I mean medium to slow with groove. General examples would be many things Miles did around Bitches Brew Time, Jimi Henidrix on slower tunes, some of Keith Richards work. Hip, not not top if the beat, tending toward the blue third and other micro tonal inflections.. and I believe Adam said this about Gruenling, something you can not decode.. music that is original, you cannot predict where it will go, but once it goes there, it is obviously the best place it could ever go.
My entry, it has been poster on this board a couple of times already, is this one.. do you have other examples?
Gruenling is cool. Agreed there is something special there that's hard to decode.
Funny it was already mentioned .. but "Trouble in Mind" by Big Walter totally blew me away when I first heard it. I am a guitar player and when I heard it .. I knew I would be playing the harp someday. The sound and emotion was just so beautiful AND powerful.
He starts on an Eb harp, then switches in the second chorus to a low EB. In the first chorus he does his thing, with lots of overblows and intensity and with moves back and forth into double time, all at a very relaxed shuffle tempo. In the second chorus, on the low harp, he walks straight into Dennis's world and shows that he is a master of that foghorn sound, too. All with lots of intensity AND relaxation, and huge creativity, at a relaxed tempo. And all merely as an intro to the song.
I love that Gruenling clip, Walter. That's great stuff. Yes, he takes you on a ride, making each musical thought evolve naturally out of what has just come before.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Jun 15, 2014 5:13 AM
some great ones, that last one, Plas really really is great. Jason seems like he is usually in front of the beat and pushing the envelope, even when he plays slower songs and so expressively. The way I hurt myself is one of the best songs with harmonica in it I know, I love those clips, but the feel is so different than Gruenling or Clarke. I don't really accept that the Wilson clip fits the original criteria, he is filling every space with notes and pushing the beat throughout, it is a fantastic solo but to be cool, I think there is a certain degree of being relaxed. Have seen Wilson do that, but it is not that solo in my mind.
This one by Paul Butterfield. The solo is a masterpiece in all regards--phrase, note choice, tone control, feeling.I spent years trying to cop some of these licks.
Thanks for putting the Butterfield tune up Ted. I have lots of Butterfield but hadn't heard that one. I spend a fair amount time trying to play his songs - Walkin Blues, Baby Please Don't Go and Born in Chicago every day. Don't know if I have any of them down but I learn a lot every time trying to get close to his tone etc. There are so many fantastic people to learn from (and to enjoy listening to) - both from the past and today - but, for me, along with the Walters and Sonny Boys, Butterfield and deLay are at the top. Also, I am always struggling (a little) to keep our band from playing blues-rock as opposed to blues, and both Butterfield and deLay give me ammunition for fast paced enough songs to keep the guys happy. I may even be willing to give up Key to the Highway for something like Milkcow Boogie or One More Heartache, or deLay's Only Me.
Kim Wilson's version of SBWII's "Trust My Baby" off his "Tigerman" album is hair-raising, in a good way. Here is a live version that is just as good. Solo starts at 4 min.
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Last Edited by mr_so&so on Jun 16, 2014 10:57 AM
Another track I played over and over and over and over and over is "Takin Care of Business" by Charlie Musselwhite from is "Lousiana Fog" album. It is uptempo, streamlined and brackish in the same solo. He does some prodigious rolling octaves here, moving his tongue against the reeds and moving with the chord progression , the resulting being a bright, liquid sound. His alternating between this and the short, fast riffs is breathtaking.
Dennis's harp solo in that first video scares me it's so emotionally engaging. I also second Adam's "Down by the Juke" which is my favorite "Jason" song. Todd's E solo is so great I had Todd do his tuning for on one of my harps me after I first heard it. Lee Sankey also scares the s&%t out of me with some of his solos. All of these songs and there precursors going all the way back to perhaps the most evocative of all for me "Christo Redemptor" are the reason I began playing aka making sounds that were deeper than crying aka suspending the duality between the music and the listener and becoming the music! ---------- Facebook
Here's a rack harp solo by the late Willie P Bennett. I sure wish I knew how to post a video properly.
I was lucky enough to get a few of the harps from Willie's belt after he passed. I sure hope they have some of his mojo on 'em.
Last Edited by PHJim on Jun 17, 2014 3:37 PM
Here's a rack harp solo by the late, great, Willie P. Bennett. I was lucky enough to inherit a few of his harps. I sure hope they still have some of his mojo on 'em. I wish I knew how to properly post a video here. http://youtu.be/_F60DwKOZkU
Question about Butterfield's "One More Heartache" - is he using a Bb harp? That sounds right to my (admittedly)lousy ear. I was told by a friend, local harp and trombone player Jeff Mason, that Butterfield told him that (his band opened for Butterfield back in the day). If that is the case, then am I also correct that the song is in Eb, making this 12th position? As Ted Burke said, this is one of the coolest songs and harp solos out there.
