Michael Rubin
445 posts
Feb 17, 2012
3:23 PM
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With Adam's list I decided to create a list of my own. This list was based solely on what harp players, living or dead, I heard that get me excited about harp and music. I created an order of who gets me the most excited, but more importantly, I discovered that after 27 years of being obsessed with harmonica, only 45 people made it to the list!
Perhaps I am very judgmental. Or perhaps there just aren't a lot of people doing really exciting music on harp.
Thoughts?
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LittleBubba
187 posts
Feb 17, 2012
3:34 PM
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Just on the surface, I wondered immediately if there might be some guys whom you haven't heard play "live" that might've impressed you more if you had. "N" sometimes you catch guys on bad nites. I've heard some pretty good players whose CDs didn't excite me all that much.
Secondly, 45 ain't that bad, imo, considering the longevity of some of the guys currently plying their trade. When people die it creates a vacuum for others to move into.
Last Edited by on Feb 17, 2012 3:35 PM
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Michael Rubin
446 posts
Feb 17, 2012
4:02 PM
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We can keep talking about this, but I regret posting it. I have this cynical side that I try and keep under wraps and sometimes I cannot stop myself from posting something negative in a public forum. I have some friends in the harp world who are always positive on the internet. I want to be like those guys but the cynic pops up more often than I'd like.
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FMWoodeye
230 posts
Feb 17, 2012
6:26 PM
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@LittleBubba...I know what you mean. Corky Siegel (Siegel/Schwall Band) out of Chicago used to play small venues in Michigan and ALWAYS brought the house down. Corky played (and plays) harp, piano and sang. Once the Siegel/Schwall Band opened for Van Morrison at the Cinderella Theater in Detroit. They opened with their "best" song. It was a high-energy albeit ragtag group, and Corky was (is) very kinetic and interacted well with the crowd as always. When Van Morrison came on, the place emptied out. The next night Siegel/Schwall were the headliners, and Van Morrison was on a bus out of town. I bought their albums. I realized the stuff Corky was playing was not that technically challenging, but he had great tone, mixed the harp well with the piano and vocals, and was a great performer. He has since grown as a harp player, even has a "chambers blues" group in which he mixes blues and classical music with strings, not guitar strings, but violins, cellos and such. To make a long story short....too late for that now...watching him play live made me a fan where simply listening to recordings probably wouldn't have.
Last Edited by on Feb 17, 2012 6:27 PM
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Tuckster
976 posts
Feb 17, 2012
6:53 PM
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Michael-couldn't you say that about ANY instrument? There are a lot more guitarists than there are harpists,but the ratio is probably about the same.
Last Edited by on Feb 17, 2012 6:56 PM
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shanester
491 posts
Feb 17, 2012
8:22 PM
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Don't sweat it Michael, I acknowledge you for leaving it up. I can relate to the compulsion. I think we are close to the same age, our generation has definitely got some cynicism...after all, we've seen these current events coming since we were teens, right?
There is a lot of music and players that have seriously impacted me, like genius, that will probably never be recognized by the main stream.
I don't have near your mileage on this instrument, but I have come to peace with the thought that (at least for me) recognition from fellow artists that I admire may be as great as it gets, an "artist's artist".
The cutting edge always starts out "weird" to most, and it is hard to be objective about the main stream when you live in a musically fecund place like Austin.
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Shane,
"The Possum Whisperer"
Shane's Cloud
1shanester
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LittleBubba
188 posts
Feb 18, 2012
6:54 AM
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Mebbe FMWoodeye hit on a part of it. I was also greatly excited by Corky's playing when I first heard him in 1969. I still like his playing, and he's of course technically much better than he was in those days.
But, the level of excitement created by listening to a harper may be partly due to where the listener is at in his life at the time. I had been playing harp for just a couple years when I heard Corky, and I hadn't heard too many harpers live. I spent a few years after that trying to figure out how he expelled air with whoops and how he did long controlled bends, etc.
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JBharmonica
92 posts
Feb 18, 2012
7:00 AM
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If we keep chasing the past, we'll never create the future...
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JB
http://www.facebook.com/jbharmonica
jbustillos@gmail.com
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LittleBubba
189 posts
Feb 18, 2012
8:45 AM
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@JBh: I think there's a happy medium there somewhere. Innovation can occur as a byproduct of jumping off from traditional music. In my life it's quite often happened in the early morning hours when you're jammin' with some buddies and you find a wormhole in space.
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billy_shines
98 posts
Feb 18, 2012
2:39 PM
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sonny the 1st has a very liquid playing. im convinced he was a soaker.
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