When Sterling Magee and I played the Johnnie Johnson festival last summer, we were given the rare chance to hit the big stage three days in a row. On the third day, a Sunday morning, I pulled a song out of the bag that we hadn't done in many years--a song that used to be our staple back in Harlem and on the club circuit. When Sterling recorded it in the mid-1960s, it was called "Oh She Was Pretty." We always called it "Seventh Avenue." It's not a blues, but it's very bluesy. It's about loving a woman and watching her get away. Kevin Moore captured it on video, and I'm glad he did. When I'm dead and gone, at some future date, I hope one or two of you will pull it out, dust it off, and spread it around. This is a good example of music NOT being about the harmonica, the amp, the position, traditional or modern, but just about feeling it and going with it in the moment. Sterling changed up the chords on me; I played it the way we used to play it, he played it differently, and I was forced to adapt on the fly. That's all here--but mostly the feeling is here. I don't know if it comes through, but it was there on the stage.
Great r& b groove,got the feeling,had to grab a harp and play along,certainly a super for the crowd tune.
I don't gig with a steady band now,and getting to know about trying to change on the fly,happens alot playing with home and jam players.These cats told me the key so I leave my other harps out of reach,ending up trying to play in 5th,which I only figured out later after digesting my note selection,anyway my feeling was right.Good one Adam
I admired your harp playing, Kudzurunner, for its inventiveness and the judicious use of overblows when those overblown notes truly fit.
I also admired, and thought about, how the harp can be effectively and musically played over, under and around the vocals. You were playing pretty much the whole time, but it fit, and didn't detract from the vocals. You also played in time. It was funky.
More than that though, I loved it for its feel. There was no "look at me" on stage that Sunday morning, and it came out in the music. Tons of soul. Blues? Schmooze... There was tons of soulful bluesy feeling emanating from that stage that Sunday summer morning.
