walterharp
206 posts
Feb 01, 2010
6:01 AM
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Hey all,
A comment by Adam in another thread got me thinking.
He roughly said blues harmonica played without overblows sounds old fashioned to him. So is modern blues harmonica defined by the ability to incorporate overblows musically into blues playing or is there something different to it than that?
Cheers,
walter
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Bluefinger
29 posts
Feb 01, 2010
6:16 AM
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I this is the case, then I'm old fashioned ... and proud of it :o)
Well, I guess you can define it any way you want because there's not law or something which is telling you what is what. Calling anything related to blues "modern" is an oximoron anyway in my humble opinion. Have you watched MTV lately?
If I had to define it then I'd say that everybody who starts from the foundation that has been laid out by the old masters and takes it a step further plays "modern blues harp". If overblows are involved or not does not make a difference to me. Feel free to disagree because I'm not a fan of categorizing anyway ...
Last Edited by on Feb 01, 2010 6:17 AM
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Bluefinger
30 posts
Feb 01, 2010
6:27 AM
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True ...
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KingoBad
167 posts
Feb 01, 2010
6:45 AM
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I think the general idea is that instead of playing period music, modern blues does something to bring it forward and relevant(perhaps a bad word - modern - post modern?). There are many many more musical influences now than when much of the traditional blues was made. Over-blows are just a new form of expression which expand the musical capabilities of the instrument. The addition of effects also comes to mind - making your harp sound like a screaming guitar or violin. What makes blues new and fresh and moving forward instead of just period music? Now I personally enjoy wallowing in the traditional blues that I love, but I wouldn't trade my 6ob for anything simply because of the ability to play the middle part of the harp more effectively. Will I take my playing in a more modern direction? Perhaps. Adam has sure influenced me in that direction, but I have a whole lot of traditional learning to do before then. While the language of the blues harp may be growing, the fundamental language of the blues is still the same.
Last Edited by on Feb 01, 2010 6:46 AM
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rbeetsme
174 posts
Feb 01, 2010
6:57 AM
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Jason Ricci is catagorized as a blues player but I don't think his songs sound much like traditional or even contemporary blues to me, it seems like something else. Maybe that's modern blues harmonica.
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MrVerylongusername
873 posts
Feb 01, 2010
7:10 AM
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I think the posts by Kingobad and rbeetsme are spot on. IMHO "modern" blues is about influences from outside of the canon of trad blues. Those influences could be stylistic, or technological. A good example is the kind of stuff Bejamin Darvill (Son of Dave) is doing. On the face of it his playing is very traditional, but it's how he uses the technology that lifts it into a whole new realm of creativity.
I think too that we should be careful to distinguish between modern harmonica and modern blues harmonica. Jason Ricci can play a mean blues, but I agree that his more recent material is moving away from blues. He doesn't strike me as the kind of artist who is comfortable being defined and labelled - whatever the category.
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ZackPomerleau
603 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:22 AM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8ggCxCgkks
That sounds like blues, and it sounds a little modern :)
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jonsparrow
2000 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:34 AM
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b-radical is a modern blues harmonica.
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MrVerylongusername
874 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:36 AM
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nah it's just a myth ;-)
Forget the B-rad, buy more mics Jon - that's the way to go!
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jonsparrow
2002 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:38 AM
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the b-rad is not a myth! IV SEEN IT! (waterworld qoute)
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Tuckster
377 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:38 AM
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I liked that vid,but I'd call it jazz.But I hate to pigeon hole,it's just good harp playing.Interesting question. I'd say Paul DeLay was a modern blues harpist.Perhaps the term is an oxymoron. How far away from tradition can you get before it's no longer blues?
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Andrew
859 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:41 AM
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Hey, jon, a DVD of Waterworld arrived in the mail yesterday! I can't understand why people hate it. Same goes for Hudson Hawk which should be arriving any day.
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Kinda hot in these rhinos!
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jonsparrow
2003 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:47 AM
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nice! waterworld is an awesome movie. its so original.
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Kingley
776 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:49 AM
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Yeah I would also say Paul Delay was a modern blues harpist.
I don't really classify Jason Ricci as modern blues harp. I think he is forging a path that is totally unique to the instrument and fusing many musical styles together and refuses to be bound by genre.
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rbeetsme
176 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:56 AM
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I just emailed Jason and asked him how he would classify his music. He responded that it's just music, he doesn't feel like he is moving away or toward anything, just exploring the music. Good answer.
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isaacullah
641 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:57 AM
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Hey y'all... The academic in me wants to say something, so here it goes. If we want to get nitpicky, then technically the word "Modern" refers to that period in art, philosophy, science, and social thinking that was roughly between the 1920's and the early 1960's. The "Postmodern" era was roughly the late 60's through to about the end of the 80's. And I guess today is, technically speaking, the "Post-Postmodern" era...
So.... according to those definitions, Little Walter WAS a Modern Blues Harmonicist. :p
Anyway, in all seriousness, those Harp players that are currently pushing things forward are drawing on LOT'S of things. OB's are just one of thoae things. Like MrVlun says, technology is certainly another (Jason's and Chris's pedal boards, Richard Hunters digitech, Son Of Dave and Brandon's loopers, etc.). Source of inspiration is another (here I'll cite Adam's love of Jazz Saxaphone and Chris's love of Bass guitar). I also think that a melding of Blues with Hip Hop and Punk Rock is the next wave (Look at bands like "The Heavy", "The Gories", and "Beck".. Now THAT"S "Modern" Blues). I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff out too, but my main point is that "Modern" Blues is Blues that is pushing boundaries in at least SOME way.
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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Andrew
860 posts
Feb 01, 2010
8:58 AM
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Only problem is Gerard Murphy is so funny in Father Ted, that I can't take him seriously in Waterworld.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFXYxVrMo8s
(8:20 and 18:45)
What's Modern Blues Harmonia? Um, anything Blues-related that's around today that's not the same as what was around 50 years ago? (apologies for the thread drift)
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Kinda hot in these rhinos!
Last Edited by on Feb 01, 2010 8:59 AM
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javajoe
44 posts
Feb 01, 2010
10:27 AM
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@isaacullah - "The "Postmodern" era was roughly the late 60's through to about the end of the 80's. And I guess today is, technically speaking, the "Post-Postmodern" era..."
"Contemporary Era" ?
Let's see... contemporary blues harmonica.
It's got a nice ring to it, No?
Last Edited by on Feb 01, 2010 10:28 AM
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isaacullah
643 posts
Feb 01, 2010
10:35 AM
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I like contemporary... The only little problem is that it might get confused with the genre 'adult contemporary", which is something I, for one, would not want to be confused for! ;)
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The magnificent YouTube channel of the internet user known as "isaacullah"
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toddlgreene
694 posts
Feb 01, 2010
10:38 AM
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Come on, issac-you could be the next Michael Bolton of Contemporary Harmonica!
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Todd L. Greene, V.P.
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oldwailer
1046 posts
Feb 01, 2010
10:45 AM
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Oddly enough, that wonderful Michael Peloquin piece that Zack posted takes me back to a younger time--when I used to hang out in the Jazz Cellar in Stuttgart, Germany--just another GI who couldn't stand rock music (in those days rock was all Frankie Avalon and Purple People Eaters and Great Balls of Fire).
The old "jazz" quartets played music just like that--blues progressions jazzed up with moving bass lines and progressive solos. Only the instrumentation was different--the sax usually did Michael Peloquin's part.
History is cyclical--what is "Modern" now doesn't mean it's new. . .
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congaron
499 posts
Feb 01, 2010
10:51 AM
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For me, modern was discovering the wide variety of sounds possible and hearing them in music I have listened to for years and never even thought about it being a harmonica....in some cases, I didn't know it was!
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GEEZER1
31 posts
Feb 01, 2010
10:53 AM
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I guess modern blues harmonica is the same as "New Country" compared to the traditional older " Classic Country " music. I happen to like classic blues. To each his own.
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XHarp
261 posts
Feb 01, 2010
10:54 AM
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By definitions,
Modern (not comparable)
1. Pertaining to the current time and style.
Blues
Secular musical form incorporating a repeating harmonic structure with melodic emphasis on the flatted or "blue" third and seventh notes of the scale.
har•mon•i•ca (här-m n -k )
n. Music
1. A small rectangular instrument consisting of a row of free reeds set back in air holes, played by exhaling or inhaling. Also called mouth harp, mouth organ; also called regionally French harp.
So it is simply a current style of executing a repeating harmonic structure with emphasis on the blue 3rd and 7th notes on a small free reed instrument played by exhaling or inhaling.
In other words, The stuff we're doing today whatever it is, 1st position, OB's, 2nd position, slow tempos, emphasis...whatever.... Its just playing blues in today's styles.
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"Keep it in your mouth" - XHarp
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hohnerjones
8 posts
Feb 01, 2010
11:15 AM
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So Rick, you have a question about Jasons' playing so you just contact him and ask. Never would have thought of that! Of course you just killed 3 days worth of discussion and speculation. You rock!
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Diggsblues
109 posts
Feb 01, 2010
11:18 AM
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I always thought of Paul Butterfield as the Father
of Modern Blues harmonica. Thought this before
there was the OB usage.
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rbeetsme
178 posts
Feb 01, 2010
11:20 AM
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I tend to agree.
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MrVerylongusername
876 posts
Feb 01, 2010
11:28 AM
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Not disagreeing, but what would you say seperates the modern from the traditional then - specifically with regard to Butterfield?
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Andrew
864 posts
Feb 01, 2010
12:13 PM
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btw, jon, can you remember that there's a harmonica in Waterworld?
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Kinda hot in these rhinos!
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Diggsblues
110 posts
Feb 01, 2010
1:15 PM
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Some of it may be in the rhytmn section the way it
drives the soloist. Butterfields phrasing and his sound
were not in the old mold. Fusing elements of contemporary jazz, rock and R&B into his band.
The Resurection of Pig Boy Crabshaw and In My Own Dream are great examples of his new sound.
I'm starting sound like a reviewer or an album liner.LOL
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walterharp
209 posts
Feb 02, 2010
8:07 AM
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I think Diggs has a good general point, borrowing back from the music that blues gave rise to, jazz, rock, funk, etc, makes blues sound more modern.
Also, it might have something to do with blurring the lines of race
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HarpNinja
123 posts
Feb 02, 2010
8:39 AM
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I consider myself a modern blues player...if only because all my gear is contemporary!
Plus, my style comes from my experience, which is a culmination of factors ranging from decades of musical happenings. I incorporate things that maybe didn't exist in the era considered "traditional" blues in the harp world. I play using what ever resources I have and don't limit myself based on trying to preserve any musical ideas, etc.
That being said, most of what I play is based in roots and blues music, so it isn't not-blues either.
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Mike Fugazzi
http://www.myspace.com/niterailband
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http://www.facebook.com/mike.fugazzi
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hvyj
129 posts
Feb 02, 2010
9:15 AM
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Modern blues harmonica is blues playing on the harmonica that is liberated from a need to imitate historical blues playing on the harmonica. Blues is an idiom not a style.
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