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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
harp dis levy liner notes
harp dis levy liner notes
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walterharp
283 posts
Mar 28, 2010
6:56 PM
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Hi all,
I got a Howard Levy cd, tonight and tomorrow. His playing is outstanding, particularly if you like jazz.
Here is the part that I though was weird. Neil Tesser wrote the notes and really disparages the instrument (not the player), he uses that to pump up Levey, like being an NBA player with only one arm or something.
He says that Levy's technique allows him to lift the harmonica from the "realm of Tinker Toy to the status of Stradivarius"
and mentions Levy "applying his boundless talents to a child's instrument" and how Levy was pursuing his belief that "a three inch long row of metal reeds could hold its own with the most carefully crafted instruments in the world"
Seems like building on quite a stereotype, not giving Filsko his due for his careful craftsmanship, and disparaging most other harmonica players that cannot play jazz like Levy.
Ahh well, some things never change I guess.
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RyanMortos
700 posts
Mar 28, 2010
7:08 PM
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I had this CD a few months and didn't even read the liner notes, lol. Seems like Mr Neil Tesser is strapped for ways to express in words Levy's achievements without belittling what he is achieving with. That's probably why he's writing on the liner notes of a CD as opposed to USA Today, haha.
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~Ryan
"I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window." - Stephen Wright
Pennsylvania - H.A.R.P. (Harmonica Association 'Round Philly)
Contact:
My youtube account
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Honkin On Bobo
240 posts
Mar 29, 2010
7:27 AM
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Uh.............Neil who????
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Honkin On Bobo
241 posts
Mar 29, 2010
9:29 AM
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So it's just as I thought.....he's a nobody.
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barbequebob
649 posts
Mar 29, 2010
10:12 AM
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One thing the average music fan needs to remember is that too often liner notes in LP's/CD's, etc., have tons of BS in it and hyperbole or whatever you want to call it. From hanging out with a lot of musicians that I once listened to on recordings and then actually gigged with them, you quickly find out how much flat out BS is in those liner notes. What's the verdict?? Take these things with a grain of salt because half the people writing these notes know far less than you think, and I'm telling you the truth about that and so don't get in a tizzy about this crap.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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walterharp
284 posts
Mar 29, 2010
10:54 AM
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i wonder if Levy proofed and approved the notes...
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HarpNinja
326 posts
Mar 29, 2010
11:06 AM
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Piggy-backing what Bob said, the funny thing is, although his points are dead on, you typically only read the liner notes after buying the CD!
They should put stuff like that on the back, so you can read it before buying.
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Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
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Honkin On Bobo
242 posts
Mar 29, 2010
11:15 AM
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HarpNinja,
I'm totally confused by your post. Bob's take is: don't worry about what the liner notes say, as they are often written by people who have no idea what they are talking about.
If that is true, then why would it matter whether they are on the inside or outside of the CD? So, I'm not sure how you are "piggy-backing" on what he said. I can't tell if you're agreeing with him or disagreeing with him.
Then again, this very conversation is a bit ridiculous, isn't it?
I've got way too much time on my hands.
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2010 11:17 AM
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HarpNinja
327 posts
Mar 29, 2010
11:44 AM
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I agree with his comments that liner notes are often a lot of bs.
Liner notes often try to sell you on an artist (like how Howard's really pumped him up). However, that type of advertisement is typically only read AFTER you open the cd (which means you've bought it already). I find that funny.
If you are going to have someone hype you up like that, it would be better served to provide access to those comments to people on the fence about buying the CD before they make a decision. That could be quotes on a poster, on the back of the package, on a website, or maybe iTunes, etc.
Kim Wilson's Looking for Trouble liner notes are similar. They really sell you on what the disc offers, but I didn't get to read that until after I bought the cd. Even if I hated it, they have my money and I can't return it.
I much prefer the liner notes to go past that into something a little more meaningful...like what recording the album was like, how the songs were written, what gear was used, etc.
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Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
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Album Ordering
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harmonicanick
701 posts
Mar 29, 2010
11:53 AM
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and what key/position the harp player is using would be helpful
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HarpNinja
328 posts
Mar 29, 2010
12:17 PM
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I always love that one.
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Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
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YouTube
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Facebook
Album Ordering
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barbequebob
651 posts
Mar 29, 2010
12:39 PM
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Very few liner notes are EVER written by people who really and TRULY know the artist AND the music as well. For blues, if it was written by someone TRULY knowledgeable about blues music like Peter Guralnik or the late Pete Welding, they would hold more creedence for me, or like a truly knowledgeable musician within the genre, like say my old buddy Jerry Portnoy, but after that, you need to take it all with a grain of salt.
In many ways, it's basically a sales pitch when you think about it.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2010 12:41 PM
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HarpNinja
329 posts
Mar 29, 2010
12:47 PM
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Exactly my point.
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Mike Fugazzi
vocals/harmonica
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Album Ordering
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kudzurunner
1290 posts
Mar 29, 2010
12:53 PM
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Pretty much every one of Tesser's credits connects him with jazz, not blues. His comments epitomize a longstanding breach--not universal, but definitely THERE--between jazz people and blues people.
He's implicitly (and not very implicitly) dissing blues, and blues harmonica. He's speaking from ignorance, sadly. But of course he's not just dissing blues harmonica: he's dismissing country harmonica, gospel harmonica, Buddy Greene, whomever.
It's too bad that a guy who knows so much about jazz knows so little about blues. It's even more regrettable that one of the most remarkable players the harmonica has ever seen (Howard) should be so badly served. Somebody who really understood the diatonic harmonica and its long and significant history--such as Kim Field--would be much better situated to evoke Howard's extraordinary innovations and impact.
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2010 12:56 PM
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barbequebob
652 posts
Mar 29, 2010
1:15 PM
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Adam, when it comes to harmonica, especially in other genres, and two in particular, jazz and classical, the diss on the instrument is unfortunately, all too common, some of it well deserved, some absolutely not. It defintely would've been nice to see someone like Kim Field do something like that, but on the other hand, the recording is not aimed only at harmonica players, and that's someting that needs to be pointed out.
Unless Howard was putting that recording out independantly, that's really something that doesn't surprise me at all. I listen to tons of harmonica in many different genres besides blues, including classical and with some genres, there's such a terrible snobbiness element happening when it comes to our humble instrument.
It kinda reminds me back in the very late 70's when I tried to apply to Berklee College of Music here in Boston, probably the best known Jazz school around, and when I mentioned I played harmonica, they immediately told me I had to take up an entirely different instrument (they also said that to a jazz harp great friend of mine, Mike Turk, who also had played trumpet as well).
What they really didn't want to tell me was that they didn't have anyone who could teach that to me there in that school.
A few years later, I almost went to Turtle Bay Music School, which had a chromatic harmonica curriculum, and the head of that was the great classical virtuoso, former head of R&D for Hohner, and now retired president of Huang Harmonicas, Cham-Ber Huang, and one of his pupils, Robert Bonfigilio, was also one of the instructors there. I chickened out and changed my mind, but uf I stayed, I know it would've greatly imporved my sight reading skills and theory knowledge, and with the sight reading skills, I'd be able to do more regular studio harp stuff.
I know classical teachers tend to really be focused on TB'ing as the preferred playing method, but I already started out that way, and so that wouldn't have been a problem for me.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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tmf714
49 posts
Mar 29, 2010
1:43 PM
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A much more realistic review directly from Howard's website:
Tonight and Tomorrow
Howard Levy
Chicago Sessions
Howard Levy – piano, harmonica; Larry Gray – double bass; Ernie Adams – drums.
Order the CD $15
Tonight and Tomorrow
Howard Levy | Chicago Sessions
By Matthew Warnock
Tonight and Tomorrow is an intellectually stimulating and highly enjoyable album by virtuoso harmonicist Howard Levy. Featured on both harmonica and piano, even performing both simultaneously on “Sandi,” Levy and his trio--bassist Larry Gray and drummer Ernie Adams--perform together as if they've been on the bandstand for years. With an uncanny ability to interpret and anticipate each other, the trio sounds as one instrument as it weaves its way through the album's various tempos, feels, grooves and harmonic progressions.
Levy wrote all of Tonight and Tomorrow's tunes, with the exception of two collective free improvs, “Flunky Jazz” and “Triosity.” Drawing from across his forty-plus year career, Levy has brought together ten songs reflecting his different artistic tastes. There are odd-meter compositions such as “Song for Susan,” Brazilian-influenced grooves like “Chorinho,” and everything in-between. With such a diverse and extensive history it would be almost impossible for Levy to sum his career up on one disc, but Tonight and Tomorrow comes as close as possible to doing just that. Levy's harmonica playing is startlingly fluid and full of the technical prowess that would be expected from the genre's top saxophonists, not from an instrument that is often associated with campfire cowboys and Mississippi bluesmen. In the capable hands of the Chicago-based musician, however, the harmonica cooks. On the opener, ”Howard's F# Blues,” and the freely-improvised “Flunky Jazz,” Levy tears across the Instrument's three octave range with such a wide variety of tonal colors, harmonic flavors and timbres that it is almost impossible to think that all of these amazing sounds are coming out of an instrument that fits into the palm of his hand.
Gray and Adams give stellar performances throughout. Aside from his strong rhythm playing, Gray also contributes several memorable solos, including standout improvisations on “Song for Susan” and “Slanted Samba.” Adams is as solid as a rock with his comping and grooves. Never one to overplay, Adams knows exactly when to lay back and let the soloist explore the groove and when to jump in and engage the lead player head on. It is this level of interaction between the rhythm section and soloist that provide some of the albums most poignant moments. Tonight and Tomorrow is an engaging release by the Chicago trio of Levy, Gray and Adams. These three musicians have come together to prove, once again, that it's not necessary to only look to New York for the best in American jazz. The Windy City scene is doing just fine, thank you.
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2010 1:46 PM
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Nastyolddog
494 posts
Mar 29, 2010
5:40 PM
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It's all going to be all right i need a bit more time though,
Ok i have to let go with my secret Project it's sad that Jazz Muso's are plain wankers,
to protect all other Muso's and allso normal Folks,
1 have been trying to do some Double up surgerys
you know remove 2 body parts and swap them over to another area,
see i been trying to graft a Jazz musicians head to it's Arse area and the Arse to the neck,
i think this is nesacary ground breaking research
see if it works out you will see them comeing and tell instantly OH NO !!! here comes a mindless asshole with a head full of shit,
that speaks with it's Arse:)
Last Edited by on Mar 29, 2010 7:20 PM
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Aussiesucker
588 posts
Mar 29, 2010
7:36 PM
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Nasty> You are way too late ie it's already been done & the outcome was rappers!
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Nastyolddog
496 posts
Mar 30, 2010
12:03 AM
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Yo Aussie Bro it's taking some time
there has been some trial and errors
with my research and experiments
over the years,
Yes i made a very bad graft a few years back
one of my subjects escaped man sorry about that,
but i will forge onwards,
no I'm not responsible for Yuri Lane.
Last Edited by on Mar 30, 2010 12:05 AM
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ness
174 posts
Mar 30, 2010
5:59 AM
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So the guy's got an impressive resume. He's still off base. It's flowery bullshit, and that's what critics do. Why give the liner notes any weight?
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barbequebob
653 posts
Mar 30, 2010
10:23 AM
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Ness, that was my point!!! The average music fan tends to think of liner notes as the gospel truth, and trust me, 98% of liner notes are nothing but total BS, and unfortunately, some people will believe anything.
On the other hand, I've seen critics who knew exactly nothing about a genre and/or a musician they were writing about and even worse, hated the genre to begin with and/or the musician, and so that's why I tell people take it all with a grain of salt.
From being around many of the older masters that I've actually listened to on their recordings or working with them personally, trust me, I know better than most average music fans usually do and that ain't no BS!!!!
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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Kyzer Sosa
252 posts
Mar 30, 2010
8:56 PM
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i think the tinker toy to strad comment is just them trying to showcase Howards playing ability from one end of the spectrum (a kids toy) to another (Howie). I, personally would hate to have anyone say that arrogant shit about me on the inside of a CD cover. but im not trying to sell myself as a god of the instrument either. Is it really that important to be so touted and sucked off by wanna be's if youre the top talent in the industry?
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Kyzer's Travels
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