One thing that hasn't been discussed much here is the dance of blues harmonica. It's a part of the visual performance, not the music per se--and yet it's very much a part of the music, because it's an expression of the music's underlying swing-rhythm. Swing often expresses itself as a harp player's body doing more than one thing at the same time: carrying the beat (exact time) and then slapping it around with anticipated and delayed accents. Good harp players know how to carry both beats in a way that keeps the heat up, yet doesn't unbalance them: what John Miller Chernoff's informants in AFRICAN RHYTHM AND AFRICAN SENSIBILITY refer to as "coolness." Hot, yet cool.
Rod Piazza, on top of his game, is an excellent example of this:
This amazing footage of William Clarke offers an even better example on the first song. His belly is where some of the counter-rhythmic accents are sourced:
I saw Clarke several times during this period. Memorable performances every time. He was a pro. A real jazz sense of phrasing, at least on some of his big chromatic work.
I'm not allowed to sway in time; it's in the restraining order. :)
When I was a kid I used to play air guitar. I used to be able to do the David Lee Roth jumps and kicks over my head, but I've got heel spurs now, so I don't move around much when I'm playing.
most of the time, when i practice, im sitting down. when i go jam with the boys, i stand up, exclusively. and its no surprise that i always seem to put together all the missing pieces when i play like that. theres definitely something to be said for being able to move your body the way you feel you need to get into the groove. ive been recorded by someone else one time, and was surprised at how much body language i had going on. ---------- Kyzer's Travels Kyzer's Artwork
One or two of our songs border on being a jig, it's hard not to dance to those, especially stompin on a tambourine for time. But the bluesy numbers call for a more seductive type of dance more aligned to that hypnotic rhythm....... :~)
Yeah...Rod's got it going...Miss Honey sure does too! Funny because I was playing that song last night and doing the little dance too. Surely, not as well as Rod but it's a double toe tapper.
I have to say that I think blues harp is a full-body instrument. If you're not grooving with it while you're playing – even just a bit – odds are it's not coming out of the harp either. Which is not to say that merely jumping around with a harp and "really feelin' it, man" is gonna cut it if you don't know what you're doing either. But, yeah, there's something about the body that can't be denied in my mind. -Bob
it's true of every instrument if you're playing that kind of music, although Keely Smith might disagree. (Don't bother telling me they're putting it on here)
I was looking for a Weather Report video because I have fond memories of Jaco Pastorius walking and dancing and jogging on the spot whilst playing. I didn't find anything too great, but I did find stuff that showed Wayne Shorter to have pretty awful posture whilst playing the soprano sax. ---------- Andrew, gentleman of leisure.
What it comes down to is FEELING the groove and just standing there stiff as a board tends to not go over well with an audience. Even tapping your feet to keep time is important. Besides, why would you want to emulate the stereotype "white guys from the burbs can't and won't dance.?"
Without a good groove, it just lies there flat and you just wind up boring an audience because your playing AT them, rather than to and FOR them.
I personally can't sit still like a statue, which may be OK for classical audiences where dancing or moving around either on stage or in the audience is looked down upon, and if I can't feel the groove, it makes things really tough and it sounds like another 100th rate crappy open jam session. ---------- Sincerely, Barbeque Bob Maglinte Boston, MA http://www.barbequebob.com CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
Yeah, I move so much when I play that I've switched my stage duds from sunglasses and a hat to a spandex unitard and leg warmers, much more comfortable!
