Hi, a few years ago I felt in love with swingin blues guitarists (Alex Schultz or Duke Robbilard). It's really amazing kind of music between blues and jazz. I listen many sax or hammond players and I try to move (transpose) to my harmonica style. One of my favorite CDs is Jump Time (D. Gruenling). Do you know more this kind jazz-blues albums?
BTW Today I recorded bebop tune "Now's The Time". It has 12 bars and in a fact it's blues with a few another chords and different beat.
Cool as usual, but I more prefer your experimental stuff like techno harp. Great chromatic runs and bebop phrases! 1:57 tenor madness quote ((: ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
Bart: You're a man after my own heart and I'm delighted to have you as a member of this forum. We will have many conversations about the intersections of blues and jazz! The sort of lines you're playing are obviously impossible to play without overblows, and yet for players who don't yet overblow, I hope your stylings will serve as a maddeningly tempting call to step outside the boundaries of the blues and take one small step towards The Jazz. I can hear some of what you're doing, but not all of it, which means that I'll profit greatly by sitting down with your video in a calm moment and stealing a few of your licks. I've played this song for years, but I don't solo on it as well as you. I'll have to practice!
FYI: "Now's the Time" was recorded by Charlie Parker in 1945, but in 1949, saxophonist Paul Williams remade it as an R&B tune, "The Hucklebuck," and it became a #1 hit.
This sort of interchange between different realms within black pop/jazz/R&B music--in this case, between two different sorts of sax players--is something that was replicated by Little Walter, who similarly took Joe Liggins's R&B hit "The Honeydripper" and converted into the harp part for "Evans Shuffle" with Muddy Waters.
Last Edited by on Dec 29, 2010 7:14 PM
Thanks for nice comments. @Stevelegh: It's Richter tuned harmonica with little regepping for my taste. Seydel 1847 is great out of the box for overblows. I don't spend too much time working on my harps, I just want to play music :o)
@Stevelegh: could you please precise which exactly moment you are asking (3 draw semitone bend)?
Dear Adam, Thank you for your kind words. I'm really glad to be a member of this forum!
Bart, I just love this type of stuff. I've been jamming with it in my head for two hours now! I loved your blues playing at Famous Dave's at this years SPAH. Chris had invited you up on the stage with all the younger hot players. You outplayed them all on the blues stuff, in my opinion and I remember running over to Todd Parrott and asking him "who was that guy"?
Hey Bart, That was superb. I'm a die hard blues player who saw no need to overblow, until now ! Thats the first time I've heard overblows used in way that excites me.
I play swing/ blues in the styles of William Clarke and Rod Piazza. Schultz played with Piazza for years.
Check them out, they don't use overblows, but man do they swing and groove.
For those who are interested in exploring 12-bar blues drawn from the jazz/blues intersection, the great majority of which require overblows when played cross harp (and starting with Bart's selection):
Now's The Time Things Ain't What They Used to Be Blue Bird Blue Monk Honky Tonk Tenor Madness St. Louis Blues
Some of these CAN be adapted to non-overblow playing; a lot of people fudge "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," for example, to avoid the augmented 5th on the opening phrase. But I've been to the sheet music on that one, and your need a 4 ob to do it right.
Here's the Steve Gadd Band doing the song. If this doesn't make you want to steal licks and jam along, this ain't the thread for you:
Jimmy Smith played many nice blues pieces with jazz improvisations. Sometimes I put mp3 to Cool Edit and I make it slower to steal some ideas or licks :o) I try to listen every instrument and repeat in on harmonica.
Please check another nice jazz-blues tune by Jimmy Smith. Great feeling!
