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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Dennis Gruenling Show in Atlanta
Dennis Gruenling Show in Atlanta
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joeleebush
202 posts
Feb 10, 2011
2:38 PM
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Dennis Gruenling came into Atlanta last night 2/9 for a harp clinic and then a public show at Blind Willie's club.
SENSATIONAL program.
He can really wail on that piece of junk we use to express ourselves musically...and one of the nicest, good natured, individuals you'd ever want to meet. No phoney "I am the god of the harp, see how tricky I am" stuff from him.
Lots of the local hitters were there and he asked a number of us to come up and do a few tunes. Maurice "Big Daddy" Nazarro, Carlos "Breeze King" Capote, "Doctor" Larry Dixon, and yours truly Joe Lee "Old Grouchy" Bush.
Fortunately(?) JoeLee aka "Old Grouchy" was spared until last to get up there and follow 'superman' and his magic. Old Grouchy held his own, but the 'come uppance' was certainly dished out from Mister D in copious amounts.
The tragedy was that here was a world class player, doing a clinic, performing, and teaching....(the regular customers came into the club at 9:30 for the public show) and there were only 9 harp players there. NINE!
The very ones who should've been there were nowhere to be seen.
And in true form, Old Grouchy, declared...."yep that just about figures, too lazy and puffed up with pride, filled with an over inflated opinion of their own self-worth,
and sitting somewhere trying to learn some stupid overblow that they will never use on a paid show in their entire lives".
It was a fantastic evening...if you get a chance to see his show, do NOT miss it.
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tmf714
479 posts
Feb 10, 2011
3:54 PM
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I know what your saying Joe Lee-I set up a seminar for Dennis in NY a few years back with similar results-their loss.
I will be seeing Dennis and Doug tomorrow night in Bradenton at Aces-I'm sure Dennis will give me the low down-and I will report on the gig there as well.
Glad you enjoyed yourself-Dennis makes it easy,don't he? Humble,world class musician-just a great personality-I'm proud to have him as a friend,mentor and teacher.
Tom Fiacco.
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kudzurunner
2316 posts
Feb 10, 2011
8:00 PM
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Joe Lee: It's too bad there were only 9 players there. But I gotta be honest: the way that you invoke overblowers and overblowing is silly. You're fighting a battle of your own invention with figments of your imagination. Dennis is a wonderful player. I've pointed that out many times here, and Jason Ricci has pointed it out. Dennis overblows! No harp player STAYED AWAY from the gig for the reason you suggest: "an over inflated opinion of their own worth" and a determination to "learn some stupid overblows." It just didn't happen. That's your fantasy, but it bears no relation to reality.
Speaking of which, when was the last time that you caught a live show by Carlos Del Junco? And when was the last time you had a chance to speak with him? I'm happy to say that I did both things last weekend at the International Blues Challenge. He played a very good set on Thursday night and an incredible set on Friday night. The room was full of harp players; I knew some of them and made the acquaintance of several others who came up and said they recognized me. Carlos played fantastic stuff--sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes filled with overblows, other times not. Always swinging, always with a rich tone and complete control. The overblows didn't squeak. You couldn't tell they were overblows. He used every register of the instrument; he used many double stops. He was in complete control of his band. It was a big, bold show, painted in all the colors that amplified harp allows. Several weeks earlier he played multiple shows out on the West Coast as part of Mark Hummel's blowoff. After his set on Friday, I went up to pay my respects. We traded CDs, and he started apologizing for his new CD, explaining how some stuff was good and other stuff was....interesting. He's a modest guy. One of the cuts on the album, "Mojo," contains a sequence of such remarkable virtuosity that I don't think any other harp player in the world except for Howard Levy could play it, and I'm not sure Howard could play it with as much supple beauty and naturalness as Carlos plays it. Based on the show I saw and the stuff on that album and BLUES MONGREL, I'm sure that Carlos deserves to be called one of the very best harmonica players alive on the planet today. Overblows happen to be a part of what he does, but they're a part of the total package, and he has ALL the other tools and gifts.
You're a great player in your own right. I'm not sure why you keep fighting the particular battle you're fighting, but the truth is: you're fighting it with yourself. The straw man has gone home. He's having fun somewhere, hanging out and trading licks with non-overblowers. You could be having more fun, frankly, if you stopped beating the drum.
Dennis, of course, deserves all the business, and respect, that he can get. That's one reason why he's been listed first on the "harmonica teachers" page of this website since the day I created the page. I don't agree with Dennis about every single harmonica-related thing, but everybody I know agrees with my comment, published in 2000, that he's one of the very best players of his generation--and in the world, at this point, since he's now in his prime. Too bad about the low attendance, but that's showbiz. There'll be more people next time.
Last Edited by on Feb 10, 2011 8:15 PM
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Joe_L
1054 posts
Feb 10, 2011
9:30 PM
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I saw Carlos Del Junco five times during Mark Hummel's Blowouts in Northern California. He's a great player. While his performance was technically elegant, he was boring in comparison with Mark Hummel, Billy Branch, Sugar Blue and Rod Piazza. I appreciated Mark for putting him on the show.
The tools in the toolbox don't make a difference. It's what you do with them that matters.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
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earlounge
288 posts
Feb 11, 2011
8:32 AM
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Dennis pushes his techniques pretty hard, but he is still open to other ways of playing. He will teach you a lot of stuff even if you are not 100% on his path.
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kudzurunner
2317 posts
Feb 11, 2011
9:00 AM
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Joe L.:
Was Carlos playing with his own band, or was he playing with a house band? I saw him with his own band. He was anything but boring. I've seen every great living blues harp player (including Hummel, Branch, Blue, and Rod) live multiple times; the show I saw--Carlos with his band--ranks with the best live shows I've ever seen. He's an OK singer--not the equal, obviously, of William Clarke or Sugar Ray Norcia or Sugar Blue or Kim--but the harp playing and overall band sound on Friday in Memphis was wicked good. (His Thursday night show wasn't as good.) Too bad he didn't deliver in the blowoff.
Last Edited by on Feb 11, 2011 9:03 AM
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Joe_L
1055 posts
Feb 11, 2011
9:32 AM
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Adam - Like yourself, I've seen damn near every great Blues harp player on the scene since the 1980's several times. I hadn't seen Carlos Del Junco before, but heard all of the hype.
He was playing with the Blues Survivors. Rusty Zinn, RW Grigsby and Marty Dodson. Those guys are rock solid and made everyone sound good. Carlos decided to do a solo tune during each show. The only people that were jazzed by it, were the hard core harp players. His other tunes were Blues.
We agree, he's not as good a singer as anyone you mentioned.
Sometimes, people have crappy nights.
Let me add one thing to what Joe Lee Bush wrote. Before Al Gore invented the Internet, harp players learned by watching and listening to other harp players. It's a good idea for people to get out, watch, listen and learn. It's sad to see that only 9 players showed up. How often to great harp players blow into town? Not often enough. When they show up, it's nice to support them.
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The Blues Photo Gallery
Last Edited by on Feb 11, 2011 9:33 AM
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honeydawg
31 posts
Feb 11, 2011
9:34 AM
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I think Hummel's blowoff would be a tough situation for a guy like Carlos, who pretty much has his own unique take on trad blues tunes. I'm sure he was operating out of his comfort zone.
Dennis and Carlos are marvelous musicians and good guys. I'd go out of my way to support them.
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JTThirty
111 posts
Feb 11, 2011
9:52 AM
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Well, I jsst with these guys would slide on down into Texas. I think we'd show them plenty of hospitality.
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Ricky B
www.bushdogblues.blogspot.com
RIVER BOTTOM BLUES-A crime novel for blues fans due out late 2011
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