I saw Howard Levy for the first time last night. He appeared with Mike Turk at "Johnny D's Uptown Lounge" in Somerville, MA.
His virtuosity defies description. None of the accounts of his playing prepared me for what I heard.
Turk opened with his band. After about 30 mins Turk turned the band over to Howard. He's a fine entertainer, too boot. He began with a little self ridicule, saying he proposed to entertain us on an instrument that cost less than the dinner we'd just finished. His repertoire ranged from "Funny Valentine" to a medium tempo blues shuffle on which he improvised lyrics. At the end of the set when he called Turk back, they traded solos, then individual bars.
Second set opened with Paul Rishell (guitar) and Little Annie Raines (acoustic harp) playing country blues, followed by Howard and the band, joined quickly by Turk, who soon called Kim Field to the stage. Turk and Howard gave Kim lots of room and he sounded great, singing and playing a blues standard. Then Little Annie replace Kim. At times the three of them were huddled around one microphone; at other times they stood in a line and played three-part horn riffs.
My meager musical observations: Howard uses the full range of the instrument, all ten holes, with equally lyrical melodic lines... He gets the intricate harmonies we associate with the chromatic, but with the diatonic sound... Such a level of virtuosity as Howard has leaves the unaccustomed listener with little attention left over to hear the *music*. I heard more music from Turk, perhaps, because I was not so spell bound by his playing. Howard's scales *seemed* more complex and surely his velocity was greater than Turk's.
oh...my...god...
--Charlie
P.S. And to think that Billy Boy Arnold was playing only a few miles away in Cambridge!
