From: NGuzmam Date: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 00:03:43 EST Subject: Re: Chromatic Positions/young playing old
In a message dated 98-01-13 20:41:00 EST, you write:
<< This brings me a very disconcerting thing that happened to me this weekend when I was playing with Santa Barbara Symphony. I went down to the local blues club to play a little and a local harp player was playing in the Little Walter style; this was okay until I began to notice that this young harp player was playing the solos note for note as Walter did on the recordings; I MEAN NOTE FOR NOTE!
Now Little Walter in a Beethoven type classical context was weird to me. I mean we all used to learn those licks from the records, but I thought the object was to improvise a solo and to have your own style, not be a Little Walter clone. Is this where we're headed? I shiver at how retro that sounded to me; color definitely does not define blues, but this is as "white" as blues gets. Thoughts please! >>
Yes Mr. Bonfiglio, I agree with you and I'll give you a hint. Do not be surprised. As I'm not.Though shamely, these things occur very, vey often. I could even mention long time harp players who have recorded LW solos note by note, YES, note by note. And even worst, if you don't do it, you're the outsider. The daring ilegal. The outlaw. The annoying alien. Harmonica players spend their whole lives trying to sound like their god LW, and never like themselves. Some of them never had the chance to try. The environment is very powerful. Get yourself an old Fender amp, a bullet-mic, a couple of Marine Bands and go out there. You don't need to learn music, no need to know further harmonica technique. You've got the feeling, remember ? Now if you play LW passages, man you're gonna smoke the house. So Mr. Bonfiglio, you asked : Is this where we're headed ? There might not be any direction taken. Or there might be only a circle, going round and round . . .
