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From: "John W. Sawyer"
Date: Sat, 7 Aug 1999 13:58:20 -0400
Subject: Big Dave and the Ultrasonics - on behalf of Mike Easton

Man if you never heard them live they are incredible. the harpist Dave
Morris
is a phonominal player. He just doesnt blow riffs but creates long intricate
lines like a bobop sax player. He uses every hand and mouth effect out there
with agility and would easily leave a lot of other pro level players in the
dust when it comes to keeping long solos fresh. Even to see him you would
think he is playing chromatic jazz lines with incredible tone and the fluid
sweep of notes. For those of you that saw William Gallison in the ballroom
at
BHF I would rank it with his performance, only this time its a non overblow
diatonic playing all the great lines.

The other thing that amazed me is he plays all the heads and turnarounds in
unision with the organist and guitarist with no sloppy filler notes....fast
or slow tunes.

We (the regional blues society) had advertised this concert heavily but the
max that showed up for the gig last night was 50 people. The room can hold
about 250-300 people so it was a real disappointment. (people tend to have a
mindset, "if i never heard of the band they must not be good). >sigh<

Since my experience with Gary Primich a few months ago (i saw him out of
town
and he told me he needed some harps tuned but I lived to far away to get my
equiptment) I decided to bring my tools and rotary tuner.

I told Dave I was vp of the blues society and a harper and if there was
anything he may need in the way of harp maintanence or mic repairs that I
could do for him while he was in town.

He plays Richard Sleigh harps and had a Eb with a stuck 7 draw reed and an A
harp that needed the draw 5 retuned for octave playing. After a bit of time
I
was able to get the stuck reed working. There was a bit of corrosion on the
reed inside at the base and it was keeping the reed from vibrating. The
tuning job was quicker and only needed adjusted by 8-10 cents.

He was very greatful and asked me to sit in later in the evening and gave
me
a copy of their Live cd. I was drinking ice water with a lemon slice in it
all evening and when it came time to play my mouth dryed up (from being
nervous I guess) and I almost choked half way in the song. I had to motion
for him to bring me a glass of water. All in all it was fun and I got to do
2 solos in the song. I forget the title.

Normally I don't ask to sit in cause locals are there to see nat'l acts. not
me. but dave asked me first and I was anxious to try out his amp. He had a
fender w/ 4 tens and while it sounded good from out front once you get on
stage with the other players the amp sounded "dead" even though I used his
same reverb and delay settings. I asked the people I was sitting with later
about it and they said it sounded pretty good out front.

I talked to him a little bit about Donnie Mortone ,#1 fan, and harp-l. seems
he is a list lurker:). The band seems to have taken a liking to sweet potato
pie last night (they got it from a Pennsylvania fan the night before) and
were having a good time eating and sharing it. Next time I'll turn them on
to
some PA. Dutch shoefly pie. we'll see how articulate dave is with black
strap
molassas and crumb pastry all over his lips.:)

Anyway if they end up in a town close enough for you to see them do so. Dave
Morris is one of the true unsung harp virtuosos out there. They will be
playing an outdoor concert in downtown DC today so it's likely to be free.

mike"soon to be back" easton

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