Slidemeister (Chromatic & related only - no Diatonic discussion) > GENERAL CHROMATIC DISCUSSION

VA report from Bill Price part 1 (un-cut/un-edited)

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SlideMeister:
fellow harmonicists - it was a great time

two outstanding things happened there. stan harper graced us with not only his presence, but a showstopping performance. i have met stan before (in nj, at ghsc) but have not seen him perform. the man is beyond amazing. because we spent a lot of time talking, b-s-ing, etc during the 2.5 days i was there, we became 'pals' and when he came off the stage i was chatting with him and told him that if i were writing a review of the performance it would never get published in a magazine because it would be a 2 word review, and the second word would be amazing!

stan is not a guy who plays well for an 86 year old former vaudevillian, etc., etc. stan is a guy who kicks kiester and would hold his own against any player i've had the pleasure of seeing so far (and i've seen most who are alive today). first of all, his performance is as tasteful as it gets. good music, good showmanship. second, it is fast where it should be fast. amazingly fast. third, it is precise--not a sloppy note in a carload.

add to that a few minutes of reminiscing and some vaudeville schtick and he had the audience on their (our) feet three times (and some of us have a difficult time getting up...)

while stan might not make the ideal guest on mr. rogers' neighborhood, i will always cherish the fact that he chose to spend a bunch of time telling me war stories and laughing together with me.

he will be at spah this year, not as a performer, but as himself. if any of you get the chance to say hello, i hope you take the time to do so. a rare opportunity to meet a genuine legend.

item number two in the amazing category dealt with a diatonic performer stealing the show, much as PT gazelle did last year. this year, it was bob meehan, who shares a hairstyle with pete graber (and a.j. fedor)

bob was once one of a million other blues playing diatonic guys. pretty good, but one of a million. and all that time, he loved bluegrass music. went to all the festivals and tried very hard not to be treated like a leper because of his instrument. i should mention that we were nice to his banjo player, melvin cumbie (not sure of the spelling) but i digress.

bob studied under howard levy and figured how to get all the notes (and a few tones inbetween) from a 10-hole harmonica. i assume he spent a lot of time trying to convince some bluegrass people to 'take him in' and let him join a bluegrass band, but it must have been like a flute player trying to join a surf-guitar group.

but a group called 'common ground' took him in.

it would be unfair to just say that he plays his diatonic like a fiddle, but in some aspects, he does. he also plays it like a harmonica. and every note is bluegrass. and it fits. we didn't just have bob playing for us--he brought the entire band (from all over the southeast) to prove to us that bob fits in. those guys are amazing. fingerpickin' and flatpickin' that just leaves you with an astonished grin. and to be fair to the bass player, while she played a lot of 1-5 bass (which is not a cop-out, but is the prefered bass pattern for bluegrass) i watched carefully to see the intricate patterns of changes and stops, breaks, and bits of accents and 'musical punctuation' which required her to be extremely precise and not play anywhere near as slipshod a bass as i am known for playing. i could NEVER fill in for her for more than perhaps one number, and i'd probably screw that up. she is *precise,* which is what the job requires.

continues on next post

SlideMeister:


so a harmonica festival, largely chromatic players. whooped and hollered for an hour of bluegrass in the saturday night performance. unheard of, but likely to happen again.

you 'almost' dont miss the fiddle. to be honest, bob does not exactly replace the fiddle, and it would be interesting to hear him in a group *with* a fiddle, to see how they would intermingle. it should be noted that bob has the good musical sense to play 'enough, but not too much.'

still no cds available of common ground which include bob, but they are being pressured into cutting one soon. meanwhile, both common ground (before bob) and bob (before common ground) have cds available.

our other headliner, sandy german (pronounced grrrrr-man if you don't already know) got to enjoy the talents of the local guitar, bass, and drums that tom mccraig hires to accompany jazz players, and he was great. he 'sent in the clowns' which he dedicated to pete petersen, gave us his special version of 'summertime' which surprises you with it's intro, and wrapped it up with c-jam blues.

and all throughout the event, we had herb eck and al data working tirelessly to accompany others (bass and chord) so that everyone could have a good time, while performing for us as well (and doing an enviable job too) in a trio configuration as well. i am embarrassed that i can't remember their friend's name (also a pittsburgher--even had a steeler's sweatshirt) but i bet someone will fill me (us) in on that so he too receives credit for being a quality player and a class act. i humbly apologize for not remembering. my memory is not so good. also, my memory is not so good.

now--these two guys showed up--a bassman named frank warner (yeah, we think we've heard of him once or twice) and a diminutive chord player with animated eyebrows (hint - his name rhymes with cud hoblink). this is not the first, or second or third - time i've heard bud boblink play chord, but either he has gotten even better, or i paid more attention to the subtle things he does (like slipping in some single note runs on his chord in counterpoint with the lead guy) and some other techniques that show he never stops working on perfecting his craft.

bud has cds available - they'll be available at spah, and those of you with a spah membership directory could write to bud for a cd. i have it. it is more than worthwhile.

frank warner has elevated himself to 'the man who needs no intruduction,' which is a shame, because he deserves one. everyone except the brand new people in attendance recognize him when he walks into a room, and rightly so, he's been arond for at least, oh, five or ten years....

i don't know all the bass players. i have never heard, for instance, danny wilson play, so i'm not going to tell you frank is the best bass player ever. besides, he wouldn't stand for that. in fact, none of these guys think for a moment that there is such a thing as 'the best player' in any category. they do, however, respect the ability of others who demonstrate greatness. i'll rise to a moment of personal privilege here and say that our own jack hopkins (alexandria virginia) capitol harmonica club should be noted as one of the most versatile and agile bass players i've ever had the pleasure of playing alongside.

frank warner personifies the term 'gentleman.' i can attest to this because after he and bud accompanied me (as they did for anyone who had the guts to go up on stage with them) he complimented me on my playing. that takes a *real* gentleman!

both bud and frank have been chosen (in different years) as spah's 'harmonica player of the year,' which says a lot more than i can.

and our sound guy, darryll whatzisname, was GREAT! imagine that! a GREAT soundman! i could blame my ignorance of his last name on a blurred nametag, but alas, it's my blurred memory that's to blame.

and while most of you don't even know who tom mccraig is, he is (98%) singlehandedly responsible for making this festival happen. even i forgot to thank and congratulate him. thanks, tom. congratulations on another enjoyable event.

-bp

Danny G:
Bill:
I'm sorry that I couldn't make it this time so thank you for a great review.

SlideMeister:
That's another one we always hear great things about that I've yet to attend. Maybe next year, eh?
age

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