First Getting You Started Lesson

Ok, there are great lessons out on the Net for intermediate and advanced players of the blues harp. But what if you have been listening and figure playing the harp is like learning calculus. Not quite. The goal is to get yourself in touch with the music and the sense of playing it and down the road to make your thoughts and emotions known through the medium of the blues harp.

Well, let me introduce you to Jon Gindick who has some of the best basic harmonica teachings I've ever come across. In fact, many years ago when I played a lot of Bob Dylan style folkie harmonica, I wanted to learn some blues. The concept behind it all was way beyond me -- and I picked up something he'd written who gave me this flash buddhalike insight into just the most basic principles to hang onto as I progressed. For that, I'm grateful.

Another example of that kind of miracle -- teaching me anything I can learn  -- is posted today. Now, if you take a moment to review the video with a C harp in hand, perhaps a lot of the mystery at the start of having a harmonica stuck in your mouth will clear up for you.

The Big Easy -- Fantastic!

Stepped into a blue jam tonight here in Houston at The Big Easy, a legendary club that's been around for years and years. Played there several times a long while back with my band.

It was fantastic. Great musicians, wonderful staff and owner, fantastic audience. I was lucky, since performers are kinda of thrown together, to have gotten such great players. I did a few blues tunes -- Pontiac Blues from Sonny Boy Willamson and Long Distance Call from Muddy Waters -- both singing and playing harp.  Really cool. I was asked to come back tomorrow night and was also invited to do a few songs at a restaurant/club by one of the musicians I met tonight and played with.

Way cool.

The Holy Grail of Harp

Ok, so what is the Holy Grail of Blues Harp?  Well, given the nearly celestial tone of Little Walter, I suppose most players genuflect in the direction of his classic "Juke."  

 

Not a lot of things in life are stunning. Perhaps the most recent verbal smoke bomb of a Sarah Palin which can leave people wide eyed in bafflement. Juke, however, IS stunning. Now, nobody -- and I mean nobody -- has mastered it. So, get  that out of your head pronto.  If you want to start goofing around with it, go right ahead. Thinking a tiny sliver of a transcript will make one a Little Walter is akin to saying, "How do I ride across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope on my bicycle?" and hearing "Well, first get a rope."

There are a few important points beyond that.

If you're interested, you might try out http://www.harptab.com/blues/playjuke.shtml which is, I suppose, a good hearted attempt to get one moving in the right direction.

Hooker 'N Heat

Ok, one of the most underrated or unknown blues albums is the fantastic Hooker 'n Heat which features the immortal John Lee Hooker with both solo work and tracks with Canned Heat. I heard it in college a thousand years ago and fell completely under its spell.

Of huge importance to this blog (and this player) were the duo cuts with Hooker and Alan Wilson, the Heat's harp player who died even before the album came out. In fact, the cover shows the band and Hooker sitting in a dark hotel room without Alan, of course, although his picture hangs on the wall behind them and to the right.

Alan Wilson's performance blew Hooker away. Hopefully it'll do the same for you.

Oh, That Bias Thing

First of all, there's no such thing as the best in harps, either players or equipment or songs.

Instead, what we have are piles of personal favorites. So, when I look at harps and players it's not the same as you or you or you.

My personal favorite is Sonny Boy Williamson, aka Rice Miller. He is simply the coolest cat, period, and the choice reflects my own likes -- listen to Trust My Baby and tell me it's not brilliant, of course, and I'll raise all kinda of hell.

Part of it comes from a general dislike of most amplified harp players, which is to say 90% of the honkers and raspers that masquerade as harp players these days from garage bands on up.  As a former group leader, I had one guy in my band over the years who was simply the best -- Frank Zona. He was also (and is now primarily) a sax player, something I don't hold against him because he comes at it all as a blues player, not a jazzamoto.  I did have one guy who must have had a blood transfusion from David Sanborn and always sounded out of tune to me as he waggled his backside to impress the ladies.

The difference is critical. Blues is played from the heart (or waist) down and jazz from the neck up.

Sonny Boy Williamson 2 (to be correct) had a bag of tricks/skills that made his playing the best for me. It wasn't just buying a harp and blowing it through a Shure Green Bullet. His hands and technique gave the most distinct voice to a harp I have ever heard.  With it came the freedom to create, not the drive to conform.

Next time I'll step on toes about the harps themselves and what I like and don't like.

Don't start me to talking. I'll tell everything I know.

Increasing Chance of Howling Wolf

My favorite story about Howlin' Wolf is that during a club date one night, a guy from the audience walked up to the stage and said to Wolf, "Hey, do you know your piano player is asleep?"  Wolf looked around and, sure enough, the poor guy had dozed off at the piano. Wolf looked back at the man and said, "Let him sleep. Long as he sleeps, he's got a job..."

If you're looking for intensity that would melt lead, check him out -- it's evident in this clip. So is some excellent harp playing with a great style that fits, big time.