I was surfing and came across Rob Paparozzi's streamlined new website, which had an icon at the top for something called "sessionplayers.com." Hitting the link took me to the page dedicated to top-shelf harp guys who offer their services:
http://www.sessionplayers.com/harmonica.htm
I'd heard of Mickey Raphael and Richard Hunter, obviously, and Rob is my friend, but the name Jimmy Zavala was new to me.
He has the look and feel of a guy who comes to the music by way of rock, rather than blues, so I was curious to check out his music. When I hit audio samples, it ended up taking me to iTunes, where I got two tidbits. Neither of them had the slightest trace of harmonica playing. How could a guy who has the look, the contacts, fall so flat on this basic element of salesmanship? If you're going to say, "Hey, check out my playing before you hire me," you should deliver on that promise.
What can anybody tell me about Jimmy Zavala as a harp player? I'll check out YouTube and see what I can find.
Here's a video. Jimmy Z's solo starts at 2:32. This brought back memories of a thousand "blues jams" at NYC rock clubs.
Jimmy Z's stuff is actually better in the duel with the sax player towards the end, between 4:24 and 5:20 or so. He's got some chops! He's a 100% lip purser, and he's getting zero help from his amp; he may even have that bullet mic plugged into the PA. He sounds to me like a guy who hasn't actually spent much time in blues scenes per se--he doesn't come from the Piazza/Portnoy/Kim direction--but has listened to some records and put in a lot of time as a gigging rock musician. Interesting. The whole vibe of this video screams "New York City rock showcase!" The sax/harp duel, in the particular way it transpires, has a NYC feel too. It definitely ain't Houston.
As for the guitar player: well, we've all met HIM, too! He is a perfect example of a talented guy who comes to blues playing from the rock direction and has no acculturation in any legitimate blues scene. In his own mind, he's convinced that he's playing a blues solo. He's soloing energetically and passionately over 12-bar changes; therefore he's playing blues. There were lots of guitar players in New York who could actually play BLUES blues, guys like John Specter (not to be confused with Jon Specter) and Tony O and Robert Ross and the late Ory Scharf, but this guy is from the other part of town, or perhaps the part of Long Island where guys with rock dreams learn that "blues" is a stepping stone on the road to rock sanctification. We've all met this guy. As developing blues harp players trying to feel our way into the music scene, we've all been left dazed and confused by this guy, in fact. What are WE supposed to do, when he does THAT? :)
[Edited to add: The guitar player's name is Mick Valentino. Google him and you can find a page that offers a brief resume:
"Mick Valentino has been on stage with: Prince, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Eddie Harris, Jaco Pastorias [sic], Larry Carleton [sic], Oliver Lake, Roger Smith, 17 years with Tommy Bell (Reno), Roland Vasques, Urban Ensemble....Mick toured the world with the group Santa Esmeralda and has played jazz in several Reno venues, including El Dorado, Harrah’s, and EJ’s, and guest lead guitarist with the Reno Jazz Orchestra."
Little Anthony and the Imperials is a legit R&B outfit; Sterling Magee played with them. Small world. Note that "onstage with" doesn't necessarily mean "played in a band with." It may mean "spend 10 minutes onstage with once, at a jam session or photo op."
I'm sure the guy can play; heck, he may be a friend of Buddha's. :) I'm just trying to say that a blues harp player trying to develop himself in the face of this sort of onslaught is gonna have a tough time. By the same token, if a harp player had a chance to attend weekly jam sessions run by guys like Dave Specter and Steve Freund, they'd be getting the giblets, the gravy, and the bread to mop it up with.]
Last Edited by on Aug 14, 2010 4:35 AM
Jimmy Zavala (Jimmy Z) was one of the highest profile best-paid harp players in the world during the late 80s, when he recorded and toured with the Eurthymics as their sax and harp player. He was on their big hit "Missionary Man". Quite a technical player; maybe not the biggest tone, but he played some fast triplet runs, quite advanced for the time. Here's a live sample:
That's very interesting, Brendan. Thanks! I'd never seen that clip, but the judgment I made based on the first video above wasn't far from how the video you've posted leads me to see him. In the Eurythmics video, he's got equipment that does exactly the job that needs doing: lots of sustain and bright, soaring, high-end action. This lets him cut loose, and he DOES have killer speed, stuff that fits in perfectly with the music being made. Very flashy, which is to say exactly right.
The moment he slows and actually tries to make one note count, the slight but real weakness in his blues tonality shows up.
He's a terrific rock player. I suspect he makes almost anybody's Top 10 list. He's a decent blues player, but certainly not a great one, based on all three of the videos posted above. I'm amazed, frankly, that a guy who spent 10 years touring with Etta James doesn't know how to dig down into a blue third.
You want to see Gussow become a traditionalist? I love that stuff he plays with the Eurythmics; I may steal a few licks. But he's missing--at least for my taste--too much grounding in the tradition. I'd ask every harp player in this forum to listen to his solo in the Etta James video, from 2:53 to 3:53. Pure lip pursing, to my ears. Nothing wrong with that, although it tells you something about who he has been listening to and what he cares about. He's definitely NOT a guy beholden to Little Walter! Or Big Walter, or Junior Wells, or either Sonny Boy. He hits the 3 hole a number of times, ascending and descending. No trace of a bend. I guess it's possible to play the blues without actually blueing the third, ever, but why? You're playing "Rock Me," accompanying Etta James. Her blues tonality is impeccable. But she wants the flash, apparently, not a guy who digs down into the meat of it.
All that being said, this doesn't mean that I, and all of us, can't learn something from this. What Jimmy Z has got, in spades, is deployable flash. His solo has peaks, and peaks beyond peaks, and it's worth taking some time with this video to figure out how he creates those. He's very fluid. He's a pro. He's a heck of a rocker. I admire that. But if you put him onstage at Amanda's Roller Coaster.....It would be interesting. Sink or swim! Long live the rock side of blues harmonica!
I like the Eurythmics solo. I'm going to steal a few of those licks.
Last Edited by on Aug 14, 2010 6:23 AM
I think the "Missionary Man" performance is particularly interesting because of how close Jimmy Z comes to the studio version w/o the benefit of studio effects.
Last Edited by on Aug 14, 2010 8:38 AM
I was actually present during the recording at Sidelines which is two miles from my house. Jimmy was using an old JT30 through the house bass amp through the PA. They had a hard time dialing it in for harp. I offered to run home, and get one of my amps, but the video guy was being paid by the hour.
The video was recorded for the purpose of promoting Rusty's new band (the lead singer with the acoustic guitar). This was Jimmy's first time playing on stage with this band as a whole.
I have the complete session on DVD, and after Jimmy got warmed up, his playing was impressive. He has a fast style, and plays a lot of notes, and fast runs. He's no Jason Ricci, but he can hold his own with any band.
He's a flashy player, but the audiences respond well to that, and apparently Etta did too.
Last Edited by on Aug 14, 2010 8:53 AM
@harpaholic: That's good info to have, and it helps clarify something else that I like about him--and that helps explains why he gets a lot of work. Not only can he break loose in a spectacular way, but he also knows how to lay back and support what other players are doing. He's a very good comping player. He doesn't step on people's toes. This is part of what makes him a pro.
I'm not impressed by the amount of money a player makes or the size of the audiences he plays to. I'm interested in what's coming out of the harp, and how the player responds to the demands of the particular performance situation in which he finds himself. We can all learn from paying attention to, and discussing, such things. If this was his first time with that particular band, and if he was playing through a miked-up bass amp (!), then I'd have to say that he did about as well as anybody could possibly have done under the circumstances.
I've got a bit of a self-appointed teaching mission on this website, as y'all know, and it sometimes leads me to speak about particular players in ways that might seem harsh or merely a little more stringent than friendly conversation dictates. The things I say about my fellow pros are sometimes things that other players, especially those living active touring lives, would not say in public. If I knew Jimmy personally--and certainly if he was a member of this forum--I wouldn't subject his playing to this sort of close-focus scrutiny. But I'm not trying to be catty; I'm trying to see/hear what he's actually putting out as clearly as possible, and I'm trying to frame my comments in ways that can help developing players hear a little more deeply.
I've spent a lot of time on this forum hammering home the "Too traditional! Be innovative!" line of critique, or so some might say, but the truth is--and I've clarified this many times--I've never, ever said that we should ignore the great tradition of the blues harmonica. I've argued instead that the best and most memorable playing comes from a deep and honest negotiation between the demands of the past (i.e., the tradition) and the demands of the present moment, including the full range of recent and contemporary blues-based musics circulating in that moment.
The reason Jimmy Z intrigues me is because he's much stronger on the "recent and modern" side than on the tradition-side. Jason Ricci, Sugar Blue, and Billy Gibson, for all their speed and flash, are deeply grounded in the tradition. They all tongue block some or much or all of the time. All three of them could, I'm sure, do passable imitations of most or all of the players in the Top-10 all time list. They're blues players, at bottom. Jimmy Z is a rock player, at bottom. His aesthetics are different. But this might not be obvious on first hearing to many developing players. So I think it's worth pointing out.
I think my comments about the blue third are a little more irritable than necessary. But you know what? There ain't one of us who doesn't have something he should be working on. Sometimes we've gone a long way in our careers while not realizing, or deliberately ignoring, the fact that there's some key element of our style that we could be working on. I've got three things like that: 1) 1/16th notes at speed; 2) third position; and 3) a coherent uptempo "Whammer Jammer" / "Down at Antones" type showcase intrumental.
I've finally brought #1 under control. I've got my work cut out for me on the other two. :)
Last Edited by on Aug 14, 2010 9:48 AM
IMHO, one does not have to play in a traditional style in order to be an authentic blues player. However, one must assimilate/incorporate certain fundamentals of the blues idiom into one's playing and consistently use them in the right context in order to be playing authentic blues.
Jimmy Z isn't an authentic blues player. But, along w/ Sugar Blue and Paul Butterfield (who are authentic blues players), Jimmy Z is one of my top favorite modern harmonica players.
@kudzurunner watched jimmy z harp solo and he seemed to really have ettas approval-I am more than convinced you can be successful as a pure lip purser,which is all I do but feel he is really compromising his playing by not using the blue third-why not bend??you get a lot more notes
He warbles by moving his harp not his head like Adam. I think he still might get whiplash some day the way he snaps that head and hair around when he's soloing!
Well it didn't work for him I guess, and he's still got it one. Maybe you should let him know he needs to pull his pants down ---------- WORLD CLASS HARMONICA PLAYER
You aint kidding. Jimmy gets more p*ssy than a sandbox. He is from Sacramento. His lives in Redondo Beach now. His first band was Night owl Express. I wasnt old enough to get in bars at the time, but would stand by the doors to listen to him until I was asked to leave.Check out his blog here, http://ztribe.com/wordpress/ Some pretty entertaining stories. He is currently using a Fender concert that screams. He plays Lee Oskars and is a pretty hard player.
Hey, I love Jimmy Z--mostly familiar with his work with the Eurythmics. I'm not sure, but I'd guess that he started out as a sax player, he has that sound.
@mrdon46 & JohnnieHarp: You know, that's one of the things I find so intriguing about Jimmy Z's harp playing. For the most part, he doesn't play the harmonica like it's a harmonica. Very stimulating to hear a real musician blow harp without trying to imitate old blues records. His phrasing and note selection is very horn like, which is very cool and very creative, IMHO.
Would he be even better if he incorporated some of the stylistic subtleties of authentic blues playing? Oh, probably so...but he's still extremely good and creatively innovative just doing what he's doing. He plays with an interesting and original approach, and he has his own style. He's for sure been one of my very favorite modern harp players for quite a while.
Ok, here's a You Tube vid where Jimmy Z is playing sax with the Eurythmics on a haunting live version of "Here Comes the Rain Again:"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hD3lB64x4KU
I've toyed with the idea of trying to play the sax riffs he uses on harp--maybe in 5th position(?)...maybe in 4th (?)-- but I haven't actually sat down and made a serious effort to do it. The casual effort I made just fooling around with it in 5th position didn't work out all that well the first time around.
Btw, I think the Eurythmics touring band for the Revenge tour circa 1986-87 (w/ Jimmy Z on sax and harmonica) was a kick ass road band. Plenty of You Tube vids of performances by this group and there is an out of print live VHS vid of them, too.
Last Edited by on Aug 17, 2010 3:14 PM
