"What bores me is excess stylization, a refusal to take risks. I like a big helping of no-holds-barred. I like players who give me the sense that they're reaching for something slightly beyond what they're actually capable of playing. Balls to the wall. Scare me. Show me something I've never heard before."
I can't think of anyone who takes more risks than Levy. He spends much of his playing time out on the bleeding edge of what's possible to lay on a harmonica.
Naturally everyone is entitled to like or not like whatever they want. That's a given. What I'm saying is this: If someone isn't familiar with a particular genre of music, that lack of knowledge will affect their opinion of it. For example, if I have never really listen to classical music for instance, and I hear some classical piece of music, it may very well be that I don't like it. This has a lot to do with it not being familiar to me. I just plain don't have enough knowledge of the musical language being used. Or maybe I really love it! Someone who listens to classical music on a regular basis will be able to tell you in detail not only if they like it or not, but also exactly why that is. Is the opinion of the avid classical music listener more qualified? Absolutely. Is anyone's opinion wrong? Absolutely not. ----------
I find Howard interesting as he takes the 10 hole into chromatic territory and out of the blues idiom that the harp is so intrenched in at times.
There's nothing wrong with a bit of blues, but the limitations of the form can make it sometimes tedious.
When I started playing, I was a 100% blues purist and I still love it, but I now find it hard to sit through too much of it. It simply doesn't have enough twists and turns, musically speaking. Those who have tried to make things 'interesting' on the harp and play other kinds of music generally stuck to 2nd or third position and usually squirted blues riffs over a progression without overblows. Musically, it's like Keith Richards playing in open G over a jazz progression. Not impossible, but very quickly tiresome.
Howard and those who follow that genre are bringing something very new to the table and causing the harp to evolve and adapt to the new demands of their playing. All good in my book.
@sammyharp I agree with you on that. It's only when people mix up those two points in an effort to have you believe that you don't know your own mind that it rankles.
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 10:20 AM
I personally enjoy a wide range of harmonica music, I just love the sound of the instrument.
You can enjoy a simple piece of music You can enjoy a complex piece of music. Does the complexity make it better sounding music or just more complex music? ---------- Grey Owl YouTube Grey Owl Abstract Photos
"I find Howard interesting as he takes the 10 hole into chromatic territory and out of the blues idiom that the harp is so intrenched in at times. "
It's an instrument. It can be used to play whatever genre of music the operator of the instrument wishes to play. The operator has to work within the constraints of the instrument.
"There's nothing wrong with a bit of blues, but the limitations of the form can make it sometimes tedious. "
This is a common observation among people who don't get the opportunity to see great blues artists in operation who can keep 12 bar progressions going all night long and keep it interesting for the listener. There are a lot of artists capable of doing that. Magic Slim is one such artist that generates energy and keeps it going all night long. There are plenty of others. Lil' Ed is another one. ---------- The Blues Photo Gallery
Music, and any art, cannot be compared to the sciences. While the sciences allow us to learn about our world and make use of the discoveries, art does no such thing.
Music, and art, are by nature pointless exercises in uselessness. One is not better than the other. You can like ridiculously complex music, or appreciate the simple things. You can appreciate the far-out textures in Big Walter's playing, or the seemingly infinite stylings of Howard Levy. It doesn't matter, because music doesn't matter.
Perhaps that is why music is so enjoyable.
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 11:07 AM
Point 1: I agree. Overblows have given the instrument the ability for be used chromatically, which is only a good thing and they allow the operator the choose a number of positions and keys. All good.
Point 2: Even the finest of blues artists can grow tedious if they stick within the strict 12 bar format. I've seen many great players and I'm far better versed in the genre than most people and even musicians. I still love blues, and have a strong preference for black American music in general. I just see jazz, soul, funk, Motown, pop and R&B offering more variety, prettier progressions and more scope for the artist to express themselves.
That's absolutely no disrespect to the many great blues guys out there, but it's just not always what I want to listen to.
On the flip side, I hate it when harp players play where they don't belong through inexperience in the genre they're required to work with. Blowing blues riffs randomly over a structured song is infuriating. If you're haven't got anything good to bring to the party, don't bring anything. Same thing with playing jazz lines with a Chicago Blues outfit. It doesn't go in my opinion.
As it's been said on here earlier, it's all so subjective, one man's meat is always going to be another man's poison and even on a small place like this with people playing the same instrument in the same genre, it's going to be impossible to find a complete accord.
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 12:30 PM
Philippe: "Music, and art, are by nature pointless exercises in uselessness."
===================
Without music life would be a mistake. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
All deep things are song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls! ~Thomas Carlyle
And the night shall be filled with music, And the cares that infest the day Shall fold their tents like the Arabs And as silently steal away. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done
Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them! ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
Music's the medicine of the mind. ~John A. Logan
Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends. ~Alphonse de Lamartine
There is no truer truth obtainable By Man than comes of music. ~Robert Browning
Music can noble hints impart, Engender fury, kindle love, With unsuspected eloquence can move, And manage all the man with secret art. ~Joseph Addison
The discovery of song and the creation of musical instruments both owed their origin to a human impulse which lies much deeper than conscious intention: the need for rhythm in life… the need is a deep one, transcending thought, and disregarded at our peril. ~Richard Baker
It is incontestable that music induces in us a sense of the infinite and the contemplation of the invisible. ~Victor de LaPrade
There's music in the sighing of a reed; There's music in the gushing of a rill; There's music in all things, if men had ears: Their earth is but an echo of the spheres. ~Lord Byron
Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. ~Confucius
....and finally, my personal favorite
Strong lager and some early Zep tunes. I ask thee, is there a better way to spend an evening? ~Author Unknown
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 2:32 PM
hey ! hey ! hey ! after all this ,i`m gonna blow my face out and i don`t give a $hit what you say ,it feels good and i ain`t stoppin``` ps. i started playing blues harp 68 and ain`t nothing said here thats changing me from do in it too it, brave on ! sail on bro !
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 2:50 PM
I feel that music was here before math. Music came first..theory and math came after to try to make some intellectual sense about how music works. ---------- The Iceman
@timeistight: Excellent point. The comments of mine weren't specifically directed at Levy's playing,but you're quite right. He's got a jazzman's exploratory soul and a world musician's range. The last thing in the world he can be accused of is playing excessively stylized blues. For one thing, he doesn't tongue block much. :)
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 3:35 PM
"The fact remains that music - along with film, plays, painting, drawing, even sports - serve no useful purpose but to entertain us. From a subjective point of view, we might imagine that we rely on these things, but in actuality we don't. They are luxuries we are able to afford."
With respect, your assertion contains several errors of logic and debate.
a) You state "The fact remains...". Your assertion is not a fact; it is an opinion.
b) The history of many arts has supplied "science", as you classify it, with innumerable breakthroughs that would not have been achieved without those particular art works. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Jules Verne, etc. etc. - to name only a few examples - were artists who created important works of science using their arts.
c) I make my living from a particular art. To suggest that I don't rely on it is not true or accurate.
This subject likely deserves its own thread and I'd be glad to offer more ideas.
Quote by GreyOwl "I personally enjoy a wide range of harmonica music, I just love the sound of the instrument.
You can enjoy a simple piece of music You can enjoy a complex piece of music. Does the complexity make it better sounding music or just more complex music?" --------------------------- I agree entirely. To my ear some simple pieces played in a complex way can damage the integrity of the music even though it may highlight the technical skills of the player. I enjoy beautiful simple tunes played in a simple way by a skilful player.
Some of the best music out there is not difficult to play but IMO difficult to play really well.
I enjoy some complex music that I cannot but would love to play. There is other complex music that I don't understand, doesn't move me, and therefore cannot comment.
I love to have a listen to Howards music but the only tune I have of his that I purchased is 'Amazing Grace'. His music is flawless but to my ear doesn't make me want to buy it. Obviously he is successful, has a world wide fan base & more importantly must enjoy what he is doing.
Joe - correction: drawing and writing aren't good examples to represent music.
I had no idea my statements would cause such controversy. I still see much ethnocentrism.
Anyway, you can't escape that: Music is not necessary for life, it is a luxury and a cultural phenomenon. Music is not an objective science where one reality exists - it is subjective, where many realities may be equally valid. There's nothing wrong with any musician. We are the reason we don't like X's music, not X.
When I hear Bob Dylan on harp, I hear awful random noise. I met someone who loved Dylan's harp work for the simple expression it was. He didn't think much of Little Walter though.
What I am saying is: it doesn't matter. Listen to Justin Bieber or Rebecca Black if it makes YOU feel good. There isn't anything wrong with it - it's all subjective. It doesn't matter if Howard Levy gets no, little, or much praise on this forum because it doesn't change the fact that he is a massively skilled player by any method of measure.
I've studied with him and like him, personally, but I only listen to him to review technique. Jims endorsement says it all: "Maybe those who don't understand him should start listening to more serious music?" Every honest response I have violates the forum creed.
Honkin, the latter quote is meant to be taken as a paragraph whole. You are isolating one sentence and missing the picture. Maybe the sentence misrepresents what I am trying to say (apologies), please look at the entire paragraph.
But why is music so entertaining and beautiful if not for the reason that it is unnecessary. It is a wonderful complement to life.
Honkin, perhaps I was not clear enough. The whole point of the posts was to highlight that what is great about music, especially people's music , is that it's an act of creation for the sake of expression (keeping in mind that music is not necessary for expression). We don't need music, music has no purpose but the purpose we give it - as entertainment, but also as a vehicle for messages. Other cultures have completely different uses for music. Music doesn't have a definition but the one we assign to it.
Essentially to say, it doesn't matter what people think about whichever musician, they're all on their own personal journey. http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeofreason04santuoft#page/44/ Perhaps I think too much.
I will agree to disagree.
Last Edited by on Mar 04, 2012 7:45 PM
Levy is great. It was really pleasant to take a lesson from him and to jam with him. His technical level, musician scills (deep understanding of chord progressions, scales, alterations). While his range of emotions don't cross my range of emotions a lot. But everything by Levy is at least interesting for me. Some of his works really moves me, e.g. his version of Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay or Sinister Minister. He played incredible version of My One And Only Love. ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
I think Howard is excellent in playing the blues too. He is just famous for playing a lot of other styles (all sorts of jazz, classical music...) and for playing very complex melodies. Here's another good example of Levy feeling blue.
I don't understand why anyone would even speak poorly of anyone else's playing. Especially Howard levy. Okay so you like the blues better, if that's true than where's your blues for Howard's feelings? Where's the blues for this senseless thread? Surprised by this attitude, No respect for your elders? No respect for a genius? I'm new to the forum but I've been around enough to know, there's some heartless comments in this thread about a harmonica player. Must be jealousy. Music has purpose and it evolves with us. I've never been to a ceremony without music - weddings, funerals,.. Since the dawn of time people have tried to fit music into a box to better understand it. Yet after thousands of years it still evolves and no one is any closer to being able to beyond a doubt say what it is exactly. A few notes are played and everyone who heard it played are moved to tears. What just happened there. Howard is the evolution happening before our very eyes.
Last Edited by on Mar 19, 2012 10:50 AM
Unceded, I don't think anyone is approaching this with the idea of attacking Howard. He is a brilliant player and by all accounts a great guy. What people are trying to do, I think, is figure out what makes different styles of music tick. Why does something click with one audience member and not with another. That's an important question for people who are trying to make their own music.
I read a summary of a study once comparing different languages with different numbers of words for different colors. People were shown flashcards with colors on them. Members of one particular language group didn't have a word for pink. They were shown a series of cards once, and then shown the cards again and asked which ones were repeats from the first series. Just not having a word for pink actually changed their recollection. For instance, if they'd seen a red card in the first set and were shown a pink card in the second set, they would think it was the same card because when they were trying to remember what cards they were seeing, they remembered 'red'. (I probably mangled some of the details of that, but that was basically the gist of the study.) You'll see the same thing happen in home supply stores. There is a difference between the colors, 'Eggshell', 'Linen White', and 'Steam' but unless you learn the words for it you can't talk about the difference. All we are doing is looking at the pallet of musical colors on which various artists represent the names of the colors and trying to figure out how each color is subtly different so we can paint our musical house. On a jazz harmonica site, you might very well hear them talking about the shades of blues harmonica players along with jazz players so they can figure out how they want to color their own sound.
Had to go back and read the initial post again. It's an interesting question and keen observation by GreyOwlphotoart. Some great responses too. Receiving so many honors this year I can see Grey's perplexity. And I can understand nacoran's reaction to my post, I suppose after all it IS the Dirty South BLUES Harp forum :) but no ones more modern harmonica than Howard. As a new comer to the forum I'll try to gage my "voice' better in the future. Howard Levy is one of my harp heroes and I guess I got caught up in the moment. Because of HL's contributions I guess I'm as thrown as Grey. Peace.
howard is a fantastic player of any style he does,his blues isnt the "gut bucket" honkin` style.and jazz blues does have the honkin` blues horn players.playing modal blues scale. than you have a more western harmony jazz blues, playing more chromatic lines...thats where howard is.two different trains going to the same home...
No, Howard Levy has NOT mastered blues. No Way. Such is my opinion, but a seriously experienced one in regards to blues (and Howard Levy). This thread is a tricky one in terms of some personal and emotional aspects of a subject we all care about and there are a lot of exceptional points made throughout.
Last Edited by on Mar 23, 2012 8:04 AM
Just saw Howard w/Flecktones last week in Savannah. This band is very notey, so the barrage on the senses is a bit much for this ol' man. However, there were moments of pure magic, lyricism and beauty sprinkled within. Howard's solo spot had it all mixed in with a healthy dose of humor. Thankfully he's moved past his infatuation with learning to play fast arpeggios and is focusing more on double stops. He is always evolving. Man, his pianistic skills are AMAZING. The most fun was listening to the audience around me trying to explain to each other how he could do that double independent line stuff. ---------- The Iceman
Music is a funny animal. As said in previous posts, if an individual "connects" with the music, that's all that matters. IMO, the jazz format is much more technical and often requires more training compared with blues. That goes for most any instrument or musician. I think many feel "threatened" or "intimidated" by a player of Levy's skill and proficiency on the harmonica. Let's face it, it takes much more prowess to play a tune in Levy's style than say belt out "hoochie coochie man" on harp. Me personally, I am a blues fan through and through, and as such focus my harp training and playing as such. The blues harmonica, especially the Chicago blues sound, is a true visceral and emotional rollercoaster ride. The style of Levy's music while technically suberb, is like a high society black tie dinner, elegant yet very predictable. I personally like roller coaster rides better! -Carl
Last Edited by on Apr 18, 2012 9:35 AM
@Todd: That's a wonderful, beautiful piece of music. Thanks for posting that clip! Certainly nobody who listens to that video can honestly claim that Howard doesn't have beautiful tone, or is "too note-y," or can't play with deep feeling, or plays "squeaky overblows." That one video disables such criticisms. Like any great--indeed, epochal--player, Howard is many things and does many things. I'm sure he CAN get too note-y, too technical. But when it counts, he knows how to make deep, beautiful music. Technique, per se, is wholly sublimated in this clip to that goal. In that respect, he can be a model to all of us, however much or little technique we've managed to accumulate
There is nothing wrong with Howard Levy, of course; he is , in my opinion, the best and most important diatonic harmonica player alive. He has physically changed the way the instrument is played and he has changed the way musicians and the public regard the diatonic harmonica. Beyond that, it's a matter of taste, of whether you like what he does. I agree that he is basically a jazz musician and that he has brought a fluid, bluesy, malleable sound to straight ahead harmonica improvisation that was not really possible on a chromatic harmonica; chromatic harmonica jazz, though technically impressive, lack the blurring and slurring textures and nuances a trumpeter or saxophonist can manage, and is more or less limited to the kind of chord work and colors a skilled jazz pianist brings to an group sound.It tended to sound tinny, thin, undernourished. Levy's innovations go a long way to filling that void --clarity, coloration, variety of intonation are all his to use. To date no one has come close to what he's done; Levy is not, though, a blues musician, although his blues playing is wonderful. Even with overblows and other extended techniques, harmonica fans prefer it blues based and will concentrate their remarks players with less a stylistic range than Levy.
My opinion of Howard's playing has evolved along with my understanding of music and harmonica playing. I first heard him in New Zealand in the late 1980s on that casette tape he did ("Harmonica Jazz", his first solo album I think).
I found it interesting but didn't really like it. He seemed to be attempting things way beyond the instrument's capability, which came out in fluffed notes, squawky tone and generally a feeling that it was clever but missed the mark he was trying to achieve. As a self-taught folk-blues player, I was also too musically limited to appreciate what he was going for anyway!
Well, a lot has changed since then. Customised harmonicas gave Howard instruments that could match his musical ambitions, and his playing has advanced exponentially through constant practice and exploration. On my side, my understanding of jazz harmony and improvisation has slowly grown to the point I can now appreciate better the sheer brilliance of the man and the incredible advances he's made in harmonica technique.
For those that find him too notey: yes, he does play a lot of notes, but all of them make sense harmonically and rhythmically if you have the ears to hear. As the clips above prove, Howard is a very soulful, musical player. If you don't understand what he's doing, try using some slow-down software and hear how his soloing masterfully tracks the chord changes with beautiful use of tension and release.
I don't like everything Howard does - that's natural. But when it comes to Blues, I'd far rather listen to what he plays over a 3 chord 12 bar progression than any number of well known blues harmonica specialists. Most of them are just rehashing Little and Big Walter cliches with a few minor variations, but Howard will always come up with something startling and fresh. That's because he has a much deeper reservoir of technique and ideas to draw on than anyone else I know of in the harmonica scene.
I'm sure I'll get slated for saying this, but in my opinion those that can't appreciate Howard's playing are pointing up their own limited understanding of music. I suggest they should study his recordings more closely, as well as obtain a more developed understanding of rhythm and harmony. Then it will make sense and make you smile too, I guarantee!
Last Edited by on Apr 19, 2012 2:22 AM
"I'm sure I'll get slated for saying this, but in my opinion those that can't appreciate Howard's playing are pointing up their own limited understanding of music. I suggest they should study his recordings more closely, as well as obtain a more developed understanding of rhythm and harmony."
I was once told by a jazz bass player that all good musicians gravitate to jazz...........no, they don't!
Brendans post is similar.
I can appreciate all musicians who play well, but I don't necessarily like it.
Why should I study his recordings ? I don't enjoy them.
Basically what you are saying is that if I study hard and listen, one day I'll be a real musician too.
Bollox !
All of the above in this thread are opinions. Thats all. Opinions are like arse holes, we all have one. And like arse holes its usually shit that comes out.
Music is subjective.
To enjoy something, you don't have to understand it.
Is it only trained musicians who enjoy music ? If it was there would not be many people in the audience.
Indeed I gave a number of reasons why it's reasonable he should be respected in the world of harmonica.
My surprise concerned the relative lack of casual/interested mention this phenomonel American player gets on an American based Forum. ---------- Grey Owl YouTube Grey Owl Abstract Photos
Judging by the length of this thread I think he is actually pretty much up there, love him or hate him, he is not really being ignored. As Kudzu said above, maybe he doesn't quite fit the genre, like Toots and Stevie ----------
i get kinda tired on these threads of being told that the reason i don't like something is that i'm too ignorant, or i resent the artist's ability, or other such armchair psycoanalysis. maybe i just don't like it. there's all kinds of music i like, and all kinds of music i don't. it's not a conscious decision, i just like what i like.
howard's a great player. i don't think anyone's disputing that. his music, by and large, doesn't speak to me. i doubt he's losing much sleep over that.
My experience with music is that it's more fun to play than to listen to. Howard plays great, whether we like it or not is moot--he's playing what he hears in his head. Thanks to everyone for trying to do the same.
This from Frank Zappa who seems to have a foot in both camps:-
"The Ultimate Rule ought to be: 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's bitchin'; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it's shitty. The more your musical experience, the easier it is to define for yourself what you like and what you don't like. American radio listeners, raised on a diet of _____ (fill in the blank), have experienced a musical universe so small they cannot begin to know what they like." -Frank Zappa ---------- Grey Owl YouTube Grey Owl Abstract Photos
And I did get slated! So wonderfully predictable, thanks 7LimitJI :-) Do you have an actual name, by the way, or just an arse?
@ Greyowlphotoart quoting Zappa:
"The more your musical experience, the easier it is to define for yourself what you like and what you don't like."
Amen to that! Music is like food - you can have a wide palette or a narrow one. It's not just Americans who have a limited musical diet, Brits are just as bad, as 7LimitJI so eloquently attests (I'm assuming you're a Brit mate, from your arsey spelling).
Keeping the food analogy going, I come from a far off land (NZ) which absorbs influences from all over the globe and incorporates them in its cooking. There is even a name for this fusion now: Pacific Rim Cuisine (Google it). That open cultural upbringing has coloured my approach to music too, giving me an interest in a big variety of musical flavours and a curiosity to try playing many of them on harmonica.
It's an absorbing and fascinating challenge. I started off as a hard-core Blues-harp head like dear 7Limit and many on this forum, but after a couple of years heard other stuff and started exploring further. Charlie McCoy's pioneering fusion style led me down the Bluegrass/Country path, which extended to Western Swing, Gypsy Jazz, then on to other corners of the big Jazz tent. Undeniably one learns a LOT from gaining a basic understanding of jazz improvisation: it's enriching and rewarding.
On the Folk side my interest in Irish music led to hearing a few Balkan tunes, which opened up another incredible pot of wonderful music. Currently I'm listening to a lot of Chinese and Indian music; if you like the sound of bending notes, they have been way ahead of any Blues artists in that department for thousands of years.
After the adventurous culinary and musical culture of New Zealand, coming to Britain was a bit of a shock! I was amazed at how narrow and cautious many Brits are when it comes to trying new things. When I tour overseas I'm always curious to try the local food, but many of the British musicians I've toured with seek out the bland and boring cuisine they are infamous for.
I don't understand that. I suppose you could call it blissful ignorance, but there is a lot more bliss to be had from expanding your palette, whether in food or music.
Howard is way further down that road than me, and I admire him for it. On the video below you can hear tastes of his brilliant and soulful adaptation of different musical flavours to the humble 10 hole diatonic we all love.
For 7Limit (the name says it all) and others who still prefer to stick to a monotonous Blues diet, I suggest you check out the the exquisite 1st Position 12 Bar Blues Howard plays at the end of the video (3:50 on). It's only through his life-long exploration of MANY musical styles and the harmonica itself that he could discover a completely new and beautiful sound was lurking within. Little Walter would have loved it, I'm dead sure of that!
@ Brendan "It's only through his life-long exploration of MANY musical styles and the harmonica itself that he could discover a completely new and beautiful sound was lurking within. Little Walter would have loved it, I'm dead sure of that!"
Wow! Brendan, if you can communicate with the spirit world and know their opinions & thoughts, I have a question for LW, perhaps you could relay it to him & get back to me...
Where have I put my keys?
King Arthur says LW would have been ambivalent...and he was a king! ;-)
"I don't like everything Howard does - that's natural. But when it comes to Blues, I'd far rather listen to what he plays over a 3 chord 12 bar progression than any number of well known blues harmonica specialists. Most of them are just rehashing Little and Big Walter cliches with a few minor variations, but Howard will always come up with something startling and fresh." Perhaps you simply don't understand what you are hearing? ;-)
Blues isn't really Howard's thing, sure he can play bluesy, play "a" blues, but just as with other musical genres, if you are not familiar with the syntax it's not so easy to master. You say you hear guys playing minor variations of LW/BW (I do too, many players incorporate elements or tribute no's in their set, it very rarely/almost never forms the basis of a whole set), when I listen to LW/BW I hear the parts & inspiration that they have taken from horns, piano, guitar, vocals etc.
Howard was quoted in Kim Field's excellent book "Harmonicas, harps & heavy breathers" as saying something like... "you never hear piano players & horn players soloing like blues harp players". Not in jazz maybe, but you do in blues...ALL the time. And that's the thing, Howard has taken the overblow techniqe & developed it to a useable level, mainly in a jazz context...give him a diatonic, a piano, any instrument & I doubt very much that he's going to churn out blues. Prior to that (& even since) folks have used multiple harps, retuned harps, valved harps, new tunings & chromatics to achieve the same ends.
You may not prefer to listen to a "number of well known blues harmonica specialists" but comparing them to Howard, or vice versa, is like comparing dogs to crocodiles...they are different, I wouldn't trust a crocodile to mind the kids & I wouldn't put money on a dog in fight with a crocodile. Each has their merits & flaws. ---------- www.myspace.com/markburness
Last Edited by on Apr 20, 2012 3:39 AM
East vs. West,howard plays beautiful blusie harp.blusie music in western harmony ,chords,chromatic runs intill it gets bebopish.Blues is modal African chant in english.played on western instruments. and what howard or any chromatic player does it will never sound like one chord John Lee Hooker,or saxophone honkers african chant blues. howard plays great blusie lines but it can`t be compared to something like "down at your buryin`" james cotton.this is two different types of music...
I gotta say I agree much more with you than with anyone else here in this thread.
In my opinion, in terms of musicianship, most of the contemporary blues players don't reach the toes of what Howard can. Sure, they're fun to listen to, but purely from an artistic perspective: If they were playing saxophone/trumpet/piano or any other instrument, they would would be very average players.
This is also the main reason why harmonica players are generally not taken very seriously.
Howard is great at doing what Howard does, however he is not going to jump on stage and blow away the cream of contemporary blues players on their own turf (nor will they, playing Howard at his own game). That is rediculous. Purely artistically speaking, of course...;-)
You might agree with Brendan, you might prefer Howard's playing...that's your taste, so enjoy. But please refrain from casting aspersions regarding other players & styles, as if there is some tangible league table.
Harmonica players where I live are taken pretty seriously. ---------- www.myspace.com/markburness
@ Brendan. The names Cameron and I'm a Jock. Thats Scottish, for our American cousins :o)
I have an arse ,but I use it for defecating, not speaking out of.
Your reply is typical of people who have a little knowledge and feel smug as they think they are above the rest of us mere mortals.
Also you stereotype not just blues players, but Brits too !
You don't know me Brendan, yet you make assumptions, not just about the music I enjoy, but the food I eat too.
I could regale with with tales of the fine restaurants I dine in, and the local cuisine I always eat when abroad. But this is a blues forum, so I won't bore you.
I could tell of all the musical genres I have played, from folk, hiddly diddly Irish, pop,punk, rock and blues. The different instruments I have played, piano,trumpet,guitar, sax.
BUT, the music I choose to play almost exclusively now , is blues, on the diatonic and chromatic harmonica. Not because I cannot play other styles, but because I love it. Eat,sleep and drink it.
So please do not belittle blues players, as to me it reeks of arrogance.
One other thing, I never gave an opinion, one way or the other about Howards music. He may be a musical genius, but the vast majority of his music leaves me cold.
I have studied jazz and play it on the occasional gig. I am no where near having the understanding of Howard, yet, I am more than a novice.
I love Parker, Kirk, Jackson, Ammons, Hawkins, Davis Theilemanns and around 40 other jazz players.
I love all of the heavies of the blues and prefer blues to jazz almost always.
Although I recently posted about seeing Howard with the Flecktones for the first time and enjoying about half of Howard's ideas, I have seen Howard do a solo show around 4 times and hated each one. All the Howard I own besides the Flecktones leaves me cold.
So here I am, someone who has studied and listened to lots of jazz and Howard leaves me cold most of the time! Yet I LOVE lots of other jazz players.
When I hear Howard play a blues it reminds me of when jazz guys would come sit in on my blues gigs. It may be they are soloing over a 12 bar blues progression, they may even be using only the blues scale, but it is not blues. They play with a jazz feeling. Some can do both, some cannot.
When I play at the blues jams at SPAH, I usually am in a similiar vein. Since everyone is playing very traditional blues, I normally get bored and play non blues music over the blues progression just to keep excited. That doesn't mean I cannot play blues. Come see me play a blues gig and make up your own mind.
The difference in my opinion is I have studied the HECK out of blues and played 100s of blues gigs. In my opinion, Howard does not reflect a similiar history. He plays blues like a jazz guy. In other words, imo, he doesn't play blues.
I think you are great Brendan, but I disagree with you on this one.
it might also be incorrect to assume that Levy has not studied the blues.. he has done shows where he goes through all the blues styles historically.. when he plays a certain style, he does not throw in overblows etc. so he can play sonny terry, he can play little walter. he may choose not to most of the time, but if you are not aware of all his work and performances, it probably would not be wise for anybody to assume they know what he is capable of or what Mr. Levy has studied. You may have only heard him playing blues like a jazz guy, but that does not mean it is the only way he can do it. Some of his chording TB stuff recently probably owes more to Sonny Terry than the standard classic chicago blues sound, I suppose some would say that Sonny Terry is not "real" blues harmonica either.
Walter, agreed. I can only go on what I have seen. Show me the examples you mean, I am curious. Edited to add: Although if you read my original post, it says "In my opinion" many times. I call them like I see them.
Last Edited by on Apr 20, 2012 7:32 AM
Last Edited by on Apr 19, 2012 5:20 AM
