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From: GREENW~cacad.holycross.edu
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 1995 15:21:47 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SPAH 95

I slept about 12 hours last night. If I manage to do that again tonight, I might be able to recover from the sleep deficit I ran up at the SPAH 95 convention.

I had mixed feelings about attending this year's convention after having so much fun in Memphis last year. The Romulus location can be somewhat claustrophobic; the Crown Plaza Holiday Inn is out by the airport in the middle of nowhere and sandwiched between two genuinely terrible restaurants.
In Memphis there was the Music and Heritage festival, Beale Street, Sun Studio, and the Blues Museum.

But I ended up having a hell of a good time once again. It's always a great cast of characters. On the chromatic side there were the harmonica band enthusiasts that still make up the core membership of SPAH as well as a handful of bona fide masters like Pete Pedersen, Charles Leighton, and Ron Kalina. When I went to my first SPAH convention in 1986, the diatonic was
basically nowhere to be seen, but in recent years the instrument has been asserting itself thanks to the presence of the likes of Buzz Krantz, Joe Filisko, our own Winslow Yerza, and Larry Eisenberg, who are not only great players but ideal spokespersons for the 10-hole.

This year's cast included a remarkable trio of British players: Hugh Messenger, Norman Ives, and Dave Michaelson (a.k.a. Dr. Midnight). Hugh, Winslow, and I ended up on a harmonica resources panel. Hugh no doubt recruited several more harp list members with his remarkably lucid (considering that he was still asleep at the time) explanation of the list and how it worked. Winslow has expanded on a list of harmonica-related resources that he and I put together for last year's convention and come up with something that every harmonica player should have a copy of. Contact him and ask how to get hold of one.

There were some good seminars. Madcat Ruth has done a lot of workshops, and it showed in his entertaining and tip-laden session. Winslow and Dave Michaelson imparted a lot of good, functional device on how to become a good diatonic player. Larry Eisenberg gave a seminar on how to build on Howard Levy's pioneering techniques that shed a lot of light on how to use overblows and overdraws--a difficult concept to describe. Two of the headliner players, Gary Primich and Larry Stevens, turned out to be talented teachers as well in the course of their demonstrations.

The Thursday night blues jam was once again held at a different hotel from the main convention. (This is insulting, frankly, and needs to be changed. Other SPAH members who feel the same should let the SPAH leadership know. In a nice way, of course. I know that Bob Williams and others in the SPAH leadership are committed to including the diatonic players and have shown very good taste in recruiting excellent spokespeople for seminars and in booking talent, but the blues players shouldn't have to go a mile down the road to play.) Madcat not only played some great harp but hosted the evening. Gary Primich did a very fine set in the middle of the program
that confirmed what I'd felt from listening to his records: that he's a highly intelligent player with a great sound and excellent taste. I also was struck by Dave Michaelson's solo piece, inspired by the troubles in Bosnia, that reminded the audience that the harp and the blues weren't the exclusive property of us Americans.

While there was at least one bad incident (Norman Ives and Dave Michaelson had their hotel room broken into and lost money, harmonicas, and plane tickets home--welcome to the USA), for me the convention was a succession of fine moments.

Swapping Walter Horton stories with Gary Primich at one of the world's worst Italian restaurants and then later joining him on a shuffle in E at the end of the Blues Night show.

Playing acoustic music each night down in the piano bar with Joe Filisko, Buzz Krantz, Richard Sleigh, Randy Singer and others--especially the great 5th-position playing of Mick Zaklan.

Slipping away from the Friday night show and heading down to the piano bar, where a Hollywood film crew that was at the hotel filming for a harmonica documentary filmed Charlie Leighton playing "Sophisticated Lady" with Ron Kalina accompanying him on piano. It was the only time I heard Charlie play that week, but even three minutes from the man who has crafted the most gorgeous sound ever achieved on the chromatic was worth the trip for me.

Listening to Tom Stryker, Ron Kalina, Ray Tankersley, and Pete Pedersen play several wonderful charts for four chromatics at the Friday night show. All four of these guys are monster players, and their playing was a real revelation. No corny jokes with

Coming across Larry Adler at a balcony railing and spending a few minutes talking about Django Reinhardt with him and Winslow.

Playing Filisko's double-reed-plated D harp. My next purchase, without a doubt.

Larry Adler's performance at the Saturday night gala. The up-tempo numbers weren't up to the ballads like Roderigo's guitar piece and "Clair de Lune," but playing a wind instrument at the age of 81 would be a challenge for anyone. He still has a mean vibrato. As usual, he told a lot of anecdotes, including one about smoking marijuana with Dizzy Gillespie that I'm sure went right by the majority of the audience. Adler is the granddaddy of them all. He was the first to play a harmonica in tux and tails and to play semiclassical pieces on the instrument, and as such was a much-needed contrast to the Borrah Minevitch Harmonica Rascals, whose act featured some great playing but was centered around the group physically abusing a midget. SPAH deserves a lot of credit to organizing a rare American appearance by a genuine harmonica legend.

Sitting once again in the piano bar at 3:30 in morning after the Saturday night show and listening to Pete Pedersen jam with Ron Kalina on piano. Their music reflected the late hour; it was beautiful, outside stuff.

- --Kim Field