Re: Toronto Star Blues Festival

[Mudharp@xxxxxxx]

Richard Hunter wrote: <snip>

<<If you can't hear a lot of harp at
a blues festival, then something is going on, and by definition it's not
harp-friendly.>>

Richard,=20

What do you think IS going on? Do you think they deliberately tried to avoid=
=20
harp in the Toronto fest?

Regarding the Canadian blues harp player, Mark Bird Stafford you wrote:=20
(sorry for the out of context snippage)

<<Stafford's phrasing was true to Walter's, and
the rest of the instruments in the band were also true to the stylings
of the era; and I couldn't help but notice how many more notes the other=20
players
were playing.=A0Blues harp is about the big sound and the big note, not
the big run that winds up and the instrument.=A0 It's cool, but it's hard
not to notice how much more ground the guitar and organ are covering in
their solos, and their notes sound big and nice too.=A0 Is that why there
were only a couple of harp players at this festival, and only one
featured?=A0>>

I'm trying to understand your point here, but I'm not sure I do. Is it that=20
you think that some festival promoters are looking for busier players and th=
at=20
most harp players don't fill that bill? That harp players aren't high tech=20
enough? What do you mean by, "how much more ground the guitar and organ are=20
covering in their solos"? Advanced technique or just flash, or is it somethi=
ng=20
else? As you know, especially since you're one of them, there are a lot of h=
arp=20
players that are pushing the boundaries of what's thought of as traditional=20=
harp=20
playing. I wonder why the promoters of the Toronto fest may have overlooked=20
one of the best, right in their midst, in Carlos del Junco?=20

T. Albanese=20