RE: [Harp-L] Toots harmonica patterns



My book "Jazz Harp" contained a transcription of Toots's chromatic solo on the Fabulous Rhinestones's "What Becomes of Your Life" (in D major),
plus analysis of passages from that solo and others he's recorded. In general, Toots uses the slide very effectively in conjunction with simple breathing patterns to get a lot of movement without a lot of effort. In that sense, he's got something in common with Stevie Wonder, though of course their musical approaches and roots are very different.


In my 1979 interview with Toots, he told me flatly that you can't play Charlie Parker on the chromatic. I was floored, given that I'd just been listening to Toots's recording of "Au Privave" on the Montreaux live recording of Oscar Peterson's Big 6. Sure sounded like the real thing to me. But I agree that playing Charlie Parker licks at high tempo on the chromatic is not easy, mainly because, as Toots pointed out to me, the accenting doesn't work.

But then Toots doesn't use Robert Bonfiglio's corner switching technique; if he did, the accenting might just work. As I noted here a while ago when some of us were posting our takes on "A Night in Tunisia," I think corner switching is the best, if not the only, way to get the accenting right on that melody, which jumps around a lot more than is comfortable to handle otherwise. This technique hasn't been heavily explored by most jazz players, but I've tried to play some of Clint Hoover's stuff, and I bet he uses it. Whatever he's using, it's very good stuff -- the best post-Toots jazz chromatic I've heard.

Thanks, Richard Hunter
hunterharp.com





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