[Harp-L] Route 66 Harmonica Club - Minutes of Meeting June 1, 2009

["Bill Kumpe" <bkumpe@xxxxxxx>]

Wednesday, June 3, 2009


Minutes
<http://r66hc.blogspot.com/2009/06/minutes-of-june-1-2009-meeting.html>  of
June 1, 2009 Meeting 


The business meeting began shortly after 6:00 PM at The Western Country
Diner, 1905 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK. The following was discussed:

1. Treasury report: We have $249.00 in the bank. There were no expenditures
or withdrawals during the reporting period.

2. The motion was passed to try to get vendors to

a. Donate items for us to raffle off and 

b. Come to meetings and do product presentations for us. 

3. The motion was passed to get a logo designed. It was decided anyone with
a logo idea to bring it to the next meeting.

There being no further business, the business meeting was adjourned.

The educational presentation began at about 6:20 pm. David Berntson taught a
lesson in basic 12 bar blues for our chromatic and country players, getting
everyone with a harmonica to join in. ( I would encourage anyone interested
in playing harmonica to attend David's classes at Tulsa Community College. )
There was also a "showcase" of various amplifiers, with current, vintage,
custom built and garage sale specials.  

We then opened up the jam with Bill Kumpe doing a Ry Cooder number and
getting the audience involved in a little call and response with him. There
were approximately 25 people in attendance, and though not all played
everyone appeared to have a good time. A Hohner Blues Bender Harmonica that
was donated by one of our members was raffled off. For a $2.00 donation
people received a chance to win the harmonica. $45.00 was raised by the
raffle, $25.00 of which was paid in cash to guitar accompanist Robert Smith.

Steve O Gwin, Sec/Treas.

-------------------------------------------------------

Notes from the President:

The June 2009 meeting and jam was probably our best to date. While some of
our regulars were absent, we picked up several new folks, some of whom were
active participants. We want to give special thanks to Jim Campbell for
adding a second guitar to our accompaniment as well as doing a couple of
gospel blues numbers for us. Jim is an active "legitimate" musician around
town, music degree and all, who has decided to take up the harp. We want to
welcome him and the rest of the visitors to the group.

Several of our amateurs gave spirited performances, but two of our seasoned
pros, Dave Berntson and Gary Eldridge were the stars of the night. Since we
had just finished a teaching session, questions from the crowd continued on
into the jam. One of the folks asked whether or not the harmonica could be
used to play chords and rhythm the same way as playing rhythm guitar. I
"encouraged" Dave and Gary to come up and give us a few lines of basic
rhythm from one harp and a little lead from the other and asked the guitar
players to give them a little medium boogie woogie background. Dave, always
the patient teacher, explained exactly what he was going to do and then he
and Gary did exactly what I asked ... but then kept going into a fabulous
improv that lasted about ten minutes. At one point Dave led the improv over
into an old blues standard and did a few verses of vocal. Swapping lead and
rhythm back and forth, these two were probably playing the best blues to be
heard in Oklahoma on that Monday night.

Special recognition needs to be given to Todd Goings of Oklahoma City. Todd
is a gifted graphic artist who also plays harp. (Remember that when you want
your mic striped or flamed.)  After some "encouragement" from the stage,
Todd, accompanied by Dave Berntson, gave a very professional performance.
His play was solid and smooth. You would never have known it was his first
public performance.

After the meeting officially ended, the crowd broke up into several small
groups, with one group trying out the amps on stage which included a Fender
Champ 600, an incredibly powerful and smooth restored vintage Electrolab and
a unique off brand garage sale vintage solid state find that sounded a lot
better than it's fifteen dollar price tag.  Of special interest was
Berntson's  Harp Gear Double Trouble Amp.  I had packed my harps up into my
small soft case and was holding them in the air getting ready to leave my
seat when someone began "trying out" this amp.  From a distance of about
fifteen feet, every harp in that soft case was vibrating while being held in
the air in my hand and it didn't sound deafeningly loud.   Another small
group was swapping licks and tips for playing standards on the harp, while
others visited with the guitar players, etc.  There was a lot of migration
between the groups and the crowd hung around long after the official end of
the jam.

Our club jams are not really performances and we don't allow head cutting.
They are a place for our musicians to learn and steal from each other, to
try new things and develop their skills. You are going to hear clinkers and
mistakes. I once again did my infamous nine draw "mistake" opening (harp
upside down because I'm too vain to wear glasses on stage) and my stomp box
lost power in the middle of a number so, before I could get the thing
unplugged, I treated the audience to a loud and an uncontrolled barrage of
effects that could only be described as truly shocking. But, even in the
process of all of that, some awfully good music got made that a discerning
audience was lucky to hear on a Monday evening, June 1, 2009 in  Tulsa,
Oklahoma.

Bill Kumpe, Pres.