Tuesday, May 21, 2013

What Did You Miss This Week? (Week 313 #357)

Boogaloo!!!

Joe launched last night by saying he believes "all the great blues grooves are embodied in the recordings of Slim Harpo." Harpo has a beautiful style that's simple and melodic. His are catchy tunes that, as Joe says, "hit the bull's eye."

This is an introduction to a series of sessions coming up that will focus on grooves with lots of examples coming from the Slim Harpo canon.

First up, a continuation of last week's talk about the boogaloo groove. As Joe says, there are lots of boogaloo flavors, even from Slim Harpo, so we listened to some to hear the variety:
  • That's Why I Love You
  • Dynamite
  • My Baby She's Got It
And thanks to Shoji for suggesting these also:
  • Alligator Boogaloo, Lou Donaldson
  • Back Door Man, Willie Dixon w/Walter Horton (note that many of the musicians on this track are still playing a shuffle despite the straight eighth boogaloo groove)
Joe transcribed more of these tunes' basslines and you can get 'em here: Boogaloo Bass Lines.

Drum Beats Plus App!!!

The drum beats app Harmonica Einstein demo'd in class last night is:

http://www.ninebuzz.com/beatsplus/

Hookah Harp!!!

What will he think of next? Our intrepid inventor, Harmonica Einstein, spurred by the questionable need for multiple harp players to be evenly mic'd at once, has come up with this prototype, the Hookah Harp! Four hand-held inputs funnel sound from four players to a single mic element, which then plugs into the amp.

We played it in class last night and are here to report, IT WORKS! Catch us again soon and maybe we'll have an actual song to debut, rather than just a four-harp jam. Hmmm...maybe a boogaloo...


Rhythm & Chording Harp!!!

For those of you in Joe's Rhythm & Chording class, he'd like to mention that the commercially available harp from Hohner that is most friendly to playing chords is the Blue Midnight. It is (very nearly) Just tuned and will give you those sweet chord sounds. Check it out!

Class Notes
  • Memorial Holiday next week - Old Town School is closed. Sun screen, barbecue, cold beer and maybe a canoe or something, should be in your plans.

  • Joe will be away June 3. Group classes proceed as regularly scheduled with teaching provided by Zoe Savage, Grant Kessler, Shoji Naito and Highway RickEy. All Joe's private lessons are cancelled. Particularly in Level III classes it is highly recommended that you bring transcriptions along for the substitute teachers to see what you're working on.
- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew