What Did You Miss This Week? (Week 249 #292)

Recital Rehearsal!!! Class time this week was primarily devoted to rehearsal of recital songs. Joe did take some time to share a couple Christmas songs though and to use them as a starting point to review the five harmonica sounds to consider and master: Clean single notes (tongue on the harp) Chords, defined as 2 or more holes played at once (tongue off the harp) Splits (tongue on) Dirty notes and splits (tongue on) Percussive vamping (chord played with tongue off, then single note played with tongue on) Get your traditional blues happening - "When in doubt, keep your tongue on the harmonica." - Joe Filisko And practice your chording and vamping on tunes like Jingle Bell Rock! ___________ CORRECTION: There was no flood of letters to the editor, but we know we goofed last week when attributed vocals on Hate To See You Go to Muddy Waters. Nope, that is Little Walter!

CD Releases!!! - Brought to you by our man-in-Tucson, Big Jim: The Perfect Blues Collection This amazing value (Two dollars per disc!!!!) is a treasure trove of common & obscure blues-r&b- rock & roll releases by some of the biggest names in roots music. Housed in a cube lift off lid box which holds 25 mini lp sleeves of releases from the COLUMBIA / SONY/ VOGUE family of labels.........some of these have never been released as a cd before and some have been out of print for a while.......This is a quality FRENCH IMPORT with a booklet in both english & french.........Some of the highlights for me include HUBERT SUMLIN & HIS FRIENDS....a French VOGUE release from 1971 with JOE CARTER- BILLY BOY ARNOLD & FRED BELOW and a never before reissued RCA album by PERCY MAYFIELD called PERCY MAYFIELD SINGS as well as the hard to find JOHNNY OTIS SHOW LIVE AT MONTEREY 1971 and PETER GREEN/ OTIS SPANN release called BIGGEST THING SINCE COLOSSUS. And from Adam Gussow comes this new release: All the music I've loved comes together in Southbound; the mix ranges from urban and country blues through a pair of contemporary smooth-jazz instrumentals by trumpeters Chris Botti and Rick Braun that I've roughed up. With Jerry Jemmott’s help, I turn trumpeter Hugh Masekela’s 1968 pop-jazz perennial, “Grazing in the Grass” into a foot-drum-driven disco groove with some bump-in-the-trunk. There’s also a funky wailing remake of the “Sanford and Son” theme (with Mississippi jazz man Bill Perry, Jr. on keyboards) and an overblow workout on “Alley Cat,” an early 1960s lounge hit by Danish pianist Bent Fabric. Southbound is anchored by a couple of original compositions. “Home to Mississippi” evokes the life of a traveling musician with a rockabilly vibe and some juke-joint harp. “Old McDonald in Mississippi” is—well, let’s just call it a double-entendre, adults-only meditation on "frolicking rural farmlife" in the Deep South. For the holiday season, Southbound is available ONLY as a zip file download (big fat WAVs or mp3s) from Modern Blues Harmonica by way of Tradebit. Complete ready-to-print liner notes included! The harp keys are listed, to facilitate jamming along. 11 tracks, 42 minutes, $10. Click either link below and you'll be taken to a page at Tradebit where you can listen to a nine-song preview reel: Southbound WAVs Southbound mp3s

Class Notes Recital #17 happens on December 17 (wow, #17 on the 17th!) starting at 7:30pm. Here's the Set List! Impersonate a professional by being early for your time slot and work to make your between song and between performer transitions quick! Review the recital checklist to eliminate trouble. Suddenly unable to make it out to the recital? Shoot an email to info@youmissedmonday so we know! This session of Old Town classes is over. Classes resume January 9, 2012. Enjoy the holidays! YouMissedMonday is going to take time off too unless there is late-breaking news. See you again in early January when classes resume.

Pizza Party!!! Our own Ginny Morin is throwing a pizza party and all of Joe's current students are welcome to come and bring your dates/spouses. Plan to pitch in on ingredient costs. Ginny Morin 5812 N. Fairfield Chicago, IL 60659 Sunday, January 8, 2012 3pm Please RSVP to Ginny - Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew