Tuesday, July 2, 2013

What Did You Miss This Week (Week 318 #362)

Hambone!!!

Next up in the straight eighth grooves - the infectious hambone groove! This also gets called the Bo Diddley groove because he popularized it with the tune Bo Diddley. Joe's transcription of the rhythm is here: Hambone Groove.

Note that this is a two-bar groove and it is often played as a one chord song. Here are some examples to listen to:
  • Bo Diddley, by Bo Diddley
  • Pretty Thing, by Willie Dixon
  • Mona, by Bo Diddley
  • Mean Old Woman, by Sonny Terry
  • Hold Me Tight, by JC Burris (Sonny Terry's nephew)
  • Willie and the Handjive, by Johnny Otis (check out the video)
  • Willie and the Handjive, by Mark Hummel
  • Girl 'O Mine, by Filisko and Noden
  • My Old Man, by Jim Lucas (sorry, you have to come to B1 to hear this one!)

Jim Lucas, Reporting From Rome!!!

- Our buddy Jim Lucas has this terrific report from his recent trip to Italy for us:

On a recent Monday that I missed, I was in Rome, Italy, on an exciting harmonica excursion. My wife, Martha, and I were on a two week vacation trip in Italy. In preparation for the trip, I had sent an email to the harp-l email list asking if anyone in Rome, Florence, or Lucca, Italy would be interested in getting together to share harmonica, blues or other related stuff. (The harp-l email list is a terrific resource for harmonica players. You can find information about it here.)

Through the email list, I made two excellent contacts. The first was a contact with a fellow list subscriber who told me of good places to go in Rome for blues. Second, and most important, was Alvaro Toledo Chavarri, a native Spaniard who lives in Rome, and is a blues harp player. He invited me to a gig that he was playing in Rome on the evening we would arrive there, and offered to take me on a field trip to 'blue-x-lab'.

Because of a flight delay, we arrived late and were unable to hear Alvaro and his band play at the club.  But we were able to meet him on a Monday and be whisked away to the suburbs of Rome, where we met Max and got a tour of his lab spaces, tucked away in two blocks of a ‘rent-a-space’ complex.  Max showed us his state-of-the-art cases, mics, harps, and accessories.  Alvaro and I tried out a couple of his mics, and Max demonstrated the audio spectrum of one of them.  Max and Alvaro are warm and passionate harmonica aficionados, and it was great to meet them.  Alvaro then brought Martha and me back to Rome and gave us a tour of the United Nations building, including a breathtaking view of Rome from the top of the building.

I guess if you gotta miss Monday, a blues harmonica field trip in Rome is a close second!


Alvaro, Jim and Max

Class Notes
  • Joe will be out of town July 15 and 29. Private lessons those days are cancelled, but group classes proceed as usual. Shoji will lead Level IV and Zoe will take care of Level III classes. Those in Level III should be sure to bring both their transcriptions as well as a play along track to class as there will not be an accompaniment guitar these two weeks - Grant's also away.

CD Release Party for Cristian!!!

Don't miss the 8pm class next week! Our Chilean friend Cristian Inostroza has a new disc out and we're going to have him in class next week playing a lot and talking about his influences, his background and the South American blues scene. All are welcome to sit in for this, so plan to stick around and don't forget to pick up a copy of his terrific new CD!

- Grant Kessler, B1 Blues Crew