“Blue Monk” on the Country-Tuned Harp: It’s All About the Chords
I last recorded Thelonius Monk‘s “Blue Monk” (which Monk originally released in recorded form in 1954) for my solo acoustic CD “The Act of Being Free in One Act” in 1994 as part of a medley that included Jimmy Reed’s “Let it Roll” and “Bright…
Amp Modelers Really Do Sound Better Through Keyboard Amps
I jammed this weekend with my old friend guitarist Tom Gage. I brought about half of my rig: a Digitech RP500, iStomp running Swing Shift, and JamMan Stereo looper. I didn’t bring my Peavey KB2 keyboard amp because Tom had a Fender Deluxe Reverb available…
Power Surges and Amp Modelers Don’t Mix Well
I own two Digitech RP500s, and it’s a good thing, because one of them might be about to die. The cause of death–if indeed it’s imminent–is a power surge.
Looping Setups Old and New and a Couple of New Loop Jams
I decided in the last couple of days to buy some new gear for looping. The main idea with this gear is to sync everything to everything: loopers to each other, loopers to drum machines, drum machines to sequencers–you name it, I want it synced…
Hot Jams at Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues
I was in London Sunday through Tuesday at Gartner’s Project Portfolio Management and IT Governance Conference, and as usual I made a point to get to either the Sunday or Monday jam session at Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues. The Monday night jam in particular,…
So many records, so little time
In the last couple of months, I have been privileged to acquire a huge stack of harmonica records from some of the best players in the world. Mike Stevens, the mind-boggling Canadian virtuoso, dropped a stack of 5 CDs on me that include styles ranging…
Video of the Day 20 May 2015: Hermine Deurloo, Zanzibar
Big Shimmering Textures: Comin’ Home Baby Looped Live
I recorded this performance of “Comin’ Home Baby” live, using Lee Oskar natural minor harps in G and F, an Audix Fireball mic, a Digitech RP500 running my patch set, a Digitech JamMan Stereo looper, a Peavey KB2 keyboard amp, and a Zoom H4 to…
The Seydel 1847 is getting to be my favorite harp
I recently blew out the draw 4 reed on my Seydel Session Steel A harp. When I ordered a set of replacement reed plates, I was shipped a set of Seydel 1847 plates by accident. I decided to re-order the Session Steel plates, and also…
I just bought a bunch of Manjis, and they’re better than they used to be
I buy harmonicas every so often (because I use harmonicas every day, and they do wear out). A recent sale on Suzuki Manjis in all the popular keys happened to take place at Rockin Ron’s on the very day I decided to buy some. So…
