More Jam Tracks

---Ronnie Shellist has been promoting these a great deal. These are by Peter Schmidt. They sound great! Here is a review from Blues Harp Amps...http://bluesharpamps.blogspot.com/2009/12/review-ultimate-jam-tracks.html.

You can purchase these backing tracks (these are DOWNLOADS not physical cds) by clicking on the links below:

Ultimate Jam Tracks Package (vol. 1, vol. 2, harmonica edition): $25.99

Jam Tracks Vol 1: $9.99

Jam Tracks Vol 2: $9.99

Jam Tracks Harmonica Edition: $9.99

Samples of Ronnie playing to some of the tracks can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNchj3ETw1A

Jam Track by Jimi Lee

From Jimi Lee:

Hey Y’all,

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Well I finally did it! I finished creating one of the most useful tools for Harmonica. For years I have felt there was a void in Backing Tracks for Blues Harp. Most of the tracks I’d heard were too busy like the maker intended them to be interesting to listen to, rather than sort of empty and in great need of a Harmonica or a lead instrument. Some of the better Tracks I’d heard had really good grooves but still had too many instruments and the piano or guitar were doing something I didn’t want to do with that particular groove. I wanted to grab just what the Bass and Drums were doing and get rid of all the rest and have the guitar lay down something basic and groove oriented. So that’s what I did. And then I took it a step further. I decided to use all different beats and record every cool common groove I had heard through years in all the cities and bars. I tried to include every important groove. Then I figured many players would be jamming along in their car so I put songs in the same key next to each other. So you can jam for half a CD without changing the harp. I did this on both discs.

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These Harmonica backing Tracks come in a 2 CD Set and are designed to cover every Blues Groove a musician should know and learn. It is a great learning tool for all members of the band, drummers and bass players a like would benefit greatly by learning these particular grooves. They were created for harmonica but are perfect for playing lead blues licks and melodies with any instrument, whether it be harmonica, sax, piano, guitar or anything else playing blues music. They would be excellent for making recordings with and listening to one’s self. (*See below*©) It is important not to break up the set in order to get a complete picture of the Blues. The Titles were carefully chosen, and will help immensely to communicate with drummers and the rhythm section, at jam sessions or gigs, in order for them to understand what you are looking for in a particular groove or song. For example it will help a great deal to know what the difference is between a Jazz Swing and a Texas Shuffle, a Tramp Groove and a Backwards Linda Lou (slang terms used by blues players) and of course names for a bunch of other types of “feel” or groove. I can’t say enough about this project. This is a lifetime of living in different cities and working with countless different musicians and hearing the slang used to communicate feel and ideas without written music. These CD’s are like getting a degree “from the boulevard of the blues”. It will help make anyone “street smart” with the blues.

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For a 2 CD set entitled “Every Groove a Bluesman Needs to Know”, just reply to this email and I will send a $39.99 PayPal request, shipping is included, US & Canada, ($5 more for out of country). There are 31 Tracks in all with all kinds of different Beats, Tempos and Grooves. Harmonica Keys A, C & D (2nd Position) will cover most of the Trax, but for the complete set one would need Keys A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F & G to play every Track in cross harp. I hope many to come will enjoy these carefully picked, fun and enthusiastic, Blues Grooves!

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Here’s what a few professional harmonica players I sent mp3 samples say. Brendan Powers says, “I'm a Believer! They sound great, natural and swinging :) I'd like to order. Those tracks make me want to pick up my harps and play :)”. Christelle Berthon says, “if the rest of the CD’s is the same as this track this product will be a success I'm sure. It goes beyond any other harmonica backing track I've ever heard”. Adam Gussow says, “I love those two jam tracks you sent me. Great stuff! The rhythms really percolate. Spiky and alive”.

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Please let me know if you notice any connection and experience you have after jamming through a whole CD?

I think something magical may happen, this was very important to me. I want it to feel kind of live and real.

You will notice the Trax are not touched up and perfect but left very loose, as they were. You might feel as if you are interacting with the players, this was my goal, along with real grooving and good ‘feel’.

Any reactions you have will be appreciated. Try it in your car too. I put several in a row in the same key. I hope this makes it convenient for the car jam.

Sincerely,

Jimi Lee

JimiLee@jimileeband.com

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(* ©These tracks are mixed and ready to record with. Just record your track, pan it to the left (*adjust balance) 46%, set your volume and you will have a great mix. (* 46% pan explained): If you play to these trax and record a harp track with GrooveTrax as your backing band, it will sound good to pan the harp track to the left 40-50%. The guitar is 46% to the right. Panning is the same as “balance” on a stereo. I ask that if you are going to make a CD for sale using these tracks, please pay the 3 musicians what’s called in the Union “another use”. This would be $300 each, a one time fee for all the tracks, (a great deal) or if you only want to use a few tracks $50 per track per musician, $150 ea. *)

Harps in Celtic Music

Posted by Shaun-Patrick O. Young:

Happy New Year!!!

I've started a new look to my website [ http://www.kelticdead.com ] to better support the use of the diatonic harmonicas for playing Celtic music.

Traditionally, any musical gathering [ called a "ceili" (Kay-lee)] to play music in the traditions of the Celtic cultures {Irish-Scots-Welch-Breton-Americana} is called a "sessiun" (session). These informal settings are usually led by someone who keeps to a theme for the music, and as result, there can be many different themes [pastoral, contradance{jigs and reels}, aires, and many others]. Pubs {not a bar, but a community place for families to meet, eat, and share good times} are typical meeting places for these sessiuns.

A new "pub" has opened up in the Collin County area (in Allen, Texas) that is going to continue this time-honored tradition for what a pub is all about. The Trinity Hall Irish Pub in Dallas has been supporting Irish "contradance" music for a number of years, and they want to extend these sessiuns into their new pub location.

I'm going to support these types of gatherings more with my KelticDead Music website by showing that many of these "traditional" tunes can be played using the diatonica harmonicas. I've learned that I can do this using many wonderful resources already found within the internet. As time goes on, I'm going to add to the list of tunes that I've listed, and also provide "ABC" text of the arrangements that I've created specifically for using diatonic harmonicas, as well as either PDF or Gif images of the sheetmusic arrangements.

Traditional Celtic music is for everyone to enjoy, and the standard, "out-of-the-box," diatonic harmonicas [C, D, A, and G] are capable of playing almost all of the Celtic tunes ever written [with only the occasional adaptation]. I've made it my mission to show how this is possible. It's a lot of fun for me, and I hope it helps others get into the same fun using harmonicas.

If you want to know more about these traditional "Irish Music Sessions" send me an email. With ABC notation and the internet, it's easy to share music and tips in playing traditional music with harmonicas.

Best regards,

Shaun-Patrick O. Young, KelticDead Music.

http://www.kelticdead.com

Hashbrown Robbed!

Attention all DFW musicians: Brian Calway, AKA Hashbrown, has had his gear stolen from his van. This is a message from him.

Friends,

I was the victim of theft of musical equipment taken from my van parked in my driveway(sometime after 1am this morning 12/30). Here is a list of equipment taken, any leads or help finding any or all equipment will be rewarded.

· 1 FENDER 1965 BLACKFACE DELUXE REISSUE(SN AC082182)

· 1 DESIGNED TO FIT COVER FOR REISSUE DELUXE

· 1 FENDER NOS TWEED LIMITED BLUES JUNIOR(SN D16831)

· 1 DESIGNED TO FIT COVER FOR BLUES JUNIOR

· 1 FENDER HOTROD DEVILLE AMP(SN B265801)

· 1 TUKI COVER FOR HOTROD DEVILLE

· 1 MACKIE 808M PA HEAD

· 1 MARS ROLLING PA CASE FOR MACKIE 808M

· 1 CARVIN MINI PA AMP AG100 D(SN OD14535)

· 1 SKB 1200 12 SPACE MICROPHONE CASE

· 3 SHURE SM 58 MICROPHONES W/CABLES

· PA CABLES

· 1 1982 TOKAI STRATOCASTER

· 1 LEATHER DOUBLE GUITAR GIGBAG(BROWN)

· 1 FENDER 'MISSISSIPPI SAXOPHONE' TWEED HARMONICA CASE

· 6 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMINCAS KEY OF A

· 1 HOHNER MARINE BAND HARMONICA, KEY OF G CUSTOMIZED BY WORKING MAN HARPS

· 1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF Ab

· 1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF Bb

· 3 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICAS, KEY OF C

· 1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF Db

· 2 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICAS, KEY OF D

· 1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA KEY OF Eb

· 1 HOHNER MARINE BAND HARMONICA, KEY OF E

· 1 HOHNER MARINE BAND HARMONICA, KEY OF F

· 2 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICAS, KEY OF LOW F

· 1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF LOW D

· 1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF LOW C

· 1 HOHNER SPECIAL 20 HARMONICA, KEY OF LOW E

· 2 HOHNER MARINE BAND 465 HARMONICAS, KEY OF C

· 1 HOHNER SUPER 64 CHROMATIC HARMONICA

· 1 HERING CHROMATIC HARMONICA

· 1 HOHNER 'SCHOOL BOY' HARMONICA, KEY OF C

· 1 ASTATIC JT-30 MICROPHONE(151) CUSTOMIZED BY MR. MICROPHONE(CHROME)

· 1 ROAD CASE BRIEFCASE(BLACK)

· FOLLOWING ITEMS INSIDE:

· 10 SETS GHS MED GAUGE BOOMER STRINGS

· 50 VARIOUS GHS BOOMER STRINGS

REWARD OFFERED

THANKS,

BRIAN 214-673-0309

How Long Have You Been Playing?

Interesting....I started looking through old e-mails and thinking about where I worked when I first started playing harmonica. I think from being so obsessive about it and pursuing so many sources of information it felt like longer than it was.

Turns out I started playing in September, 2007. That's a little over two years! Two obsessive, very focused years!

How long have you been playing? Send an email or respond on the blog!

A.

Merry Christmas from HOOT!

Incredibly Useful Document

Many of you know Adam Gussow and his website, ModernBluesHarmonica.Com. He has a great forum, and many great video tutorials available. Some are free, some aren't (but well worth their price).

This document, which is in PDF form, was put together for Gussow's site by a forum member named, mr_so&so. I don't know who he is, but I do know that he has put together one of the best resources I've ever found online. The download is free. Be sure to stop by Professor Gussow's site to thank him!

http://tinyurl.com/harmonicapositions

HOOT's Christmas Party is coming up!

Playing For Change

Just a bit of harmonica playing in this. The player is Grandpa Elliot, a well known New Orleans busker. This video is a great example of pulling your own weight in music.

Remember that before you can play well with others, you have to listen well.

Time's running out!

Time's almost up to get your tickets to see Charlie Musselwhite at the Granada Theater. get your tickets here.