.
Here's what a participant in Howard's recent New York City seminar had to say:
"I attended the Howard Levy seminar arranged by Zvi Aranoff in NYC
yesterday, and it was a thoroughly inspiring 2-plus hours. With about a
dozen people in attendance, and beginning with an illustration of first
position blues played on a C-harp (a Filisko with rock maple laminate
comb, Hohner Marine Band reed plates, and special 20 covers), Howard
discussed his techniques in great detail, covering breathing pattern
exercises, overblowing and overbending techniques, harmonica choices and
setups and their implications for technique and tone, and much more. It
felt like a 2-hour private lesson; I didn't have a question going in
that wasn't answered in depth before I left. (One of the things that
became evident, in Howard's playing as well as his comments, is that he
practices a hell of a lot, as in hours per day, and he analyzes his own
playing very carefully to find weaknesses and solutions. As noted
previously in discussion on Harp-L and elsewhere, if you want to play at
the technical level of a Levy or a Bonfiglio, that's the door charge.)
Attendees were permitted to audio record the proceedings, and my
cherished Zoom H4 produced an excellent recording of the session from
about 3:40 PM to 6:05 PM, when I had to leave, though Howard and the
attendees were apparently still going strong. Zvi Aranoff video taped
the proceedings as well. The session included several pieces played by
Howard and accompanied by his Chicago-based guitarist and Howard's son
on drums, and one or two pieces played by Howard on harmonica while he
accompanied himself on piano.
The question has come up on Harptalk before as to whether Howard plays
all his gigs with a single harmonica, and I made sure to ask about that.
Howard replied that he uses harmonicas in multiple keys on his gigs,
even though--as he demonstrated by playing a very convincing bebop blues
in C# on a C harmonica--he can certainly play in 12 keys on a single
instrument. The reason, of course, is that he gets certain chords and
effects by playing in certain positions.
I've expressed a lot of reservations in the past about fully chromatic
playing on the diatonic. Those reservations don't seem to apply in
Howard's case. Certainly I heard occasional tuning or tone anomalies,
but the whole efect was so musical that those issues just didn't seem to
matter very much. The playing was most often simply, purely dazzling.
This was one of the very best-spent days I have had where learning about
harmonica is concerned. I strongly urge everyone reading this to take
advantage of any similar opportunity that comes their way. Thanks to
Zvi Aranoff, and other Harp-L members such as Rob Paparozzi, for making
events like this possible on this and other occasions."
- Richard Hunter,
hunterharp.com (March 22, 2008 seminar)
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Accommodation and Travel
 The
Centennial House Bed and Breakfast
www.thecentennialhouse.com
94 Main Street
Northfield, MA 01360
Check-in anytime after 3 pm Friday
Participants will enjoy dinner
followed by an evening session
Sheets and towels, all meals
are provided
Check-out by noon on Monday
Driving
directions
Airports (both about an hour and a half from Northfield):
Logan
International Airport Boston, MA
Bradley International
Airport Hartford, CT
Bradley airport was recommended by the innkeeper as it is a straight
shot up Interstate-91 and the cabs there are used to driving to Northfield,
MA, whereas Boston car services tend to not be familiar with the drive.
Also, travelers don't have to deal with Boston traffic if they use
Bradley, which is just outside of Hartford. However, flying to Boston
may be more affordable. The choice, of course, is up to you.
From the airport to Northfield,
MA: The innkeeper recommends Valley
Transporters, who are the main service of the five colleges in
the area and are used to working with musicians and instruments. Reservations
required; call 1-800-872-8752 or visit their website. Both
airports also have numerous car rental options if campers would like
to drive themselves to and from Northfield, but we do not anticipate
campers will need access to a car during the weekend.
Schedule
The exact schedule will be decided by Howard
and the workshop participants.
Class
Descriptions
How
to Play the Harmonica
From
the basics to state-of-the-art. Diatonic Harmonica in C required,
but is is good to have
more in other keys as well, such as G, A, Bb, D, and F. Howard will
lecture, interact, coach individuals, share all his knowledge and
experience. Chromatic players are welcome to sit in on the class,
but Howard will not teach the chromatic harmonica per se.
Improvising in "Odd" time meters on any instrument
Take
standard tunes from simple folk tunes, classical, Jazz, and play
them in 3, 5, 7, 9, etc.
Loosen up phrasing, learn about different ethnic rhythms as they
can be applied to Western musical styles.
Play Jazz in all major styles
...from
Ragtime, Blues, Traditional, Swing, Bebop, Latin Jazz, "Free" Jazz,
Fusion, etc. This will involve history, listening, and playing of
standard tunes
from the Jazz repertoire. All instruments. Bring "Fake" books if
you have
them, but we will provide printouts of tunes in leadsheet form.
For
artist info, please visit www.levyland.com
For
more information
please contact us at
410-374-9059
mtfarmer@classactsontour.com
More About
Howard Levy
"[Levy]
may be the most radical single technical innovator in the history
of his instrument..."
Kim Field, Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers
Howard Levy is a musician
without limits. His musical adventures include journeys into jazz,
pop, rock, world music, Latin, classical, folk, blues, country,
theater, and film. He has appeared on hundred of cds, won a Grammy
(1997), won a Joseph Jefferson Award (1986) for Best Original Music
for a Play, and has performed many times on American and European
television and radio.
Universally
acknowledged as the world's most advanced diatonic harmonica player,
Howard developed a fully chromatic style on the standard 10 - hole
diatonic harmonica, revolutionizing harmonica playing and taking
the instrument into totally new territory. He is also an accomplished
pianist and composer, and plays many other instruments as well,
including flute, ocarina, mandolin, saxophone, and percussion.
Howard Levy was a founding member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones.
He toured and recorded two albums with Kenny Loggins, and formed
Trio Globo with Eugene Friesen and Glen Velez. Howard has also performed
and/or recorded with Dolly Parton, Styx, Bobby McFerrin, Paul Simon,
John Prine, Paquito D’Rivera, Ken Nordine, and many others,
as well as touring and recording extensively in Europe with artists
such as Rabih Abou Khalil and Michael Riessler.
Recent Highlights
In
2003, Howard released a jazz duo cd with Naumberg Award-winning
pianist Anthony Molinaro, entitled The Molinaro/Levy Project “Live”.
In 2002, he performed “On the Other Side...” (a triple
concerto composed for him, a clarinetist and an accordianist) with
The Bavarian State Radio Orchestra in Munich, Germany. In 2001,
Howard was commisioned by The Illinois Philharmonic to compose a
Harmonica Concerto, the first ever written for diatonic harmonica.
Since the debut, he has performed it 9 times, with more performances
scheduled.
Current
Chicago Bands
Howard
is music director of Chévere, Chicago's hottest Latin-Jazz-Fusion
Band, whose first cd will be released soon. He also leads a 4 piece
band called Howard Levy's Accoustic Express, also with a cd to be
released soon.
Movies, Dance, Theater
Howard's harmonica playing was featured on the soundtracks of A
Family Thing, Striptease, A Time to Kill, Straight
Talk, and Vietnam, A
Long Time Coming. In the dance world, Howard collaborated with
Indian dancer Ranee Ramaswamy in Where the Hands Go, The Eyes
Follow, a fusion of photography, poetry, dance, and music, all
live, with poets Robert Bligh and Coleman Barks. In 2004 he performed
with members of The Hubbard Street and Joffrey dance companies in
Moody Hollow, choreographed by Lauri Stallings. In theater,
he won a Joseph Jefferson Award for his music for Brecht's Puntila
and his Hired Man (1986). In 1997 he co-wrote the music for
Tales From Trashmania, a one-woman show by Bonnie Koloc.
.
Education
Howard Levy studied piano and theory at The Manhattan School
of Music in N.Y. for four years, then studied pipe organ with Carl
Lambert for two years. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston,
IL for two years, playing in the Jazz band. As a music educator,
Howard has taught hundreds of students privately, and has been a
guest lecturer at Harvard, Berklee, Dartmouth College, Northwestern
University, Francis Parker School, given jazz clinics at high schools,
and has given hundreds perfomances of "Music from around the World,"
a program of international music for children and adults. He also
taught harmonica for 7 summers at The Augusta Heritage Arts Workshop
in Elkins, WV, and World Music in 1984 at The Omega Institute in
New York. Howard has an instructional video on Homespun Tapes. Called
"New Directions for Harmonica," it covers every aspect of Howard's
revolutionary techniques, repair and adjustment of the harmonica,
improvisational music theory. There is even a section using ultrasound
that shows the inside of a harmonica player's mouth as he plays.
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The Harmonica Intensive