kelly raze when we'd finished ironing pants_for_saxophones, there was one song that had a fifteen-second instrumental lull where i thought a bit of harmonica might add a nice little soulful something. he misheard me when i told him the song was in b flat minor and brought a b flat major harmonica. he didn't have the minor he needed in his case of harps. he gave me five takes anyway, bending the third where it needed to go, dancing around the notes that wouldn't fit. the first two takes were good. the last three were phenomenal. they're all different. they all have their own personality. good luck picking one. unprompted, he told me the music was "achingly beautiful". that has to be one of the best compliments anyone's ever given me, about anything. 140820 ... raze after having a chance to listen and compare some more, i think the second take might be the one. something really enchanting and unusual happens with vibrato at the very end, and it's not like any sound i've heard a harmonica make before. it's almost like a voice that's trembling through tears, holding its pitch long enough to regain its composure and then soaring back to a place of strength. in other words, it sounds really cool. 140822 ... raze when i showed him i'd taught myself how to bend a note, he gave me something of an unprompted harmonica lesson, explaining some of what's going on with the instrument and your mouth and jaw and tongue, and i probably learned more in those five minutes than i did in a few years of anxious teenage piano lessons half-wasted on a theory-resistant brain. he offered a real lesson sometime, free of charge. what a guy. 160315 what's it to you? who go blather from