It's a shame that quite often, precursors are seen, in hindsight, as old-timers. The harmonica, the chromatic harmonica in particular, owes a lot to Larry Adler and yet he doesn't, in my opinion, get the praise that he deserves. For being a tremendous and fearless player, for being a beacon of his time (it's hard to imagine the fame he enjoyed in the immediate post-war era), for being the human being that he was, opinionated as all hell but also willing to put his carreer at risk to defend his values.
In addition to a number of tracks on various compilations, I only have one album by Larry Adler, his Live in Australia, recorded towards the end of his life: it's more enjoyable for the character that he is than for the music he plays which, while impressive for an 82 year old guy isn't quite on top of the game anymore. But look at the following video of Larry playing George Enesco's Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1. It seems to be shot for a movie, I don't know which, and the hand theatrics seem a little exaggerated, but listen to what he's actually playing. The precision, the power, the fluidity are stunning, and I don't know many players today who could match that level of playing.
Not that I need further motivation to buy records, but something tells me I need to get more Larry Adler. Any recommendations welcome!
Larry Adler first true me to the harmonica--he played on Sting's "Ten Summoner's Tales" album and his playing on the song "Shape of My Heart" really captured me. What was this mysterious instrument that was creating such a deep mood? Who was playing it? From there I've sampled a lot of his other work and been very impressed. I was surprised upon encountering the online harmonica community that barely anybody even mentions his name.
Posted by: marc | March 26, 2007 at 06:25 PM