Blues Traveler - John Popper

Blues Traveler - John Popper, as any harmonica player (and many non-harmonica players) knows, is the lead singer, main songwriter, and harmonica player for Blues Traveler. Popper's playing, like that of many fast players on any instrument, is mostly based on patterns, i.e. set sequences of notes that are used and reused in a variety of contexts throughout his songs. Pattern-based playing certainly makes it much easier to think at high speeds (because the player can think in terms of patterns, rather than a note at a time), but if the player doesn't push him or herself to learn new patterns frequently the solos based on those patterns become predictable. This is especially so on the diatonic harmonica, Popper's preferred instrument, whose out-of-the-box setup includes only a single major diatonic scale. Non-scale tones are available on the diatonic harmonica via techniques that include bending and overblowing, of course, but it's not easy to hit the bends right on target when you're playing as fast as Popper, and in general his patterns tend to use the single scale that's built into the instrument most of the time, especially when he's playing his fastest runs. When he does use bends, it's usually to add emphasis to the big climax notes, or to imbue his lines with an almost Middle-Eastern quality; in other words, bending for Popper is more often a matter of tone and timbre than of pitch. In this sense he is very far removed from Howard Levy, the jazz diatonic harmonica master for whom Popper has expressed reverence in interviews. Popper's instrumental technique is exceptionally good, especially in terms of his breathing (which is very fluid and quick) and his left hand, the latter being the key factor in moving the harmonica rapidly and precisely. (It's a pleasure to watch Popper on his television performances, where you can see his solid technique in action as well as hear it.) If there is a harmonica player on the planet who can play faster for longer with better control than Popper, I have yet to hear him or her. Popper has been attacked by a number of more traditional players for his cascades of notes, in much the same terms (and for much the same reason) that saxophonist John Coltrane was attacked for his "sheets of sound" approach to soloing: it's "just scales," it's "soulless," etc., etc. Such criticism can be dismissed fairly easily, starting with the soullessness charge. Popper's solos are in fact effusively emotional, and the emotion is joy. Every aspect of Popper's musical output, from his lyrics to his song structures, reveals a person who is emotional, intelligent, and extremely talkative, a guy who has so much to say that he can barely squeeze it into the available space before the song ends. He is capable of using long tones as well as rapid runs effectively, and his sound on this record, with and without electronics, is very pleasing. Most of the negative reactions to Popper's work from more traditional players can be summed up as a) professional jealousy and b) the usual rejection accorded to any innovator who challenges the dominant paradigm in any field. (As noted previously, the charge that he repeats himself too often has some merit, though whether he repeats himself more frequently than the typical blues harper is questionable.) For more info see: http://www.rootsworld.com/freereed/po...