I am still focused on Carey Bell. I have had his tunes playing on my iPod all week and am impressed all over again with his adventurous work on the chromatic harmonica and his staccato attack on the diatonic harp. I also picked up the following Carey Bell story, posted to the Harp-L newsgroup by Steve Adams:
The last time I saw Carey about a year or so ago. After he had put on an awesome show, it was obvious he wasn't feeling too great, but he was his usual open, friendly, sunny self. After I had visited with him awhile, I told him I wanted to have my picture taken with him. His reply - "Why would you want to do that?" "Because you're the greatest harp player in the world," I responded (and, to me, he was). He looked at me and resolutely replied - "No, I'm not- but I will be, just you wait and see."
How cool is that? This man who had been an integral part of harp development and history since the fifties still had goals and ambitions for improvement, not to mention modesty.
The world has lost a magical harp player and a truly great man.
Steve Adams.
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