Blues harmonica player Gary Primich dies
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AUSTIN - Harmonica player Gary Primich, whose soulful and proficient
playing developed a strong following among blues fans in the United
States and Europe, has died at age 49.
The Austin-based musician died Sunday, ex-wife Tina Rosenzwieg told
the Austin American-Statesman for a story posted Monday on its Web
site. Primich's Web site also announced his death.
The cause of death has not been released.
Primich moved to Austin in the mid-1980s after growing up in Gary,
Ind. His Web site touted his experience learning from blues players in
Chicago in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
He made two albums with the Mannish Boys, but was most successful as a
solo artist. He recorded eight albums total for labels including
Antone's, Black Top, Amazing and Flying Fish.
"He had established himself all over the world as one of the most
technically proficient harmonica players," fellow Austin musician Ted
Roddy said. "He wrote great instrumentals that leaned toward organ
jazz. It was like Jimmy Smith, only on harmonica."
Rosenzwieg met Primich when they were students at the University of
Indiana. She said the two remained close after their divorce.
"Gary was the sweetest, smartest, hardest-working harp player in the
world," she said.
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On the Net: http://www.garyprimich.com/
Hoodude
Posted: 2007-09-24
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=15308
http://www.garyprimich.com/images/GaryMartinDongen2006.jpg
Austin, Texas, September 24-- Gary Primich, considered by many to be
one of the greatest harmonica players in the world, passed away
suddenly on September 23rd. Not only is this the loss of a world-class
talent, but also of a true world-class person. Offstage, Gary was a
caring and gentle soul -- a real Regular Joe of the best kind. Onstage
he played with a ferocity and indescribable sound that was often
mind-blowing. He'd say Thank You to his fans then quickly change the
subject because he didn't want it to be all about him. He loved
animals, he loved people, he loved music and he loved life. Gary's
career sent him around the world, traveling thousands and thousands of
miles for his love of music, but he'll always be right here, in our
hearts.
Details regarding a memorial service for Gary will be posted as soon
as more information is available.
Biography
Yeah, they say you have to suffer if you want to sing the blues. And
yes, blues singer, harmonica master and songwriter Gary Primich wasn't
raised in a shotgun shack in the Mississippi Delta or a tenement on
the South Side of Chicago. Nor does he try to sound like he was. Yet
his blues music still brims with the stamp of authenticity, albeit an
authenticity to what constitutes blues music here in the 21st Century.
And as CD Review once pointed out, If you're a newcomer to Primich's
work and are expecting another boring white guy doing either blues
Nazi rehashes of Little Walter's Juke or some Blues Traveler ooodles
of noodles fest, forget it.
Rather, with Gary Primich what you get is one foot in the old school
and the other in modern blues, says Jazz Times, along with songwriting
[that] has some fresh melodic twists and modulations that take that
tradition to some other places. And then there s his harp playing,
filled with fat, rich and sassy tones, marked by tricky melodic
twists, and as powerful as a locomotive barreling along at full steam.
As well, notes Down Beat, Primich is that rare harmonica player who
actually knows how to sing. And do so damned well to boot.
The evidence of such is embossed into Dog House Music, Primich's debut
album on the Antone's Records label and his seventh in a series of
releases that have previously racked up considerable critical acclaim.
The album melds the sweaty feel of an inspired nightclub set with the
sharp sonic atmosphere of the studio, resulting in blues music that is
vivid and full of life. With his feet firmly planted in musical
tradition, Primich creates a signature style marked by versatile
musicality, smart songwriting, muscular and evocative vocals, and
colorful and potent harp playing. Cut with his road-seasoned band
augmented by some of the best players in Austin, TX, it features songs
written by Primich both solo and with his longtime collaborator Mark
Korpi, as well as by Primich band bassist Jeff Turmes and noted Austin
songwriter Michael Fracasso. Dog House Music is indeed a disc that
howls and rocks the roof off the joint.
Primich's talent and feel for the blues has won him praise from the
likes of blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite, who notes, He's
not just playing the same old stuff we've all heard way too much of.
Instead, Primich stretches and enhances the blues with the touch of a
modern master. Jazziz says he is easily the most syncretic [harmonica]
player on the scene today, while Spotlight magazine hails Primich as
one of the best harp players alive. Chicago's New City declared his
album Mr. Freeze as one of the 20 best blues albums of the 1990s.
Gary Primich was in fact born in the capital city of the blues,
Chicago, and raised in an industrial suburb of Gary, IN. Yes, his
family was middle class, but the milieu he grew up in could certainly
give anyone the blues. My high school was in the business of cranking
out people to go work at U.S. Steel, Bethlehem Steel and Inland Steel.
Nobody went to college, for God's sake, he says. His first exposure to
blues music was when he heard the Dave Edmunds version of “I Hear You
Knocking” on the radio. At the same time, Chuck Berry's last big hit
“My Ding A Ling” led Primich into the rock 'n roll pioneer's catalog
and the legacy of Chess Records.
And even though he wasn't weaned on the masters, once Primich picked
up the harmonica in his teens, he went straight to the sources to
master his craft. He studied and absorbed the styles of Sonny Boy
Williamson I and II as well as Little Walter and Big Walter. He
started hitting the clubs on the West and South Sides of Chicago, and
was soon playing in bands along Maxwell Street, the main drag of urban
blues, while getting his college degree from Indiana University.
It took one visit to Austin for him to decide to move there after
finishing college. I went to Antone's nightclub and heard the house
band backing Otis Rush, who I'd heard a lot of times in Chicago, but
he never sounded as good as he did that night. In the late 1980s, he
started The Mannish Boys with former Mothers of Invention drummer
Jimmy Carl Black. After two albums with the band for Amazing Records,
Primich struck out on his own. Over two albums on his own for Amazing,
another two for Flying Fish Records, and then two more for Black Top
Records, he has consistently racked up critical kudos for his mastery
of the tricky and elusive mix of tradition and innovation. As Blues
Revue notes, A new disc by Gary Primich has always been something to
look forward to.
Like Paul Butterfield, another white harmonica player who honed his
chops on the Chicago scene and left his indelible imprint on the
music's progression, Primich filters his blues roots through his own
consciousness to create something that's true to himself and his own
vision. I really see myself more like playing music like the Paul
Butterfield Blues Band, which was hearing what they loved and doing
their own version of it as opposed to trying to reproduce the wheel.
Even if Primich isn't about to parlay himself as a down and dirty
bluesman who's seen hard times and troubles all his days, make no
mistake about his devotion to the music and the fact that he plays it
from deep inside his soul. It's important that people understand that
I started playing this music when I started playing music because I
love this music. It wasn't because I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan or saw
something groovy on TV. I play this music because I fell in love with
it. And I play blues harmonica because I fell in love with the sound
of it. I started playing blues when it was the most uncool thing to
do, and it's never been the cool thing to do, but that doesn't matter
to me.
And in the great blues tradition, Primich is a working musician who
plays upwards of 200 dates a year across North America and throughout
Europe. When I was 18 years old, if you told me that when I was 43
years old that I would have my white Ford van, and my own band, and I
would be going out and playing gigs all over the country, I would have
said, dream come true. I am doing what I've always wanted to do, which
is to go on the road and play my own music the way I like to play it
wherever it is that it takes me. And I love doing that.
In the process, Primich has established himself as one of the modern
masters of the blues. And for proof of that, just slip Dog House Music
into the CD player, and see if you don't heartily agree. (infomation
courtesy of garyprimich.com)
Steve Allen Detroit Blues Society
Visit website
http://www.garyprimich.com/
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Hoodude
Musician Gary Primich dies at 49
By Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Monday, September 24, 2007
http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/stories/xl/2007/09/0924primmich.html
There are generally two types of harmonica players: Ones who have
amazing technique, and those who play with intense feeling. Gary
Primich was both. The great blues player, whose appearances in Europe
brought out harmonica aficionados in droves, died Sunday, ex-wife Tina
Rosenzwieg confirmed. An announcement of his death was also posted on
his Web site. He was 49. The cause of death has not been released.
"Gary was the sweetest, smartest, hardest-working harp player in the
world," said Rosenzwieg, who met Primich when they were students at
the University of Indiana. Although the couple divorced after several
years, they remained close.
A native of Gary, Ind., Primich moved to Austin in the mid-'80s after
a single visit to Antone's. He formed the Mannish Boys with former
Frank Zappa drummer Jimmy Carl Black but achieved his greatest success
as a solo artist. His 1995 album "Mr. Freeze" was named one of the 20
best blues albums of the '90s by Chicago weekly New City. He recorded
eight albums in all for such labels as Antone's, Black Top, Amazing
and Flying Fish.
Although he was based in Austin the past two decades, Primich made
most of his money playing overseas, as a solo artist or while touring
with bands such as Omar and the Howlers.
"He had established himself all over the world as one of the most
technically proficient harmonica players," said his friend and fellow
harp-blower Ted Roddy. "He wrote great instrumentals that leaned
toward organ jazz. It was like Jimmy Smith, only on harmonica."
Funeral services are pending.
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