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8/02/2010

DeFord Bailey '73 Recordings

In December 1973, David Morton recorded the late DeFord Bailey as a Christmas present for his father.
At http://defordbailey.info/audio there are 21 free tracks downloadable
- a must-have for every harp fan!

What is particularly interesting about these recordings are two things: first of all there is DeFord's technique. In comparison to his first recordings, which had been made about 45 years ealier, his sound is way softer and may even sound a bit sloppy to some. There are far less tongue slaps and tricky offbeats and one may hear a toothless breath in between the notes every once in a while...still some darn fine playing for a 73 year old though!

Secondly there are these little sections between the songs where DeFord speaks about all kinda harp related things such as hardware quality as well as clues his technical approach. Go check it out if you haven't done so yet - it's definitely worth it!

Enjoy!
maz

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