After having met so many great people because of my involvement in on line harmonica communities, this shouldn't surprise me anymore. But it does, every time: the power of belonging to an international network of like minded people is astounding!
I am at the moment in the Silver Dollar bar, on Spadina next to the University. On stage is Jerome Godboo from the Brokenjoe band, a harmonica player I had heard on the Internet because somebody recommended him on Harp-L, the (mostly) American harmonica on line discussion group. On that same discussion, Manfred, a Toronto based harmonica enthusiast, encouraged me to call him up once I arrived.
I did, and Manfred was kind enough to give me great tour around downtown Toronto yesterday, and we ended up talking shop in his house for a couple of hours.
He then called Mark "the bird" Stafford up and arranged for us to meet today (the 31st of Dec) and again I spent a great afternoon discussing and learning about the harmonica.
Mark made then sure that I came to hear Jerome, to whom I introduced myself passing regards from Mark.
And so it goes almost everywhere I go. I let the folks from Harp-L know that I will be in town and somebody gets in touch. I have already written that I saw Miguel Weissman in NY and met both PT Gazell and Jelly Roll Johnson in Nashville.
In Germany I have visited players in Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Hannover, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Muenster, Berlin, Klingenthal and Trossingen (of course!), to name a few places.
In England I met Brendan Power almost by chance in London and got to know and meet again a bunch of very friendly people in Bristol, at the National Harmonica League's convention. In Brazil some of my best friends are harmonica players and, during the years I have got to know or at least meet many of my harmonica role models, also in Moscow, France or Hong Kong.
And if I don't forget that my last and coolest job I owe to these connections and the Internet (thanks Steve Baker!), then I shouldn't be surprised by all this anymore.
Now I just have to find out how to apply all this in a business setting.
Obs.: Jerome played a good set, the bar is cool, but the ticket was really expensive: CA$ 40,00! But I figured out that it is New Year and didn't want to spend the evening in the hostel, even though it really is a damn cool hostel!
