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Don 'Sugarcane' Harris

At the Raven in 1981

Don 'Sugarcane' Harris
unpublished recordings

You can get something of an idea of what Don was playing on those occasions and if you knew him at all, you can tell by listening to his intonation what he was "into" at the time (knudge, wink).

It's 2008: Now I'm reconverting the old cassettes before they dry out and putting them on mp3.

Download these mp3 excerpts (more to come December 2008)

Johnny Staccato at the Raven with Sugarcane Harris
Sugarcane, Lagos, Resnick at the Raven in 1981

Shuffle in C - the essential Sugarcane blues phrasing
Nice short excerpt. The phrasing tells a story and really swings. Qualities come through in spite of the poor sound system.

Souls' On Fire
Where we surprise the denizens of this SoCal bar with extended jazz-influenced solos

Historic or antique? Damn, this was 37 years ago!

Sept. 10, 1971, The Headband, Santa Barbara:
Don Sugarcane Harris "Bad Feet"

Sept. 10, 1971, The Headband, Santa Barbara:
Improv on a well-known song

? 1971 Univ of Calif, Davis: Bad Feet This is a pretty good lesson in how to play funky blues violin (ignoring the intonation - see above). The audience was spellbound during these maniacal flights of fancy.

? 1971 Univ of Calif, Davis: So Alone Don felt alone all of his life. Yet I know his mother did everything in her power for him, she cared about him, paid his debts when need be, even when Don was an adult. I heard from Dewey Terry that Don died alone, kneeling at his oxygen tank. Listen to this playing, if it doesn't make you cry, nothing can.