Something for Mayall
There’s a statement regarding my love for John Mayall’s early work with the Bluesbreakers (especially the band that cut "A Hard Road", with Peter Green on guitar) in the liner notes for my CD The Second Act of Free Being. This piece expands on that…
A Harmonica Review of William Galison/Mulo Franzi Group's Midnight Sun
I acquired a copy of William Galison’s import CD “Midnight Sun” (William Galison-Mulo Franzi Group, EC508-2)at SPAH 98, and have listened to it a couple of times since. It’s a very enjoyable jazz record, plenty of great harmonica playing (with and without Franzi’s saxophone counterpoint)and…
A Harmonica Player’s Review of James Taylor’s Hourglass
This is a harmonica player’s review, which means the ultimate focus is on the two songs on James Taylor’s latest release that contain harmonica playing (by Stevie Wonder and James Taylor respectively). The overall quality of this release is so high that I can’t help…
Blues Traveler’s “Straight On Till Morning”: Focus on Harmonica
John Popper, as any harmonica player (and many non-harmonica players) knows, is the lead singer, main songwriter, and harmonica player for Blues Traveler, an increasingly popular rock band whose inspirations include the Grateful Dead, and whose recent credits include opening for the Rolling Stones on…
Jerome Harris
Jerome Harris was one year ahead of me at Harvard, and by the time I met him he was already one of the best-known student musicians on the campus. His main axe in those days was guitar, and his trademark was versatility. He was a…
Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal hasn’t played harmonica much in public in the last few years, at least not so far as I can tell. When I was in my teens, Taj featured his harmonica extensively on his recordings, and I learned a lot from those records. My…
