Harmonicas sur Cher is my favourite festival. Great location, great organisation, great music and great local support from the people of Saint Aignan. For three days, harmonicas can be heard on the streets, in the cafes, the church and the Salle des fete. Saint Aignan is a small old town with narrow cobbled streets in […]
Diatonic
Popular Harmonica Recordings after 1962 – a personal choice
An earlier programme on this site, Cyril Davies – From Trad Jazz to the Rolling Stones, described the start of the UK blues boom in 1962. This is a celebration of the popular harmonica recordings which followed in Europe and America with examples drawn from R&B, Rock, Popular Music, Film Music, Rap and Beatboxing. We […]
Introduction to Blues on the Chromatic Harmonica by David Barrett
Here are some great examples of blues music played on the Chromatic Harmonica. They were put together by top educator and performer, David Barrett, who introduces each track, identifying the artist and indicating how it was played. This playlist is taken from the third part of David’s series of articles about playing Blues Chromatic published […]
Harmonica Christmas Stocking Fillers
This extra Collection is made up of contributions sent in by artists like Will Galison, Madcat Ruth, Mike Caldwell, A J Fedor… and recordings that did not quite make it into the earlier Collections. As the title suggests, it covers many styles and even a bit of tremolo. It should have a few surprises just […]
Blues Harps at Christmas
Blues harmonica players and their bands performing songs about Christmas. Carey Bell, Paul Oscher, Paul Butterfield, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, G Love, Sonny Boy Williamson, Canned Heat, Richard Sleigh, Eddie C Campbell, Mark Doyle and the Maniacs. Blues Harps at Christmas by The Archivist on Mixcloud Track listing for Blues […]
Jazzy Harmonica Arrangements at Christmas
Arrangements of Seasonal Christmas Music featuring harmonica players, Toots Thielemans, Jason Keene, Stevie Wonder, Tommy Morgan, Norton Buffalo, Rob Paparozzi, Tollack Ollestad and Chris Bauer. Modern Harmonica Arrangements at Christmas by The Archivist on Mixcloud Track Listing for Modern Harmonica Arrangements at Christmas 1 – Toots Thielemans – White Christmas – 00:00 2 – Jason […]
National Poetry Day 2015 – Blues Medicine – Hylda Sims
Hylda was one of the Skiffle/Blues pioneers in London in the 1950s. She was part of the City Ramblers and is still playing this style of music in clubs in 2015. This poem or free song, Blues Medicine, is Hylda’s homage to the Blues. It is about the need for some blues medicine which can come […]
New Orleans, London, Memphis, Manchester… British Blues before the 1960s
This was the title of a talk given by Lawrence Davies on Saturday 26 September 2015 at the National Jazz Archive in Loughton, Essex, UK. Blues researcher Lawrence Davies talked about the story of early British blues as seen through the collections of the National Jazz Archive and his own research. Blues, ‘hot’ jazz and […]
Fox and Goose, Ealing Jazz Club.
I visited the Fox and Goose pub on Hanger Lane, Ealing , London, on Wednesday 19 Aug with Colin Kingwell to talk to the current manager, Julian Peters. Julian wanted to know more about the pub’s musical history. He was aware that The Who played there when they were known as The Detours. We talked about about the Ealing Jazz Club, which […]
Cyril Davies – from Trad Jazz to the Rolling Stones
The story of Cyril Davies, the first British blues harmonica player. From Traditional Jazz to Country Blues and Jug Bands in the 1950s. The meetings with blues greats like Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Muddy Waters. Amplification and the Explosion of Blues Incorporated into the Ealing Club and The Marquee in 1962. A year […]