|
"Mark Hummel is a harmonica virtuoso. Quite simply, he is one of a handful of the best players ever on the instrument, and he gets better with each new release." - Blues Revue
 Blues Harmonica Blowout
Mark Hummel's Blues Harmonica Blowout with James Cotton, Paul Oscher, Mojo Buford, Willie Smith & Johnny Dyer will perform A Muddy Harp Tribute to the late Muddy Waters on Friday, January 28th through Sunday, January 31th at Yoshi's at Jack London Square in Oakland, CA with sets at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.Friday and Saturday and 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. om Sunday (the Saturday 8:00 p.m. set is sold out). The historic line-up will features five living legends of the blues harp, many of whom have played, toured and recorded with Waters.
 Mark Hummel
Born in New Haven, Connecticut and raised in Los Angeles, California, Mark Hummel absorbed the music of such Chicago based harp blowers as Little Walter, James Cotton, and Sonny Boy Williamson, before settling in Berkeley, California in 1972. There he played with local bluesmen such as Cool Papa, Boogie Jake, Mississippi Johnny Waters and Sonny Lane. In 1980, he took the helm to lead the popular Blues Survivors Band.
In 1985, the Blues Survivors released Playing in Your Town, on Rockinitus Records, and immediately went out on the road. Earning their name, they toured virtually non-stop throughout the United States, Canada and Europe often playing alongside such blues greats as Charlie Musselwhite, Brownie McGhee, Lowell Fulson and Eddie Taylor.
Since 1991 Mark has been both producing & performing at his annual Blues Harmonica Blowout™ series. These shows have grown to be a much heralded event & continue to draw sellout crowds wherever they appear. The list of participents is a who's who of Blues harp history, James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Norton Buffalo, Kim Wilson, Huey Lewis, Carey Bell, Billy Boy Arnold, Rod Piazza, Rick Estrin, Paul deLay, Snooky Pryor, James Harman, Gary Primich, Sam Myers, in just the last three years of this 11 year event.
Mojo Buford, who was born in 1929 in Hernando, Miss. and moved to Memphis when he was 14 and spent time with B.B. King and other musicians. In 1954, Buford moved to Chicago and formed a trio called The Savage Boys. After Muddy Waters heard the trio, he began booking the group as "The Muddy Waters Jr. Band" to fill in at local venues when he was out on the road. Buford eventually went on to replace Muddy's harp player, George "Harmonica" Smith.
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith was born in Helena, Arkansas, in 1936, Willie learned to play harmonica at age seventeen just after moving to Chicago, Illinois. Smith's influences included listening to 78s and to KFFA King Biscuit radio shows, some of which were broadcast from Helena's Miller Theater, where he saw guitar player Joe Willie Wilkins, and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson II. Smith's first big break came playing harmonica on the Bo Diddley song, "Diddy Wah Diddy." He switched to the drums when he started playing for Waters and appears on all of Muddy's Grammy-winning albums. Smith is now back to playing the harmonica and is also a dynamic singer.
James Cotton to many, is the last of the old guard 1950s Chicago Blues Harmonica greats. Cotton's bio reads like a who's who of Blues history: raised by Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) from age 12 to 15, at 17 yrs. old played in Howlin Wolf's band plus recorded his own sides at Sun Records in Memphis. Took Little Walters spot in Muddy Waters' band in 1957, then stayed 12 yrs., recording the historic LIVE AT NEWPORT LP on Chess records in 1960, among other great Muddy records. In 1966 Cotton started one of the great Chicago blues bands of all time with Luther Tucker, Francis Clay, Bob Anderson & others. They became one of the most in demand Chicago blues bands on the rock ballroom circuit. Cotton's band played regularly with Butterfield's band, Janis Joplin, Electric Flag, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead & every other 60s rock band in rock ballrooms all over the US ,thanks to manager Albert Grossman (Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin). Cotton remains a certified blues icon to this day and has won Grammys & Blues Awards galore! www.jamescottonsuperharp.com
Johnny Dyer was born in Rolling Fork,Ms.,the birthplace of Muddy Waters. Since that time , Dyer has aspired to recreated the Muddy sound in his voice and the Little Walter sound in his harmonica playing. Moving to Los Angeles,Ca. in the late 1950s Dyer became fast friends with George "Harmonica" Smith, "Shakey "Jake Harris ,"Big Mama" Thornton and "Pee Wee" Crayton. Dyer has recorded for Blind Pig, Black Top, Delta Groove (with the Mannish Boys) and most recently Rolling Folk Revisted (also produced by Hummel and backed by he and the band) on Mountain Top Records, which hit #3 on the Living Blues Charts. www.westcoastblues.com Yoshi’s is located at Jack London Square in Oakland. Visit www.yoshis.com for ticket information. |
SF Bay Area 
Thursday, 17 May 2012
Home | New and Notable | Photo Galleries | CD/DVD/Book Reviews | Interviews | SF Bay Area | Chicago | Los Angeles | New York | Twin Cities, MN | More Cities | Festivals | News | Contact | Follow Jazz Police on Twitter | Like the Jazz Police on Facebook | 
