The Hoodoo Man would be 75 today. Harmonica great Junior Wells was born December 9th 1934. It’s remarkable to think that someone who played with Muddy Waters in the early days would have been so young today (he was 19 in 1952 when he joined Muddy’s band, and died in 1998, aged 63). I like [...]
Read more..Ignoring the politics of blues music is like ignoring the crocodile swimming in your Coco Pops. Elwood the Apprentice looks at Gussow’s essays on how to position yourself within the blues tradition. “He was wearing a pink tuxedo and patent leather shoes. He towered over me… Suddenly he was quivering with anger, his finger in [...]
Read more..After chatting to Joe Filisko, Elwood the Apprentice wonders if blues harmonica really needs a war of the clones Those of you who’ve been paying attention will see that I recently posted a (rather overdue) Q&A with Chicago harmonica master Joe Filisko. In a very short conversation in a very noisy pub, which I’ll admit [...]
Read more..Elwood the Apprentice chats to the master of old-school blues harmonica. Considering Joe Filisko devoted decades of his life to studying and mastering the styles of bluesmen long deceased, there’s nobody in the world who knows more about what it takes to be Little Walter, Big Walter, or any kind of Sonny.
Read more..Elwood the Apprentice samples some juicy blues folklore The problem with the information age is that there’s just too damned much of the stuff. With all this delicious info floating about in cyber space, who has time for real life? Instead of playing harmonica, I can fritter away hours watching harp on YouTube, listening to [...]
Read more..Elwood the Apprentice seeks wisdom in the holy scriptures (of blues harmonica) [UPDATE: Part 2 of the review is now live.] Well, as I was saying – it’s the end of a Gussow era but not the end of the Gussow era. There’ll be no more free YouTube lessons, but there’s more Gussow wisdom to [...]
Read more..So long and thanks for all the chops. Elwood the Apprentice pays tribute to the end of an era. All good things come to an end. That’s what Adam Gussow said when he finally, officially called it quits on his YouTube tutelage last week (Jason Ricci retires with him, but in this case even JR’s [...]
Read more..It is an established fact that over 98 percent of harmonica players are white, English-speaking men between the ages of 30 and 65. (The other two percent are women and Ishmael Lo.) When they are not sleeping, eating or trying on ugly hats, these men typically divide their time between the following four activities…
Read more..So what kind of animal is the blues harp player? In the first chapter of the Apprenticeship Series, guest blogger Elwood takes us through part 1 of his blues ethnography, Figuring Out The Harp Player. For some, the journey to becoming a master takes them from the depths of frustration to the giddy heights of [...]
Read more..If you’re visiting the Harp Surgery, chances are better than good that you’ve made that crucial transition from being a harmonica owner to a harmonica player. You might have come to realise – however late in the game – that those reeds are supposed to be bent, and now you have to figure out how. [...]
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