Blues harmonica master Carey Bell died on May 6 of heart failure in his hometown of Chicago. He was 70. Bell – the 1998 winner of the Blues Music Award for Traditional Male Artist Of The Year – was a ...

Don't be fooled by the harmonica. Sure, more musically inclined cowboys used to whip 'em out around the campfire, and cultures from Eastern to Western and everything in between have laced their ...

In the mid-1800s, a German harmonica manufacturer named Hohner started exporting his product to North America. Being relatively inexpensive, relatively easy to play and extremely portable, the ...

“Classic Harmonica Blues,” out on May 21, features 20 tracks by the blues’ greatest harmonica players. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings In the early 20th-century, southern black ...

Among the harmonica’s many wonderful and unique traits, there is this: You have to really suck to be good at it. As one of America’s finest and busiest harmonica players, Denver’s Ronnie Shellist ...

Mississippi blues harp player James Cotton was certainly considered lucky for the break he got joining Muddy Waters’ band in the late 1950s, taking over a spot previously held by such venerated ...

On Saturday, four of Southern New England’s best blues harmonica players will be appearing on one stage. Ryan Hartt, Kosher Kid, Johnny Marino, and Junior Krauss will appear at Black-eyed Sally’s as ...

Cash awards totaling $2,500 and the opportunity to perform at the 25th Annual Battle of the Blues Harps in Long Beach, Southern California’s longest running blues harmonica event featuring top acts ...

To broach his uncertain future, Johnny Sansone first had to relinquish his familiar past. Photo by Timothy WhiteJohnny Sansone's new CD is an early contender for one of the best local albums of the ...

IT’S one of the most iconic harmonica solos in popular music. The introduction to He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother wails with poignant beauty. The song, made famous by The Hollies, just wouldn’t be the ...

Legendary Blues harmonica player James Cotton performs during a tribute to Little Walter at the 36th annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, April 24, 2005. Reuters Blues harmonica legend James ...