[Harp-L] Larry Adler & Who be the Greatest?

["Aongus MacCana" <amaccana@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I see from recent  posts that I have one thing in common with Toots
Thieleman. He is alleged to have said that Larry Adler is the reason he
plays the harmonica. He is the reason that I TRY to play the harmonica.

When I picked up my first tin sandwich over half a century ago Larry was
undisputedly "the man". Only Irish guys and afficionados of the Irish Fiddle
will understand what I mean when I say that Adler was (and to me remains)the
Sean Maguire of the harmonica.

I am indebted to the lister who drew our attention to the BBC programme on
the history of the harmonica serialised in 8 episodes on YouTube. I enjoyed
this greatly, but it was not until a mildly dissenting American guy
independently produced an episode 9 that he drew my attention to the fact
that the only reference to Larry Adler in the whole thing was a throwaway
remark that Tommy Reilly did not play like Adler!

OK fifty years ago the conventional wisdom was that any serious musician
would only entertain a chromatic harmonica. Not too many people realised the
possibilities of a Blues Harp - if they even knew what it was - much less
the levels to which it would be taken by today's practitioners. However to
me Adler will always remain the King of the Mouth Organ, just like Juan
Manuel Fangio remains the King of the Road Racers.

Beannachtaí
Aongus Mac Cana