[Harp-L] Mark Hummel's Blues Harp Blowout

[Grant Walters <GRANT@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mark just sent me this write up about the Blues blowout....

Because I asked him for this....I thought I would pass it on

Later this year I know he is going around the country with these shows.
Again, I am not his promo guy but I am sure he appreciates our audience and me passing this along.
His website has a comprehensive calendar.
I am going to attend one with Carlos Del Junco, whom I have never seen...


1/12 Belly Up Tavern,Solana Bch.Ca.w/Mitch Kashmar
1/13 SoHo Restaurant,Santa Barbara,Ca.
1/14-16 Yoshi's,Oakland,Ca. w/Carlos Del Junco
1/17 Sierra Nevada Brewery,Chico,Ca.w/Carlos Del Junco
1/18 Moes Alley,Santa Cruz w/Andy Just
1/20 Brixton,Redondo Bch.w/Mama's Boys


Mark Hummel's Blues Harp Blowout is celebrating it's twenty first year after having  the most highly regarded names in Blues Harp history.  James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, John Mayall,Huey Lewis,Rod Piazza,Sugar Blue,Magic Dick,Lee Oskar,Billy Branch,Kim Wilson,William Clarke,Rick Estrin,Paul Oscher,Carey Bell,Billy Boy Arnold,Sam Myers,Snooky Pryor,Jerry Portnoy, Lazy Lester & Kenny Neal are just a few of the famous names who have participated of the Blowout tours numerous times over just the last ten years., Hummel himself is a widely known harp player whose been recording & touring the globe for twenty five years. Hummel's been nominated the last three years running for best harmonica player with the prestigious Blues Music Awards.Mark's newest cd is an UNPLUGGED CD-Back Porch Music on Mountain Top Records.
 
Rod Piazza-along with Honey,his piano playing wife, has garnered a dozen Blues Music Awards for many years running for best blues band,best harp player and best blues piano playing. Their band, The Mighty Flyers, has played almost every major festival worldwide for the last two decades. Rod has been on the music scene since the early sixties in So. Cal.,stating with a recording contract in his teens with ABC Bluesway,after being discovered by singer Della Reese. Rod started a band with his mentor George Harmonica Smith in 1968 called Bacon Fat ,that went to the UK to record with Mike Vernon's Blues Horizon label. Many of the West Coast's finest blues players have come out of Piazza's bands-Jr. Watson,Richard Innes,Rick Holmstrom,Jimi Bott,Bill Stuve and Alex Schultz to name a few. Rod has been a harp god longer then most and takes it all in stride.
 
Sugar Blue-is most known for his work with Willie Dixon and the Rolling Stones. Sugar's playing has influenced everyone who ever picked up a harmonica all the way to Blues Traveler's Jon Popper(who credits Blue as being a major influence).  Blue won a Grammy in 1985 for his work on Atlantic Record's Blues Explosion and in 1989 for Dixon's Hidden Charms record. Blue was discovered while playing in a Paris subway by Kieth Richards and ended up on three Rolling Stones LPs,Some Girls,Emotional Rescue & Tattoo You. He'll always be associated for his harp solo on Miss You with the world's most known working rock outfit. Blue moved from NYC to Chicago in the 1980s and  recorded two solo cds for Alligator,plus  many sessions released with artists as diverse as Stan Getz,Brownie McGhee,Bob Dylan,Roosevelt Sykes,Louisiana Red,Lonnie Brooks & Eddie Clearwater. Sugar has a new cd out called Code Blue. Blue has appeared in the movie "Angel Heart" in the blues band scene along with Brownie McGhee & Pinetop Perkins.
 
Billy Branch-is a Grammy award winning Chicago harp blowing resident who played on the Alligator Record's Harp Attack record. James Cotton,Jr. Wells and Carey Bell were the other three harp men on Harp Attack,needless to say it put Billy's name and statue on a higher plateau following this release. A few years later Billy was asked to perform on Telarc Record's Superharps along with Cotton,Charlie Musselwhite and Sugar Ray Norcia. Branch has played and recorded with a stellar list of names in and out of the Windy City,Koko Taylor,Albert King,Johnny Winter,Big Walter Horton,Son Seals,Muddy Waters and Lonnie Brooks. Billy also appeared in movies like "Adventures in Baby Sitting"(in a niteclub scene with Albert Collins) and "Roadhouse". Willie Dixon's Blues In The Schools program has been a passion for Branch and he continues to teach kids about the blues and blues harp.
Carlos Del Junco(on 1/14-17 only) -is a Cuban born-Canadian resident who records for Northern Blues label. His Blues Mongrel cd with guitar whiz Kevin Breit(recorded with Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson), has received raves worldwide. Carlos won the Hohner championships had the Hohner World Harmonica Festival twice. Del Junco's overblowing technique was learned from Howard Levy,the leading practitioner of this way of bending every note on a diatonic harmonica. Carlos is one of the few harpmen who's mastered this technique and is on the cutting edge of harmonica mastery.