[Harp-L] Blues Fest harmonica

[Mick Zaklan]

   Hit the Chicago Blues Fest last Friday.  Managed to catch three
harpists; two of them new to me.  One was a young African-American man
named Russ Green.  Based upon the three tunes I caught, Russ sounded pretty
traditional and at times even a bit Sugar Blue-ish.  Definitely a player to
keep an eye on.  The other guy was a kid named Duston Arbuckle, who was
working with a cigar box guitarist named Aaron Moreland.  Along with a
drummer, they had a kind of electrified Delta blues and rock n' roll fusion
thing going on.  Duston had solid chops and soloed well.
   Maybe the most developed harpist I caught was Omar Coleman, who played a
set of mostly what I would describe as hard, blues-based funk.  Using
Junior Wells as a jumping off point; Omar has developed a kind of
different, almost eccentric harp style that really fits these funk and
boogaloo grooves well.  And he is a fine, fine singer.
   Speaking of fine singers; I had to catch a train home but was hoping to
hear a couple of numbers from Curtis Salgado and his band.  Unfortunately,
Curtis started late and spent a long time explaining his music to the
audience as the band vamped behind him.  So I wound up retreating.  On the
way out, I could hear Corky Siegel working the high end of his harp from a
distant stage.
  I understand that one of our own list members was playing the fest the
following day.  Congrats to Buzz Kranz!

Mick Zaklan