[Harp-L] harmonica news

[Charles Faron]

Billy will be inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis May 2020. Well deserved.
Right on Billy!


Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 21, 2019, at 2:48 PM, Mick Zaklan <mzaklan at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
>   Just a couple of harmonica related items I spotted in the newspaper
> recently.  Since nobody reads newspapers anymore, I assume this would be
> new info to harp-l.org readers.
>   Was skimming through a Miranda Lambert interview and saw a description
> of one of her latest tunes as "rocker" with harmonica.  Since our
> instrument is pretty much absent from today's music and Lambert regularly
> tops the Country charts, I thought I'd give it a listen.  Found it
> depressing, don't know if I've ever heard a harmonica buried farther down
> in a mix.  If it wasn't for a few notes leaking out at the end, a casual
> listener would have never known it was in there.  Couldn't find the
> identity of the harpist:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QisWQbzn0Sc.
>   On a more pleasant note, I saw a Billy Branch interview in the Chicago
> Tribune that announced an upcoming Little Walter tribute CD called "Roots
> and Branches".  Apparently Billy's wife had been pressuring him for some
> time to do a Walter-themed recording.  Pretty hip lady; I doubt most of our
> wives would even know who Little Walter was!  Anyway, the CD is actually up
> on YouTube.  Most of the tunes have been modified and tinkered with in some
> way.  Which isn't a bad thing.  There is actually a track by Little
> Walter's daughter reminiscing about her dad, a nice touch.  And she
> introduces the band's video of "Mellow Down Easy":
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajrB-sC_MsI.
>   Finally got to watch the new documentary on the 2018 Nobel Prize winner
> in medicine, Dr. Jim Allison.  Allison came up with an effective cure for
> cancer and apparently is also an avid harmonica player.  He looks like he'd
> fit right in at the SPAH blues jam circle.  The movie is an inspirational
> story of perseverance and thinking out-of-the-box; I recommend it.  An
> added bonus is a soundtrack composed by Mickey Raphael and featuring quite
> a bit of Mickey's playing.  Here's the trailer:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfwiyqhC92U.
>   Happy holidays to everybody!
> 
> Mick Zaklan