Almost every legendary figure in the history of blues harmonica at one point or another called Chicago home. The popular misconception is that those days are long gone, and if you only look as far as the downtown tourist joints, you might believe the rumors of the demise of blues harp in the Windy City. But if you’re willing to look a little deeper, off the beaten path, you’ll find that the legacy of the giants of Chicago blues harp lives on. There are a handful of veterans from the golden years still plying their trade, and passing the flame on to a generation of young disciples who are wringing the blue notes out the reeds for all they’re worth. This CD spotlights six of these rare performers including Dusty Brown, Larry Cox Harmonica Khan #1, Russ Green, Little Addison, and Omar Coleman.

If you dig harmonica blues, please check out our other release, More Rare Gems featuring Little Arthur Duncan, Harmonica Hinds, Charlie Love, Reginald Cooper, Jeff Taylor and Russ Green.


LINER NOTES

We would like to thank: Little Arthur Duncan, Billy Branch, Barry Dolins, Bruce Iglauer, Dick Shurman, Tad Robinson, Boss Man’s Blues Center, Reginald Cooper, Mark Wydra, Jon Hiller, Gordon Patricca, Jean-Luc Vabres, and the Severn staff, for their belief in our project. — The Chicago Bluesmasters.

This CD is dedicated in memory of Harmonica Khan #1; he was right, we’ll never see anyone quite like him again.

MUSICIANS

Rick Kreher: Guitar
Little Frank: Guitar (except 6 and 11)
Mark Brumbach: Piano
Pat McKeever: Bass
Twist Turner: Drums

CREDITS

Produced by The Chicago Bluesmasters (Mark Brumbach, Rick Kreher, Twist Turner)
Recorded at Twist Turner’s House Of Sound, Chicago, IL, August and September 2004
Engineered and mixed by Twist Turner
Photography by Kurt Swanson
Design by Al Brandtner, Brandtner Design, Chicago, IL

Severn CD0034