A comment from dougharps in another thread got me thinking about this: What living player has the biggest, deepest tone? I am not talking necessarily about the best player, but the person with the fattest tone. For many blues players I think that is the ne plus ultra.
I'll go first. I agree with dougharps that Deak Harp belongs in the group. Dennis Gruenling. Gary Smith. George Stackhouse. Nic Clark. Tony Smith. Kim Wilson.
When you think of big tone who do you hear in your head?
I am big fan of Kim Wilson. The guy is so expressive and varied in his output you just gotta be impressed. All of it very soulful. That's the key. ---------- Alex
Definitely not Rice Miller on his great Trumpet recordings. Nor Jimmy Reed, Sugar Blue, Junior Wells on HOODOO MAN BLUES. Thin, keening crap, all of it. (Not.)
My vote goes to R.J. Mischo and our own Barbecue Bob Maglinte. If you doubt me on the latter count, please sample his wares at CD Baby:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
RJ's album, HE CAME TO PLAY, scared the hell out of me the first time I heard it:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rjmischo2
Actually, the clear favorite on this count ought to be James Cotton in his heyday. I've read testimony from various sources that insist on this.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Mar 27, 2013 5:33 PM
I agree with a lot of the names listed, but some use rigs that enhance/create bigger tone...but that may be part of the question...the total package of sound.
Rod Piazza sounds mighty big to me with his set-up. Phil Wiggins has an amazing unmiked deep tone.
I thinks Steve Guyger's tone is unreal. It really stands out when you compare his acoustic sound to other big names who known for having big tone.
Last Edited by puri on Mar 27, 2013 5:42 PM
Cotton is still deep toning listen to caress me baby,jimmy reed tribute.Listen alot to Kim and Mitch,Kim is so right on,and mitch is smooth.Definately Phil Wiggins anybody at hch 12 will attest to his power.Gotta listen to RJ and BBQ more.Guyger ,I would love to hear him live.Denver looks like a great harp town.
Deak really has the goods also,he is dialed in with his custom harps and amp settings.
Last Edited by capnj on Mar 27, 2013 10:18 PM
Bharath!! He has got the tone and something that a lot of harp players are missing in playing which is pure attitude. He makes that thing come out at you and slap you in the face. My kind of harp player, the kind that relies on pure power and swing rather than fancy effects and technique. Although that stuff is great he is a pure bare bones player which I enjoy.
It's interesting tone, variety of tone, fitting the tone to the song that counts, not just constant 'big tone'. Guyger, Wilson, Smith, Gruenling, Estrin, RJ etc all do that. Also, you HAVE to check out Hummel on Johnny Dyer's Rolling Fork Revisited - I love his playing (including the tone but not only the tone); http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolling-Fork-Revisited/dp/B001LDW9VS/ref=dm_cd_album_lnk
Kim Wilson. Listen particularly to his two live albums at Antone's with Jimmy Reed and Pinetop Perkins.
For pure tone just from the harmonica far and away the winner for me is James Cotton. I heard him do "Hoochie Coochie Man" with Johnny Winter at Antone's just sat down with the vocal mic that was there. One tune, massive tone, blew the roof off, job done and walked away to thunderous applause. ---------- LSC ---------- LSC
"It's interesting tone, variety of tone, fitting the tone to the song that counts, not just constant 'big tone'. "
I agree 100% with that statement. For me the stand out players that are still alive who have that in spades are, Steve Guyger, Kim Wilson, Mark Hummel, Rick Estrin, RJ MIscho, David Barrett, Dennis Gruenling, Tomi Leino and Jim Liban. There are many more players that have great tone that I also like.
seeing James Cotton 45 yrs ago he was fat as a big mommas a$$, nobody i`ve seen since is close...although Steve Guyger gets heavy with his amp turned up..cotton did it amp or pa... also, Guyger studied with p. Oscher in his earily day`s...
Last Edited by colman on Mar 28, 2013 10:52 AM
Not agree with Cotton and Milteau, they are kind of middle tone. Kim Wilson for my taste sounds thick but flat (not enough high overtones) I vote for Dennis Gruenling.
---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
James had it (tone) when this was recorded 43 years ago, and has it now. The key to tone, acoustic or electric, is a wide passage for the air-- think tunnel, not drinking straw.
If you don't agree with my vote for James C., please listen to Steve Guyger, my runner-up for a place in the Tone Hall of Fame.
Thanks, Rick Davis, for bringing up this question for those who, like me, want our harp to be a sax, not a tin whistle.
My CD and iPod collection is definitely more guitar oriented than harp so my exposure to the tone of modern harp players is somewhat limited. But I like the David Barrett book/CD Blues Harmonica Jam Tracks & Soloing Concepts #3 as it includes a bonus section where 9 different players individually jam to the same track. Joe Filisko, R. J. Mishcho and Mark Hummel amongst others. They each take the song in their own unique direction using equipment of their choice that is documented by David Barrett. The harp solo differences are remarkable and the tone of each player comes through and makes for good comparative information. The book/CD also includes instruction on song structure and of course 7 fairly lenghty jam tracks.
Last Edited by SmokeJS on Mar 29, 2013 9:54 AM
I think most of the really good harp players can go for Big Tone when the situation calls for it. Boris had me wanting to get another listen on Dennis Gruenling to see if I thought he has James Cotton beat, and I found this..,
I thought it funny as hell, it looks like he borrowed Rod's harp.
I was at that show-I shot some video there as well. Also,I will amend my choices to include Dennis,Rod and Kim. "I thought it funny as hell, it looks like he borrowed Rod's harp"
like me, want our harp to be a sax, not a tin whistle.
Cheers,
wolf kristiansen"
The better question to ask is why not just buy and learn how to play a sax, rather than attempt to make an instrument sound like something it's not meant to???????
@CarlA I agree-I like it when the harp sounds like a harp and takes advantage of what it can do: tongue slaps, flutters, warbles, bends, etc. I've got nothing against using horn lines, but I don't get the obsession with making it sound like another instrument as if it's inferior.
I have heard Dennis, Rod, and R.J. playing live and agree that all have rally big tone amplified (and I assume acoustically as well). The Harp King amp has a distinctive sound. I thoroughly enjoyed their performances.
Sam Myers had a big sound, too, when I heard him live with Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets a few years ago.
Somehow Deak's sound seems bigger to me, including when I heard him play with Kilborn Alley and also with his band at Hill Country Harmonica, not just doing his solo act. Maybe it is just the combination of his gear and how he adjusts his amp in addition to his tongue block and mic technique.
I have not heard Kim Wilson live, but the recordings I have heard lead me to believe that he has big tone in addition to great chops. ----------
@Thievenheaven: Love that clip with Dennis and Rod. Now thats what I'd call a fat tone. Made me go and start to wedshed that Rockhouse(?) Groove. A flat first position? ---------- Lucky Lester
Last Edited by didjcripey on Mar 29, 2013 6:45 PM
I agree with Adam Hamil: Filisko and Gruenling...Joe has an amazing resonance acoustically, and Dennis can do things with cupping, embouchere, and mic handling that give his amped tone a lot of colors. Both of those guys are top five either way.
This is the kind of question that can't be answered definitively; there are many good players with big fat tones who are crossing borders and raising a ruckus. For my tastes, MARK FORD has the biggest, baddest tone out there. It's not just big, it's POWERFUL, and it can surely sucker punch the unsuspecting, no problem. Even those familiar with his impressive tone, style and chops continue to be knocked out by his work. He is severely underrated: he has a tone as Big as they come, and he has Paul Butterfield's jazzy fluidity. Here's he and guitarist brother Robben Ford tearing it up on "The Work Song": ---------- Ted Burke http://www.youtube.com/user/TheoBurke?feature=mhee
http://ted-burke.com tburke4@san.rr.co,
Last Edited by TheoBurke on Mar 29, 2013 3:13 PM
Maybe some names mentioned above are runners up if they keep working on it.
To me, I wouldn't name anyone I haven't heard play directly in front of me acoustically no effects. To many variables are added on stage. I hear a lot of different tones and I've enjoyed all of them including some names not mentioned, Michael Rubin, Howard Levy, Jason Ricci, Mikey Jr., Emile D'amico, Chris Michalek. When I sat in a workshop with Jason Ricci I was so blown away by the sound he got doing the same exact scale I was playing.
