Frank
5243 posts
Sep 09, 2014
12:58 PM
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Who is #1 UNDISPUTED Best Blues HARP PLAYER Alive Today?
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Ted Burke
178 posts
Sep 09, 2014
1:34 PM
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Impossible to answer definitively because each answer will be disputed/
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"I don't play too fast. You're listening too slow."
ted-burke.com
tburke4@san.rr.com
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Frank
5245 posts
Sep 09, 2014
1:43 PM
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I have faith that a consensus amongst the MBH brotherhood can be fairly and accurately deciphered to distinguish and separate from the rest of the pack...ONE PLAYER who is the undisputed best blues harp player alive today:)
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Ted Burke
179 posts
Sep 09, 2014
1:57 PM
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If we're talking about consensus, ie "majority view" and not a unanimous decision, then the anser is Jason Ricci. No one I've heard combines the grit and power of traditional blues harmonica with the level of innovation and willingness to push the instrument to areas that are so far explored by so very few of us. The world is filled with wonderful harmonica players, but for the blues and what he has done for blues harmonica, no one touches Jason.No one.
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"I don't play too fast. You're listening too slow."
ted-burke.com
tburke4@san.rr.com
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Goldbrick
676 posts
Sep 09, 2014
2:11 PM
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Kim wilson
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kudzurunner
4943 posts
Sep 09, 2014
2:32 PM
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As with any such question, it depends what the meaning of "alive" is.
If you're talking about which living player, 50 years from now (i.e, in historical retrospect), will be seen as historically most important, I think a good case can be made for James Cotton. He'll be seen as one of the trio of great players (along with the two Walters) who held down the harmonica chair in the epochal Muddy Waters Band, and his solo career in the 70s and beyond will be seen as one of several pivotal crossover moves that took the blues to the white side of town (i.e., to college campuses and rock shows). He'll live in myth as the guy with Huge Tone--at least as much as Big Walter and perhaps more so, and he'll be praised for his endurance.
In fact, I daresay that when B. B. King dies, Cotton is one of a handful of blues players (along with Buddy Guy and Taj Mahal) and the only harp player who will be seen as a living connection with that heroic period when blues was a black thing. What I mean is, the blues world seems to need a "king," and Cotton's stock will unquestionably rise a little after King's death, whenever that comes. He'll be celebrated as a survivor and inheritor: a living link.
But all this is only my surmise, and the history is still being written. I'm a huge fan of Jason's, as you-all know, and I'm not going to get into a fight with Ted over his claim!
On the other hand: Although I don't think that Sugar Blue has Jason's range, I think that he, too, will be treated favorably by history--i.e, by the way the histories will be written 50 years from now. He brought incredible speed, indisputable originality, and an immediately identifiable stylistic signature to the instrument, along with a modernized ensemble sound (driven by Rico McFarland's ragingly fast electric guitar) that brought the Chicago blues songbook up to date. It's fair to say, in some sense, that blues harmonica playing was one way before Sugar Blue came along and has been permanently changed, at least in the imagination of those of us who like modern sounds. Very, very few living players have had that effect. It may well turn out that Jason has had a similar effect in this next stage of blues harmonica development.
The one other player who immediately strikes me as having had that sort of influence--broader influence on the contemporary sound, arguably, but on the TRADITIONAL orientation of the contemporary sound--is Kim Wilson. His work with the T-Birds, as a sideman with Jimmy Rogers and Big Jack Johnson, and as a solo artist, over an extended period of time is part of what gets him that. He's also a very powerful, fluid, indomitable player. I wouldn't mind being on the stage with him for two or three minutes, but I wouldn't want to go head to head for five minutes. He'd slay me, and almost everybody else.
My two cents.
Edited to add: I realize in retrospect that I've not-so-subtly reframed the question so that "best" becomes "most important." Probably not fair to do that. But that's how I think. I'm conscious of how fashion, and history, do their work. Taking a step back from the present to think about how all this will play out over the longer haul helps me think more clearly about what's actually going on right now.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Sep 09, 2014 2:38 PM
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Ted Burke
180 posts
Sep 09, 2014
2:46 PM
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I like your two cents, Adam. It was a very choice between Sugar and Jason , but I went with Jason because of the amount of blues harmonica history he has learned and absorbed into his playing, and the directions in which he is willing to take a blues-based style in directions where one wouldn't expect to find it. Jason is doing the unthinkable with the harmonica, constantly innovating, always a few steps ahead, if not miles ahead , of the rest of his gifted brethren with ideas and nuances that find a tonal voice from the humble reeds. Much the same can be made of Sugar, and I dare say his technique , speed and sense of invention are astonishing. He single handedly rescued fast blues harmonica playing from being an-unmusical gimmick and established that harp players can hold their own in terms of alacrity and melody with guitarists and saxophonists and keyboardists. Still, Jason has a sense that quickly digs on grooves to new musical notions and quickly teaches himself was to absorb and deploy the influence into the vocabulary of the blues. For what he's done, for what he's doing, and for what he will likely do in the future, I think the most important blues harmonica player at this moment is Mooncat. But is a hard call, and at any moment I may feel the same way toward another fine harmonica player. My two cents.
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"I don't play too fast. You're listening too slow."
ted-burke.com
tburke4@san.rr.com
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Frank
5246 posts
Sep 09, 2014
2:47 PM
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I'll narrow this down... so to hopefully make it less able to be interpretated beyond the actual question!
Who is #1 UNDISPUTED best Blues Harp Player in the Year 2014?
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MJ
738 posts
Sep 09, 2014
3:13 PM
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While I ponder this question, I will ask another. Who do you think fits the bill Frank?
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harpdude61
2121 posts
Sep 09, 2014
3:24 PM
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C'mon guys, don't make it so busy, technical, historic, and throw so many if's in there.
Frank posted a simple question.
Ted is spot on everything he said so I won't repeat.
Line up the Top 50 living diatonic blues harmonica players on a stage and start cutting heads in front of a blues audience and Jason will be the last one standing.
Line up the Top 50 living diatonic blues harmonica players on a stage and start cutting heads in front of general music fans that are unbiased and don't know them... Jason will be the last one standing.
Have the Top 10 blues guitarists, bassists, vocalists drummers, keys, and horns as the audience and Jason will be the last one standing.
Send it to the International Federation of Planets and Jason will be the last one standing.
No one has the control of a diatonic harmonica the way Jason Ricci does. Listen, NO ONE! He can make it do things no one else can.
I can't play as well as Ted but I do think you have to reach a certain level on harmonica and study Jason and others to realize how far beyond bad ass he is. You have to know what you are hearing to truly appreciate it as a harp player.
Ask the other 49 players on stage before it even starts who they think is da man. Yep. Jason!
Who rips that mutha and pulls in a live audience of harp players the way no one can. Jason does. I saw it at HCH II.
Adam knows it.
I'm sorry Mooncat if I embarrass you.
I guarantee I have listened to as much or more blues harmonica based music as anyone in the last 8 years.
If this head cutting scenario were a possibility I hope they are taking bets. "Honey, let's take out a second mortgage."
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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SmokeJS
295 posts
Sep 09, 2014
3:29 PM
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As a relatively new blues harp player this kind of question is very helpful as it helps me know who to listen to. As a musician for over 50 years it seems to be far too objective to have any value but perhaps there's value in knowing the majority opinion that I'm underestimating.
That being said I've been very fortunate to have heard in person (and seen but I don't like to put it that way) a number of the big names over the last couple of years. For my money Kim Wilson is the man though Rick Estrin is my favourite frontman who also is a world class harp player.
Last Edited by SmokeJS on Sep 09, 2014 3:30 PM
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JustFuya
457 posts
Sep 09, 2014
4:20 PM
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Kim Wilson. The whole package from start to end of show although his harp playing alone puts him on top.
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atty1chgo
1116 posts
Sep 09, 2014
5:28 PM
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"Line up the Top 50 living diatonic blues harmonica players on a stage and start cutting heads in front of a blues audience and Jason will be the last one standing."
"Line up the Top 50 living diatonic blues harmonica players on a stage and start cutting heads in front of general music fans that are unbiased and don't know them... Jason will be the last one standing."
I harken to a great quote by Jerry Portnoy - "Music is not sports."
Players have different styles. Now I love Jason's playing, I really do, and Sugar Blue too, but not all the time. I don't have to hear overblows and speed runs to be moved by a harp player. And again, in the end, it comes down to what style does one like the best.
For me, James Cotton is the greatest blues harmonica player alive, because he can still bring the soul, the feeling, the thunder, and the intensity to his playing, despite the fact that he is no longer a young man.
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Frank
5248 posts
Sep 09, 2014
6:04 PM
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Dare I shorten the question a tad more to get even more specific to help steer it in a more qualifying way...
The #1 UNDISPUTED best Blues Harp Player in the Year 2014 who is under the age of 65?
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 09, 2014 6:05 PM
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1847
2151 posts
Sep 09, 2014
6:31 PM
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i get a lot of request when i play my harmonica
"but i play it anyway"
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Komuso
406 posts
Sep 09, 2014
6:34 PM
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You are Frank.
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
Last Edited by Komuso on Sep 09, 2014 6:34 PM
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harpdude61
2122 posts
Sep 09, 2014
6:58 PM
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atty1chgo....Are you not participating in sports when you say Cotton? Did you not pick who you think is the fastest horse in the derby?
Of course music is not sports. The question was not who do you "prefer"? I probably listen to more Cotton, McCain, and Musselwhite than I do Ricci...unless of course I'm in a mood to be blown away!
I took the OP's question as "Who has the top chops in the world right now?" Harmonica chops....not singing, not who you prefer,not who was great years ago, not about stage presence, not about package, not about records sold, not about who you saw live, but simply who has the best chops for playing blues diatonic harmonica in the world at this moment. Am I pretty close Frank?
Ted explained the reasons very well. Forget how YOU play and what you prefer to listen to. Jason does some very amazing stuff.
FYI...cutting heads had it's day! I wish it was still like that sometimes. Maybe someone cut Robert Johnson's head or Little Walter's and it sent them to the woodshed. Mercy...where would we be without those two!?!
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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Frank
5249 posts
Sep 09, 2014
6:58 PM
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Your right...Thanks for reminding me of who I am :)
You are Paul, are you not?
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 09, 2014 6:59 PM
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Frank
5250 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:06 PM
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Duane, you are pretty darn close Sir...
Here is another tweak -
The #1 UNDISPUTED BadAss Blues Harp Player in the Year 2014 who is under the age of 65?
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Komuso
407 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:12 PM
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That would be you too Frank!
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
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harpdude61
2124 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:13 PM
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You are Frank....and frankly, you are frank.
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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Frank
5251 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:15 PM
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What do you mean - would be?
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Komuso
408 posts
Sep 09, 2014
7:41 PM
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Sorry, I didn't know you were over 65!
You don't look a day over...over..um...hey, how about that tone in the new micro x factor gibblewhitz furnfahfer pedal? IT'S AWESOME!
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Paul Cohen aka Komuso Tokugawa
HarpNinja - Your harmonica Mojo Dojo
Bringing the Boogie to the Bitstream
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nacoran
7987 posts
Sep 09, 2014
8:31 PM
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It might depend on whether you are using the term 'blues harp' to mean blues or playing on a diatonic harp.
My favorite harp piece is still James Cotton's 'Slow Blues', but I've heard Cotton is slowing down a bit. Jason's playing is what made me switch from being a guy honking on a harmonica for my asthma into someone who wanted to play harp. Sugar Blue is amazing, and if you are talking about diatonic harp you've got to throw Levy into the mix. I know blues isn't his thing, but he is a master of the instrument.
Strictly speaking, short of cutting heads contests, since even in this small sampling there is some dispute on the face of it I'm going to say there is no undisputed champion. That said, if I could pick one show to go to tomorrow I'd go to Cotton because he's not going to be around forever, followed by Jason or Sugar. I wouldn't turn down tickets for Howard, and if the question was 'Who would you like to sit down at a table and talk harmonica with' he might rank higher.
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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jnorem
551 posts
Sep 09, 2014
9:06 PM
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How are we defining blues? I ask because there are people who think that blues is a rock band that always plays the same song.
For me, Kim Wilson is the guy who has it, who has the understanding and feel for the music. He plays great, sounds great, and he really puts his unique stamp on blues harmonica playing. He has a certain lilt to his playing that can't be mistaken. He's an original.
Also, this guy does not stop working. He's a blues-harp machine. He loves the music and his playing shows it.
So I'm voting for Kim Wilson.
Edited to add: I've been a fan of Wilson's for many long years.
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Call me J
Last Edited by jnorem on Sep 09, 2014 9:08 PM
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Dragonbreath
24 posts
Sep 09, 2014
9:09 PM
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Jason Ricci is on another level. That moon he came from is even in another solar system.
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Gnarly
1110 posts
Sep 09, 2014
11:08 PM
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I was gonna say Kim Wilson--and a case can be made for Jason, but --
Bill Barrett.
By the way, there is no best. I might as well say Howard.
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Ted Burke
186 posts
Sep 09, 2014
11:16 PM
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That's what I say, in truth. I didn't mention Howard Levy because he's not a blues player by chosen style. I think consensus is a slippery slope.
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"I don't play too fast. You're listening too slow."
ted-burke.com
tburke4@san.rr.com
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atty1chgo
1118 posts
Sep 10, 2014
4:21 AM
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harpdude01 - quite the contrary - Cotton is not the fastest horse in the Derby. You want me NOT to concentrate on who I prefer. Well, I prefer Billy Branch, so that analysis wasn't used here.
You want to know who has the chops. Still sounds like a sporting contest. Or if not that, picking which player can squeeze the most varied notes into a run, whether it is Howard Levy, Blue, or Jason. Makes no difference, it is a similar approach in some of the analysis here, including nacoran's above. Why does the notion of "chops" not include space?
That being said, I would not want to challenge James Cotton in that way, even now. :)
Last Edited by atty1chgo on Sep 10, 2014 4:26 AM
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kudzurunner
4944 posts
Sep 10, 2014
4:29 AM
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I'd like to see Jason cut heads in two different formats: on a high harp, UNamped, with Todd Parrott. And on a low harp--Bb or below--amped up, with Dennis.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Sep 10, 2014 4:30 AM
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blueswannabe
495 posts
Sep 10, 2014
5:13 AM
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That honor must go to James Cotton.
And that is based upon the criteria that Adam has set out in other posts, originality, influence, soulfulness, technical mastery and recorded evidence.
It should not be based upon the fact that he is in his elderly years and has slowed down somewhat. You have to look at his entire life and not be bogged down by whether he can keep up with a younger player today. Take James at his prime and compare him to another at their prime, and look at his wealth of influence.
Not to mention he has played with some of the greats of all time like Sonny Boy Williamson.
And take a look at Exhibit A below. If that doesn't move you, you better check your pulse.
Last Edited by blueswannabe on Sep 10, 2014 5:27 AM
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harpdude61
2125 posts
Sep 10, 2014
6:41 AM
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Frank, I think I may be one of the very few that understands your question. Who can pull the harp out TODAY and bring it like no other. Come on guys... 2+2=4
atty..I never said chops had anything to do with how many notes you play or how much space you leave. I did not.
blueswannabe...This thread is not about Adam's criteria. Not his thread. I LOVE Cotton!! On a previous thread I put him and Jason as tied for my top two all-time!
kudzu...always thought you were the competitive type. Cutting heads among the top dogs would be something I would pay to see. Not about ego or one-ups-man-ship,but a gentlemans game like golf or chess..
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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The Iceman
2036 posts
Sep 10, 2014
7:00 AM
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In my experience, real head cutting is certainly not a gentleman's game.
In most of these "serious games", the crowd applauds the loudest/fastest. However, have had experience gettin' up there with the best, playing quieter and slower, and coming out on top crowd wise...
As a matter of fact, those that go for loudest/fastest head cutting are sometimes easy to pick out of the crowd, even when they are just playin' their own gigs.
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The Iceman
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Frank
5256 posts
Sep 10, 2014
7:13 AM
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Is this your modest way Larry of claiming that you are the #1 UNDISPUTED BadAss Blues Harp Player in the Year 2014 who is under the age of 65 :)
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The Iceman
2037 posts
Sep 10, 2014
7:24 AM
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Frank
Flattered that you seem to mostly be the first person to post after I do...
Flattered that you like to challenge my comments...but, you often take them into areas that were not my intent and/or read into them that of which I am not.
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The Iceman
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Frank
5257 posts
Sep 10, 2014
7:29 AM
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Oh, sorry I mis-understood you answer, I thought you were answering the question posed...
Who is the #1 UNDISPUTED BadAss Blues Harp Player in the Year 2014 who is under the age of 65?
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Martin
682 posts
Sep 10, 2014
7:59 AM
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How many lists do you people need ...?
But really, James Cotton? A solid journeyman player -- indisputably connected to a great era in the Chicago blues tradition, but so what?
Not particularly inventive (starts ANY solo on bent 4D ...), not very impressive technically (pretty much leaves out the upper register, can´t play fast), and not a standing out sound/tone.
But yes, certainly connected to a great era.
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blueswannabe
496 posts
Sep 10, 2014
8:18 AM
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@Martin, Can't play fast?! Not impressive technicially?! How about the Creeper, Got my Mojo Working?
If he starts out on the 4 draw so what? Everybody has their recognizable riffs, style and pattern.
He also has that connection to the glory days of blues harp players we all admire and emulate.
@harpdude, this topic is about the "#1undisputed Best Blues Harp Player Alive today" and not about cutting heads. You need objective criteria by which to evaluate the players. Adam's criteria is workable and has been used in other lists. Otherwise, Frank should define the criteria for us.
Last Edited by blueswannabe on Sep 10, 2014 8:22 AM
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Frank
5259 posts
Sep 10, 2014
8:29 AM
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The criteria is...Pick (1) Player - that you believe to be >
"""the #1 UNDISPUTED BadAss Blues Harp Player in the Year 2014 who is under the age of 65?"""
The question speaks for itself - it really is a what does 1+1 equal type of question...You can choose to say to say 3 1/2...but it would be obvious your dodging the question :)
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harpdude61
2128 posts
Sep 10, 2014
8:37 AM
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Frank.... I like the way you talk.
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www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
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Frank
5260 posts
Sep 10, 2014
8:43 AM
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I'm just reassuring members who haven't cast their vote yet that - there is nothing to fear...they don't have to read into it what ain't there - other then a very simple straight forward question that may be tough to answer, but is certainly doable :)
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 10, 2014 8:44 AM
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ridge
547 posts
Sep 10, 2014
10:10 AM
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I can't choose between Dennis and Jason.
Denson Greunlicci?
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Ridge's YouTube
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nacoran
7991 posts
Sep 10, 2014
12:53 PM
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I'd love to see Adam's head cutting matchup! Someone needs to arrange this. Maybe for a charity event? Actually, a head cutting charity event would be pretty cool.
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Nate
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First Post- May 8, 2009
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The Iceman
2041 posts
Sep 10, 2014
12:55 PM
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Head cutting...loser does the ice bucket...timely and current
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The Iceman
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Frank
5262 posts
Sep 10, 2014
2:12 PM
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Johnny Sansone and Greg "Fingers" Taylor did a tour together ions ago that was a great concept and an even greater show...
The Poster promoting the event - if my memory serves me correctly had those guys in boxing gloves facing each other with a caption something like "harmonica heavy weights" duke it out - come see who wins the title. Had a heck of a lot of fun that night :)
Greg "Fingers" Taylor came through town a month or so after that and was doing his own show - he is a real treat to watch lay down the blues for 2 or 3 hours. He's a great bluesman in his own right!
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 10, 2014 2:14 PM
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MJ
739 posts
Sep 10, 2014
4:00 PM
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The #1 undisputed best harp player in the world is
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Michael Rubin
944 posts
Sep 10, 2014
4:02 PM
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Martin,
James Cotton may be the most technically advanced player around. He's great at the high notes. Listen to How Long Can a Fool Go Wrong or Honest I Do. He's 100% tongue blocking, with slaps , pulls and octaves. He's got double stops down to a greasy science. He's great at 3rd position chromatic (Black Night) He's a master at 1st, 2nd and 3rd position. He's probably the best wah wah hand muting player since Rice Miller. His vibrato is so thick you can throw a cat through it. He can take a vocal mic and make it sound like a bullet and bassman through the PA. He's plenty fast, (High Compression and countless other tunes.) Not INVENTIVE? Whose licks do you think we've all been playing for over 50 years? Listen to all the famous harp players before Cotton and realize that's where we got to before he came along. Then listen to Cotton. Line drawn in the sand;. Not an outstanding tone? Adam Gussow talks about the 3 second identification test. I say Cotton wins the 1 second identification test. Less. The 1 note ID test. How many Cotton albums do you own? Go buy 20 more and talk to me again. You won't have problems finding them.
As to Frank's question is Estrin or Wilson under 65?
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Frank
5263 posts
Sep 10, 2014
4:08 PM
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It's not Barney Fife, only cause he's dead and don't count - but the babes loved him when he was alive and kickin :)
Kim is under 65, I'm not sure how old Rick is?
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 10, 2014 4:16 PM
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MJ
740 posts
Sep 10, 2014
4:14 PM
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Who would be the most disputed person that could be named as the best living blues harmonica player today?
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Frank
5264 posts
Sep 10, 2014
4:22 PM
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Just Googled that, and it is no surprise - the answer was Little Walter... the winning argument proved he is still alive in any player who is worth their salt :)
Last Edited by Frank on Sep 10, 2014 4:23 PM
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