This is a tough one for me. Here, in no particular order:
William Clarke James Cotton (1975, and many other times since) Jason Ricci Sugar Blue Rod Piazza
I also saw Junior Wells, Paul Butterfield, and Carey Bell, along with Musselwhite, Kim Wilson, and others. We've had lots of great performances at Hill Country Harmonica. It's hard to play favorites.
But if we're talking about stuff that swings like crazy and leaves you panting and exhilarated, ready to shout "WTF!?," those five leap out.
Jason Ricci Sugar Blue Johnny Sansone Phil Wiggins Kim Wilson ---------- www.facebook.com/catfishfryeband
Last Edited by harpdude61 on Aug 19, 2015 3:00 PM
Marine, that is a great video of Cotton. I can't believe that that exists.
I see a whole lot of things going on in the video:
1) huge sound, made through the house PA
2) absolute over-the-top, kick-ass band
3) Cotton isn't improvising at all. He's figured out the licks that work and he's recycling them--as he would go on to play EXACTLY these same licks on the album (100% COTTON) he recorded the following year, and for the rest of his career. In some ways, in incredibly narrow and impoverished improvisational vocabulary. Just repeat the same shit for a thousand gigs in a row. And it always sounds great.
4) really nice--in fact, perfect, flawless--sense of how to alternate harp lines with vocal cries and yells. No harp player does it better, with the arguable exception of Sonny Terry
5) Cotton is still coming into his own as a bandleader. You can feel him growing into the position here. Later on he was absolutely in command. Here he still carries, somewhere in his mind, the sense that he's occupying a slot that used to be occupied by his Boss, Muddy Waters. The first song, of course, is a Little Walter standard. And there, what comes through is the fleeting sense, present in the way he performs it, that it's not really a song for white crowds in the early 70s--except, of course, it totally is. The world at that point was a crazy, mixed-up place. So it's a brilliant song choice, even though the song's local meanings were entirely different than they were in the mid-1950s. And almost exactly the same, of course: young people singing, naming, the problem that confronted them.
Last Edited by kudzurunner on Aug 19, 2015 6:57 PM
I haven’t seen as many of the top acts as some of you but the guys who have impressed me the most are, in no particular order: Jason Ricci Peter “Madcat” Ruth Kim Wilson Mitch Kashmar Sandy Weltman
I saw James Cotton at a Pacific Beach club called Blind Melons about 2005 or 2006. His voice was shot, but his harmonica playing was as you would want it, full, slick, gutsy, tasty.
Last Edited by ted burke on Aug 19, 2015 10:53 PM
HOLD ON..........I'm truly ashamed that I forgot this but I will replace Mark Hummel in my top 5 with...
5. Gary Primich
And it was at this time....
May the blues gods forgive me!!!
@ PropMan ; Walter Horton & George Smith!!! Man that's mind blowing!
It's interesting the names that recur in the top five list's. Probably the die hard blues and blues harmonica fans rather than the more eclectic harmonica players who are into harmonica per se and ancient chants and exotic tunings for harmonica. ;-) ----------
"Those British boys want to play the blues real bad, and they do"
Last Edited by marine1896 on Aug 20, 2015 6:20 AM
I don't get to a lot of shows. Not counting guys who come out to play Dylan at open mics I'm not sure I've seen five live harp players!
I have seen Adam play live and I've see Guy Davis live (he played some harp). Both were great shows.
I guess I'll have to round out the list with shows that I've almost seen live, but had something come up? I almost got to see James Cotton, almost got to see Jason, almost got to see Annie Raines and almost got to see Levy. Based on what I've seen of them on YouTube I would have loved all of those shows. Man, I got to get out more. :)
Not that many big names make it Down Under. I saw Sonny Terry when I was in college in Canada, then fast forward 30 years: Christelle, Howard Levy, Rick Estrin and Phil Wiggins.
Hi all I've been reading this forum for most of a year without actually joining as almost every question I've had has already been answered and I didn't feel i had much to contribute. Probably I feel a little intimidated by some of the regulars who have strong opinions, like BarbequeBob from Boston. (just kidding, Bob. I live in Maine so I'm used to outspoken Bostonians).
Any way, I saw this hard-to-argue-about post and figured it was a good place to jump in as I've only been playing harp for about a year and a half (started when i retired at 66 y.o.) and I discovered the blues. So, being so new I wanted to see some of the greats. I grew up near where Jason Ricci's from but haven't seen him live, only videos including recent SPAH appearance.
I had the chance to go to the North Atlantic Blues Festival in Rockland, Maine a few weeks ago and was blessed to hear, at one event, Dennis Gruenling, Rod Piazza and James Cotton. so here's my selection of best live: Dennis Gruenling Rod Piazza James Cotton
I loved all of the sounds. Glad I got to see JC. He had difficulty speaking and breathing but, man, could he play.
I usually try to avoid making sweeping, potentialy controversial statements around here, but...Having just seen Dennis Gruenling twice in the past week, to me it's clear that he is playing on a whole other level beyond anyone else I have seen live.*
Dennis' sense of timing, groove, swing, phrasing, melody, harmony, tone, hand effects, and creativity puts him in a category of one in my book. And he's just as comfortable on the chromatic as the diatonic.
To my ears, Dennis is the top dog in the blues and swing categories...sorry, Kim, Rick, Rod, and Mitch - I could listen to you guys all night and enjoy it, but Dennis is a step or two ahead these days.
Jason Ricci Dennis Gruenling Rick Estrin Sugar Blue Harmonica Bruce ---------- Wisdom does not always come with old age. Sometimes old age arrives alone.
