1) Jason Ricci 2) Howard Levy 3) Carlos del Junco 4) Mariano Massolo 5) Steve Baker 6) Jean Jacques Milteau 7) Greg Slap 8) James Cotton 9) Flavio GUimaraes 10) Adam Gussow ---------- With some latin flavour for you, chico!! :P
Howard Levy Jason Ricci Richard Hunter Bart Leczycky Sebastien Charlier Mark Ford PT Gazell Brendan Power John Popper Toots Thielemans ---------- Excuse my bad English. Click on my photo or my username for my music.
I never do like these, it's like asking for the 10 best writers of all time. How would you compare Ernest Hemmingway to Geoffrey Chaucer? Which is greater? They all products of different worlds, have something different to say and different ways of saying it. Of course, both those guys are dead... but you get what I mean. With that disclaimer, I'll add
I know, I know, Chaucer basically invented a new form of writing, and I know Chaucer is difficult because of the Old English, and Hemmingway can be a bit bombastic at times, but Chaucer bored me to tears. So did Melville.
no special order-billy branch kim wilson madcat ruth rod piazza jason ricci mark ford charlie musselwhite charlie sayles jerry mccain lee sankey
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2011 12:25 AM
James Cotton Charlie Musselwhite Billy Branch Sugar Blue Kim Wilson Howard Levy Toots Thielemans Magic Dick Jason Ricci Adam Gussow
These selections are based on talent, musical knowledge, versatility and body of work. I know there are many fine players out there, but from those I have seen and/or heard, and I have taken the time to hear some of the names on other people's lists, these names for me stand out as the finest players right now.
Last Edited by on Jun 26, 2011 7:52 AM
Now see if the guitar player was using a Telecaster he could have resolved the situation with a quick Keith Richards move. A Les Paul is heavier but the neck would come off. ---------- LSC
i don't know adam - obviously a ton of fast-playing & whooping skill for sure but sounds like a cat regurgitating to me - his bandmates didn't look too thrilled either - or perhaps stunned? maybe it's that fast playing does nothing for me... ---------- ~Banned in Boston!
@BarryC: I know what you mean. Deford Bailey doesn't do much for some people, even though any serious blues harp aficionado would put him in a Top-5 alltime list of great country blues players. Wade Schumann is grounded in Bailey's approach, and he has every single subtlety--he's as good as Filisko on that count and better than anybody else on the planet--but he's layered in a bunch of other stuff from the 20s and 30s, too. He's into weird Middle European tonalities, gypsy-sounding stuff.
I don't particularly enjoy that style of playing, but I try not to let my personal likes and dislikes get in the way of something as serious as a Top-10 list, which is what this thread purports to be about. We're not supposed to just be listing our Top-10 favorites here. We're supposed to be weighing, judging, evaluating, in a way that strives for at least a measure of objectivity.
I think you've totally misread the facial expressions of his bandmates.
Last Edited by on Jun 29, 2011 10:50 AM
ok watched the video again - maybe the expressions were amazement rather than confusion (but still did not seem to be 'groovin' to it)?
ya fine line between what we like and what we don't really 'like' but is technically or artistically 'excellent.' i'll try and open my ears (and musical horizons) to that! ---------- ~Banned in Boston!
When I look at a list like this, it seems like to get on it someone has do to something else nobody else has done, take the instrument new places. Not just from a playing technique point of view. Some of the lists seem to be technical proficiency lists up here. Adam put Wade up there and the video exhibits a high degree of technical proficiency, starting with eastern sounding scales, then some old-school stuff that is very difficult to do. I would argue that Wade qualifies more for the place he puts harmonica in his band in addition to the technique and that is going new places. Just like I would argue that Adam probably should not even be considered without his solo one man band work.
So I guess if such a list is possible, criteria need to be set out to start.
@ atty1chgo Who is the African American player that I missed. I missed lots of great harmonica players but they was the ones I like best or think are the most talented. I can't think of many great African American harmonica players that are alive & at the top of there game,I can think of few
