James Cotton, Big Walter and Little Walter all did to a degree... I particularly like how Cotton would switch to one in the middle of a song he started on a diatonic.
According to Pat Missin, there is only one commercially available recording of Big Walter playing chromatic and you can listen to that at the following link.
Yes the one labeled "blues" is one that I have. Is "Have Mercy" only Carey Bell on chrom? Perhaps it is because these are in rotation on my iPhone so much that I mistake it for more chrom than I thought. I think I may have mistaken some compilation albums too... Oh well, scratch Big Walter of my list then...
Rick - RJ Mischo is a fantastic chromatic player. So are Lynwood Slim, Rick Estrin, etc... Most guys normally associated with the West Coast are fine Blues chromatic players having learned (or been influenced by) from George Smith.
One guy that I'm really digging is JT Ross, the Harmonica Boss out of LA. He's very skilled in the William Clarke style.
Bill Barrett--he was playing with Hazmat Modine for the past few years, no longer with that band. He's out of LA, and while strictly speaking is more usually identified with jazz and folk (hey, and modern) music, he is totally a blue chromatic harmonica player. Anyone who say differently is itching for a fight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsBE2FKi8Ok
Last Edited by on Oct 07, 2012 11:50 PM
