6th Annual Chicago Blues Harp Bash Featuring Johnny Sansone

I have retreated from the harmonica community over the past few years due to a spike in family needs and work commitments.  I still try to "visit" from time to time.  Since devotion to the harmonica is a decidedly peculiar passion, all devotees tend to bond immediately to each other and treat each other with kindness and empathy. It is the friendliest community of musicians I have found - not much ego and few "cutting contests" amongst harmonica players.  Of course, it is a somewhat nerdy community, because only nerds spend countless hours studying the output of deceased  blues harmonica players.

One of the leaders of this community is a fellow from Joliet IL, Joe Filisko.  Joe is a fantastic harmonica player with ferocious curiosity - he wants to know all about the tin sandwich, he seeks out the music of obscure players that died decades ago and he travels the world playing and teaching at festivals.  He has probably taught more aspiring harmonica players than anyone on the planet.  I am one of his former students, and I am very lucky to have fallen under his tutelage. He is generous with his knowledge and patient when dealing with  incompetent harmonica players.  He also customizes harmonicas (converting store-bought mass-produced pieces of junk into marvelous, high-end musical instruments).  Every serious harmonica player dreams of owning a Filisko harmonica; most never achieve that dream.  Filisko harmonicas are not, as Joe says, "for the general public,"  and he believes that most harmonica players are members of "the general public."

Six years ago, Joe realized that some of his student were serious performers.  He launched a harp bash featuring a handful of local Chicago harmonica folks (mostly his students) and one serious professional "ringer."  The "ringers" at past bashes have included Billy Boy Arnold, Jim Liban, Jerry Portnoy, Sugar Ray  Norcia, and Gary Smith.  If these names mean nothing to you, then you are not a blues harmonica aficionado.

This past Sunday evening, the 6th Annual Chicago Blues Harmonica Bash was held at the Old Town School of Folk Music.  The featured "ringer" was Johnny Sansone.
Sansone is based in New Orleans although he was born and raised in New Jersey.  There are tons of gigs in and around N.O. so Johnny doesn't get to Chicago much these days (he did spend time backing some of the Chicago greats when he was younger - Jimmy Rogers, Robert Junior Lockwood and others).  Sansone is part of the tight New Orleans music scene - hangs with Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Cyril Neville and a host of others.  He is featured at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.  He is a formidable songwriter, and he plays accordion to boot!

Johnny Sansone closed out the night, playing a mix of originals ("The Lord is Waiting and the Devil Is, Too," "Once It Gets Started") and blues standards ("I'm Just a Bad Boy," "She's Nineteen years Old," "Raining in My Heart").  His harmonica work is technically adept and aggressive.  His tonal choice is edgier than the traditional "fat" Chicago blues harp tone.  He is closer to Paul DeLay; not quite as close to Big Walter Horton.  It is a great, large, passionate sound.  The sound matches Johnny's physical presence.  On stage, Sansone is like a more menacing version of Baloo from Disney's "The Jungle Book."  He commands the stage, and the whole room.  This is not a man to trifle with, no sir.  He played his ass off, and told some amusing stories, too. 

Near the end of his set, Sansone called out Jim Liban, another harp master who was in the audience.  Johnny asked him to come up and play; Jim demurred, saying "I left my harps in Milwuakee."  Joe Filisko quickly produced a full set of Filisko Customs, and Liban came forward.  The combination of Sansone and Liban was a harmonica summit that generated slack-jawed amazement and screaming ecstasy from the harp players in the audience. Liban is a Jedi master of the blues harp, the Yoda of the Mississippi saxophone.  All other professional blues harp players are Liban fans.  He cranked it so hard that Sansone began to complain, "Liban is kicking my ass!"

The Bash performers prior to Sansone's set did not disappoint.  Scott Dirks is a highly skilled harmonicist, author, educator and advocate for the blues harmonica.  He brings deep love and respect for the genre (not to mention chops and decades of playing experience).  Tall Paul Sabel is a member of the younger generation (under 45 years old) of blues harmonica players, and he is definitely an "up and comer" amongst the harp blowers in Chicago.  Grant Kessler and Kirk Manley are long-time Filisko students and local performers that have many gigs under their belts - both have achieved the "big tone harp" sound the Filisko strives to teach his minions.

But the biggest kick came from the opening act, Zoe Savage.  Ms. Savage began taking lessons from Joe Filisko when she was 10 years old.  She has studied hard, played in the advanced Chicago blues harp classes at the Old Town School and is now a formidable performer - and she is also teaching harmonica classes at OTS.  It is unusual to see a woman in her early 20's channeling Little Walter Jacobs, but Ms. Savage can handle the L.W. licks, the tone and the vocals.  This is a young blues harp player who might be famous some day.  It is very gratifying to old fossils like me to see a young person like Zoe come forward and respect this music.

The band that backed all of the harp players was a trio led by Shoji Naito, an excellent traditional blues guitarist.  Shoji is also a skilled harmonica player, so he knew how to support all of the performers that walked the stage last night.

This annual event is always interesting and full of surprises.  Let's hope that Joe Filisko and his crew keep it up.

Chicago Blues Harp Bash at Bill's Blues - Oct. 4, 2008

Joe Filisko came up with the concept - a Chicago blues harmonica confab with a superstar of the blues topping the bill and a collection of enthuisastic local harp blowers providing support. The show hit Bill's Blues Bar in Evanston IL last night - the first official Chicago Blues Harp Bash, featuring the legendary Billy Boy Arnold as the honored guest star. The enthusiastic locals included Shoji Naito (from the Eddy Clearwater Band), Morry Sochat (front man for the Special 20's), Corporate Kirk (from the Shakes), Highway RickEY and yours truly, Mr. G. Joe Filisko is one of the top harmonica players in the world, but he didn't play a note - he served as MC and impressario. Grant Kessler, also from the Shakes, sat in during Corporate Kirk's set. So we had seven different harmonica players in one night. It is not the type of show you see every night in Evanston.....

Shoji Naito is one of those disgustingly talented guys that make lesser musicians (like me) more than a little jealous. He is an excellent bass player, a fine guitarist and an extremely talented harmonica player. I think harmonica was his first instrument, and he plays it with great joy and skill. His phrasing and tone evoke emotionally-charged Chicago blues harp circa 1958. He delighted the audience with several instrumentals, covering Little Walter and Slim Harpo. Then he trotted out his surprise - he sang! Well, Shoji is a fine vocalist, too. He delivered Jimmy Rogers' "Money Marbles and Chalk" with panache, and his slightly Japanese-flavored English added to song's appeal.

Highway RickEY channelled Sonny Boy Williamson II. He also did a "crowd walk" through the club blowing through his wireless harmonica mic rig. We did not get to see HR's famous "tone cup" in action - this is a contraption that he rigged up so he could play harmonica and drums at the same time. The tone cup device holds the harmonica in a mic stand attached to a bullet mic so a drummer can use both hands to drum while playing the harp. HR's invention takes musical multi-tasking to a new level...

Morry Sochat has a 50's greaser thing going on - he looks like an extra from "West Side Story." His set had a heavy dose of West Coast Swing and old time rock & roll. He closed with a killer version of "Rocket 88." His steady gigging with the Special 20's has turned him into a confident and crowd-pleasing front man.

Corporate Kirk and Grant Kessler pulled off a wonderful "dueling harmonica" thing, with Grant on the 16-hole chromatic and Kirk on the trusty "G" diatonic. Grant's work on the chromatic was fabulous! I haven't heard him play the bigger harmonica and his tone and "low end" work was perfect. Kirk's set had high energy and high skill. His harmonica chops have progressed from good to awesome in the past year or two. Sheesh! My pal, Darryl, commented that Kirk looks like Charlie Sheen from "Two and a Half Men," and he has a point there.

Billy Boy Arnold strapped on his guitar and craded the harmonica in his hands and proved to the crowd that he is still a stone killa bluesman at the age of 73. He played his most famous original ("I Wish You Would," which has been covered by scads of artists, including David Bowie). He was fighting a cold but still laid out a 45 minute set that was meat and potatoes for a hungry crowd of blues harmonica fans.

And the crowd was huge! SRO in Bill's Blues Bar, and half of the audience consisted of harmonica players (including Chris Harper, the Swiss harmonica dude that has been hanging around Chicago for the past few years). Bob Stroger, Chicago's elder statesman of the blues bass, sat at the bar sipping a beer and smiling all night. Another stellar bass pl;ayer, Harlan Terson, was also in the house. This was a geeky crowd that cheered famous harmonica licks copped by the guys on stage.

All of these harp blowers were backed by the Billy Flynn Band (Billy on guitar, his brother Mike on bass, and the great Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums). Both Billy and Big Eyes are solid harmonica players, which explains how they can put up with seven harp guys on stage with them in one night.

I played a set of my Mystery Band originals and had a lot of fun. It was an honor to be included on this gig. It made me want to hit the woodshed - I really need to improve my harp chops given the strength of the players in the Chicago harmonica community.

I am sure this will become an annual event - it was a major feat to fill a club at a $15 cover charge for a blues harmonica showcase in these difficult economic times. Way to go, Filisko.

Gruenling and Guyger

Joe Filisko's Monday Night Chicago Advanced Blues Harmonica class at the Old Town School of Folk Music was jammed on March 24th. Dennis Gruenling and Steve Guyger were visiting to play and promote the Little Walter Jacob tribute album "I Just Keep Lovin' Him," assembled and produced by Dennis (Mr. Gruenling also performed on most of the tracks). Steve and Dennis are a study in contrasts - Guyger is a craggy, broad-shouldered, compact man well into his 50's; Dennis is a tall, slender guy in his 30's with very long hair. They are united by their devotion to blues harmonica generally and Little Walter Jacobs in particular.

Dennis' album is delightful, and I am very impressed with the way he is building a multi-faceted musical career - he is a performer, a recording artist, a teacher, a blues disk jockey and a harmonica microphone technician. This is a busy young fellow.

Ah, yes, the Great Little Walter.......

Harmonica players all know how important Little Walter was to the instrument. More than any other player, he inserted the blues harmonica sound into the American culture. His creativity and aggressive musicality placed him above any other player. Yes, he built on the foundation established by John Lee Williamson (Sonny Boy I), but he took it far, far beyond the point that Williamson reached.

Dennis and Steve took the Monday night crowd on a tour of the world Little Walter created...from the early years through his jazzier, jump blues period. it was terrific.

The group that assembled at the Old Town School of Folk Music was amazing - lots of harmonica stars in the room - Dave Waldman, Jim Leyban, Tom Albanese, Buzz Krantz and many others. We are lucky the Chicago fire marshall didn't poke his head into the small classroom - it was filled to 3-4 times its recommended occupancy, with several people (including me) sitting on the floor at the feet of the two harmonicists.

An observation - we were celebrating the life and artistry of an African-American blues genius, who died violently in Chicago at the age of 39, cutting short a life that may have continued to produce great musical innovation. Yet there was not a single African-American in the room - all white folks of various ages and genders, with a sprinkling of Hispanic people. Is this due to a lack of outreach on the part of the organizers of the event or a lack of interest in the blues legacy by African-Americans in Chicago? Probably a combination of both factors. It would have been cool to have Bob Stroger there - he played with Little Walter - or Billy Branch. It seems strange to be celebrating an African-American artist without the participation of African-Americans.