The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth to direct air into or out of one holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound.
Howard Levy is an American multi-instrumentalist. He was a founding member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, with whom he won a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song "The Sinister Minister". He also won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition in 2012 for "Life in Eleven", a song written with Béla Fleck for the Flecktones' album Rocket Science (2011). He has worked with Arab-fusion musician Rabih Abou-Khalil, Latin jazz saxophonist Paquito D'Rivera, Donald Fagen, and Paul Simon.
Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg. Since its foundation, and though known for its harmonicas, Hohner has manufactured a wide range of instruments, such as kazoos, accordions, recorder flutes, melodicas, banjos, electric, acoustic, resonator and classical guitars, basses, mandolins and ukuleles
The Richter-tuned harmonica, or 10-hole harmonica or blues harp, is the most widely known type of harmonica. It is a variety of diatonic harmonica, with ten holes which offer the player 19 notes in a three-octave range.
Thomas Rundle Reilly MBE was a Canadian-born harmonica player, predominantly based in England. He began studying violin at eight and began playing harmonica at aged eleven as a member of his father's band. In the 1940s, he began parallel careers as a concert soloist and recitalist, a popular radio and TV performer, and a studio musician-composer.
Darrell Mansfield is an American vocalist, harmonica player, songwriter, recording artist, and performer of various genres including gospel, contemporary Christian music, blues, blues rock, rock, country rock, and soul/R&B. He is considered a pioneer of the Jesus Music movement of the 1970s and has influenced countless contemporary Christian music and mainstream artists alike.
HarmonicaUK is a UK-based organisation for harmonica players and enthusiasts of all styles of harmonica – chromatic, diatonic, tremolo, chord, bass – and music – traditional, blues, popular, jazz and classical. It has been active since 1935.
Carlos del Junco is a Cuban-Canadian harmonica player.
David Barrett is an American blues harmonica player, author and teacher.
"And We Danced" is a song by the American rock band The Hooters, released as the first single from their second album, Nervous Night. "And We Danced" was released in 1985 and became the band's first major hit, just missing the top 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but reaching #3 on the Mainstream Rock charts. It became the band's second consecutive Top 10 hit in Australia, reaching #6.
Blues Bender P.A.C. are a series of 10-hole harmonicas produced by Hohner. The "P.A.C." stands for Patented Acoustic Covers, a reference to the harmonica cover design patented by Jacob Hohner in 1897 and mostly used on the Hohner Marine Band. The Blues Bender set contains harmonica's in the keys of G, A, Bb, C, D, E and F. The harmonica features airtight construction for easier note bending, acoustic cover plates which increase the volume of the air between the reeds, and thicker reed plates for consistent tone.
James Conway is an Irish-American musician based in Chicago, Illinois, and is particularly known for playing traditional Irish music on the harmonica and tin whistle. He also plays guitar, bodhran, and plays folk and country blues music. Jason Ricci said of Conway's playing, "This guy is the king of tongue switching – his octave leaps, effortless complex melodies, and chords are mind melting to the harmonica player while natural to the listener."
Brendan Power is a New Zealand harmonica player, composer and inventor, living in Britain.
HowellDevine is an American blues trio, formed in 2011, and based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They have released four albums: Delta Grooves (2012), Jumps, Boogies & Wobbles (2013), Modern Sounds of Ancient Juju (2014), and Howl (2017). Both Jumps, Boogies & Wobbles and Modern Sounds of Ancient Juju were released by Arhoolie Records. Jumps, Boogies & Wobbles was the first time Arhoolie had chosen to release a blues album in almost three decades. After Smithsonian Folkways Recordings acquired Arhoolie's catalog in 2016, the label stopped issuing new recordings, and seeking to stretch the boundaries of their sound, the band signed with the Little Village Foundation label in 2017 and released Howl, recorded at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios.
The Topanga Canyon Blues Festival is an annual event held in California, attracting blues acts from across the United States. It began in 1982. Like the Orange County Blues Festival, it attracts some of the major blues artists in the United States. Over the years the festival has been running, it has seen major blues acts such as Etta James, Willie Dixon, Otis Rush, Big Joe Turner, Lowell Fulson, Junior Wells, Pee Wee Crayton, Phil Gates and Jimmy "Preacher" Ellis. Other acts such as Paul Butterfield, William Clarke, Linda Hopkins, Philip Sayce and Roy Gaines have appeared there.
R.J. Mischo is an American electric blues harmonicist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. To date he has released twelve albums on a number of labels, and his music has been aired on independent film scores, television commercials, and documentaries on the Discovery Channel. Mischo has contributed to a couple of Mel Bay harmonica instruction books. In addition, he was listed in that author's The Encyclopedia of Harmonica.
Pierre Lacocque is an acclaimed and internationally renowned American blues harmonica player. His style has been influenced by the post-WWII Chicago blues tradition, and he was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame in October 2017.
Peter "Madcat" Ruth is an American Grammy Award-winning virtuoso harmonica player, who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. He has been an invited guest performer at many harmonica festivals and workshops in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, and has performed with symphony orchestras, as well as on radio and television advertisements and appearances all over the world. His harmonica playing can be heard on over 100 CD's and LP's, a well as instructional DVD's.
Kirk Fletcher is an American electric blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. To date, Fletcher has released four studio albums and one live album. In addition, he has variously been a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and the Mannish Boys, plus supplied backing for Joe Bonamassa and Eros Ramazzotti. Fletcher has been nominated for four Blues Music Awards and was a 2015 British Blues Awards nominee.
Echo is a middle grade historical fiction novel written by Pam Muñoz Ryan, illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova, and published by Scholastic Press in 2015. It is set in Germany and America, primarily in the years leading up to World War II and details how a mysterious harmonica and the music it makes ties together the lives of three children: Friedrich Schmidt, an intern at the Hohner factory; Mike Flannery, an orphan in Philadelphia; and Ivy Maria Lopez, the daughter of migrant farm workers. It was named a Newbery Honor book in 2016.
