Name	Harmonica
Image capt	A 16-hole chromatic (top) and 10-hole diatonic harmonica
Background	other
Classification	*Wind Free reed Aerophone
Hornbostel sachs	412.132
Hornbostel sachs desc	Free-reed aerophone
Developed	Early 19th century
Range	For 64-reeds (16-holes) chromatic harmonica: C below Middle C (C) to the D above C5; slightly over 4 octaves
Related	melodeon, melodica, Yu
Midi	022/023
Articles	List of harmonicists }}

The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country music, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes (reed chambers) or multiple holes. The pressure caused by blowing or drawing air into the reed chambers causes a reed or multiple reeds to vibrate creating sound. Each chamber has multiple, variable-tuned brass or bronze reeds, which are secured at one end only leaving the other free to vibrate.

Reeds are pre-tuned to individual tones, and each tone is determined according to the size of reed. Longer reeds make deep, low sounds and short reeds make higher-pitched sounds. On certain types of harmonica the pre-tuned reed can be changed (bending a note) to another note by redirecting air flow into the chamber. There are many types of harmonicas, including diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, orchestral, and bass versions.

Parts

The basic parts of the harmonica are the ''comb'', ''reed-plates'' and ''cover-plates''.

Comb

The comb is the term for the main body of the instrument, which contains the air chambers that cover the reeds. The term ''comb'' originates from the similarities between simple harmonicas and a hair comb. Harmonica combs were traditionally made from wood, but now are usually made from plastic (ABS) or metal (including titanium for very high-end instruments). Some modern and experimental comb designs are complex in the way that they direct the air.

Comb material was assumed to have an effect on the tone of the harp. While the comb material does have a slight influence over the sound of the harmonica, the main advantage of a particular comb material over another one is its durability. In particular, a wooden comb can absorb moisture from the player's breath and contact with the tongue. This causes the comb to expand slightly, making the instrument uncomfortable to play. Various types of wood and treatments have been devised to reduce the degree of this problem.

An even more serious problem with wood combs, especially in chromatic harmonicas (with their thin dividers between chambers) is that the combs shrink over time. Comb shrinkage can lead to cracks in the combs due to the combs being held immobile by nails, resulting in disabling leakage. Much effort is devoted by serious players to restoring wood combs and sealing leaks. Some players used to soak wooden-combed harmonicas (diatonics, without windsavers) in water to cause a slight expansion, which they intended to make the seal between the comb, reed plates and covers more airtight. Modern wooden-combed harmonicas are less prone to swelling and contracting. Players still dip harmonicas in water for the way it affects tone and ease of bending notes.

Reed-plate

Reed-plate is the term for a grouping of several reeds in a single housing. The reeds are usually made of brass, but steel, aluminium and plastic are occasionally used. Individual reeds are usually riveted to the reed-plate, but they may also be welded or screwed in place. Reeds fixed on the inside (within the comb's air chamber) of the reed-plate respond to blowing, while those on the outside respond to suction.

Most harmonicas are constructed with the reed-plates screwed or bolted to the comb or each other. A few brands still use the traditional method of nailing the reed-plates to the comb. Some experimental and rare harmonicas also have had the reed-plates held in place by tension, such as the WWII era all-American models. If the plates are bolted to the comb, the reed plates can be replaced individually. This is useful because the reeds eventually go out of tune through normal use, and certain notes of the scale can fail more quickly than others.

A notable exception to the traditional reed-plate design is the all-plastic harmonicas designed by Finn Magnus in the 1950s, where the reed and reed-plate were molded out of a single piece of plastic. The Magnus design had the reeds, reed-plates and comb made of plastic and either molded or permanently glued together.

Cover plates

Cover plates cover the reed-plates and are usually made of metal, though wood and plastic have also been used. The choice of these is personal — because they project sound, they determine the tonal quality of the harmonica. There are two types of cover plates: traditional open designs of stamped metal or plastic, which are simply there to be held, and enclosed designs (such as the Hohner Meisterklasse and Super 64, Suzuki Promaster and SCX), which offer a louder tonal quality. From these two basic types, a few modern designs have been created, such as the Hohner CBH-2016 chromatic and the Suzuki Overdrive diatonic, which have complex covers that allow for specific functions not usually available in the traditional design. It was not unusual in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to see harmonicas with special features on the covers, such as bells, which could be rung by pushing a button.

Windsavers

Windsavers are one-way valves made from thin strips of plastic, knit paper, leather or teflon glued onto the reed-plate. They are typically found in chromatic harmonicas, chord harmonicas and many octave-tuned harmonicas. Windsavers are used when two reeds share a cell and leakage through the non-playing reed would be significant. For example, when a draw note is played, the valve on the blow reed-slot is sucked shut, preventing air from leaking through the inactive blow reed. An exception to this is the recent Hohner XB-40 where valves are placed not to isolate single reeds but rather to isolate entire chambers from being active.

Mouthpiece

The mouthpiece is placed between the air chambers of the instrument and the player's mouth. This can be integral with the comb (the diatonic harmonicas, the Hohner Chrometta), part of the cover (as in Hohner's CX-12), or may be a separate unit entirely, secured by screws, which is typical of chromatics. In many harmonicas, the mouthpiece is purely an ergonomic aid designed to make playing more comfortable. However, in the traditional slider-based chromatic harmonica it is essential to the functioning of the instrument because it provides a groove for the slide.

Accessories

Amplification devices

Since the 1950s, many blues harmonica players have amplified their instrument with microphones and tube amplifiers. One of the early innovators of this approach was Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs, who played the harmonica near a "Bullet" microphone marketed for use by radio taxi dispatchers. This gave his harmonica tone a "punchy" mid-range sound that could be heard above an electric guitar. As well, tube amplifiers produce a natural distortion when played at higher volumes, which adds body and fullness to the sound. Little Walter also cupped his hands around the instrument, tightening the air around the harp, giving it a powerful, distorted sound, somewhat reminiscent of a saxophone, hence the term "Mississippi saxophone".

Rack or holder

Harmonica players who play the instrument while performing on another instrument with their hands (e.g., an acoustic guitar) often use an accessory called a "neck rack" or holder to position the instrument in front of their mouth. A harmonica holder clamps the harmonica between two metal brackets, which are attached to a curved loop of metal that rests on the shoulders. This device is used by folk musicians, "one man bands" and singer/songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Tom Harmon, Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, Bruce Springsteen and blues singers Jimmy Reed and John Hammond Jr..

Harmonica types

Chromatic harmonica

The chromatic harmonica usually uses a button-activated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reed-plate, although there was one design, the "Machino-Tone," which controlled airflow by means of a lever-operated movable flap on the rear of the instrument. In addition, there is a "hands-free" modification of the Hohner 270 (12-hole) in which the player shifts the tones by moving the mouthpiece up and down with the lips, leaving the hands free to play another instrument. While the Richter-tuned 10-hole chromatic is intended to be played in only one key, the 12-, 14-, and 16-hole models (which are tuned to equal temperament) allow the musician to play in any key desired with only one harmonica. This harp can be used for any style, including Celtic, classical, jazz, or blues (commonly in third position).

Diatonic harmonicas

Strictly speaking, "diatonic" denotes any harmonica that is designed for playing in only one key (though the standard "Richter-tuned" diatonic can be played in other keys by forcing its reeds to play tones that are not part of its basic scale; see Blues harp). Depending on the region of the world, "diatonic harmonica" may mean either the tremolo harmonica (in East Asia) or blues harp (In Europe and North America). Other diatonic harmonicas include octave harmonica.

Tremolo harmonica

The tremolo harmonica's distinguishing feature is that it has two reeds per note, with one slightly sharp and the other slightly flat. This provides a unique wavering or warbling sound created by the two reeds being slightly out of tune with each other and the difference in their subsequent waveforms interacting with each other (its beat). The Asian version, on which all 12 semitones can be played, is used in a large amount of East-Asian music, from rock to pop music.

Orchestral harmonicas

These harmonicas are primarily designed for use in ensemble playing.

Orchestral melody harmonica

There are eight kinds of orchestral melody harmonica: the most common are the Horn harmonicas that are most often found in East Asia. These consist of a single large comb with blow only reed-plates on the top and bottom. Each reed sits inside a single cell in the comb. One version mimics the layout of a piano or mallet instrument, with the natural notes of a C diatonic scale in the lower reed-plate and the sharps/flats in the upper reed-plate in groups of two and three holes with gaps in between like the black keys of a piano (thus there is no E#/Fb hole nor a B#/Cb hole on the upper reed-plate). Another version has one "sharp" reed directly above its "natural" on the lower plate, with the same number of reeds on both plates.

"Horn harmonicas" are available in several pitch ranges, with the lowest pitched starting two octaves below middle C and the highest beginning on middle C itself; they usually cover a two or three octave range. They are chromatic instruments and are usually played in an East Asian harmonica orchestra instead of the "push-button" chromatic harmonica that is more common in the European/American tradition. Their reeds are often larger, and the enclosing "horn" gives them a different timbre, so that they often function in place of a brass section. In the past, they were referred to as horn harmonicas.

The other type of orchestral melodic harmonica is the Polyphonia, (though some are marked "Chromatica"). These have all twelve chromatic notes laid out on the same row. In most cases, they have both blow and draw of the same tone, though the No. 7 is blow only, and the No. 261, also blow only, has two reeds per hole, tuned an octave apart (all these designations refer to products of M. Hohner).

Chord harmonica

The chord harmonica has up to 48 chords: major, seventh, minor, augmented and diminished for ensemble playing. It is laid out in four-note clusters, each sounding a different chord on inhaling or exhaling. Typically each hole has two reeds for each note, tuned to one octave of each other. However, less expensive models often have only one reed per note. Quite a few orchestra harmonicas are also designed to serve as both bass and chord harmonica, with bass notes next to chord groupings. There are also other chord harmonicas, such as the Chordomonica (which operates similar to a chromatic harmonica), and the junior chord harmonicas (which typically provides 6 chords).

ChengGong harmonica

The ChengGong 程功 harmonica has a main body, and a sliding mouthpiece. The body is a 24-hole diatonic harmonica that starts from b2 to d6 (covering 3 octaves). Its 11-hole mouthpiece can slide along the front of the harmonica, which gives numerous chord choices and voicings (seven triads, three 6th chords, seven 7th chords, and seven 9th chords, for a total of 24 chords). As well, it is capable of playing single- note melodies and double stops over a range of three diatonic octaves. Unlike conventional harmonicas, blowing and drawing produce the same notes because its tuning is closer to the note layout of a typical Asian tremolo harmonica or the Polyphonias.

Pitch pipe

The pitch pipe is a simple specialty harmonica that provides a reference pitch to singers and other instruments. The only difference between some early pitch-pipes and harmonicas is the name of the instrument, which reflected the maker's target audience. Chromatic pitch pipes, which are used by singers and choirs, give a full chromatic (12-note) octave. Pitch pipes are also sold for string players, such as violinists and guitarists; these pitch pipes usually provide the notes corresponding to the open strings.

Harmonica techniques

'Vibrato' is a technique commonly used while playing the harmonica and many other instruments,to give the note a 'shaking' sound. This technique can be accomplished in a number of ways. The most common way is to change how the harmonica is held. For example, by opening and closing your hands around the harmonica very rapidly you achieve the vibrato effect. Another way is to use a 'head shaking' technique, frequently used in blues harmonica, in which the player moves the lips between two holes very quickly. This gives a quick shaking technique that is slightly more than vibrato and achieves the same aural effect on sustained notes. The vibrato might also be achieved via rapid glottal (vocal fold) opening and closing, especially on draws (inhalation) simultaneous to bending, or without bending. This obviates the need for cupping and waving the hands around the instrument during play.

In addition to the 19 notes readily available on the diatonic harmonica, players can play other notes by adjusting their embouchure and forcing the reed to resonate at a different pitch. This technique is called bending, a term possibly borrowed from guitarists, who literally "bend" a string to subtly change the pitch. Bending also creates the glissandos characteristic of much blues harp and country harmonica playing. Bends are essential for most blues and rock harmonica due to the soulful sounds the instrument can bring out. The"wail" of the blues harp typically required bending. In the 1970s, Howard Levy developed the overbending technique (also known as "overblowing" and "overdrawing".) Overbending, combined with bending, allowed players to play the entire chromatic scale.

In addition to playing the diatonic harmonica in its original key, it is also possible to play it in other keys by playing in other "positions" using different keynotes. Using just the basic notes on the instrument would mean playing in a specific mode for each position. Harmonica players (especially blues players) have developed terminology around different "positions," which can be confusing to other musicians.

Another technique, seldom used to its full potential, is altering the size of the mouth cavity to emphasize certain natural overtones. When this technique is employed whilst playing chords, care must be taken in overtone selection as the overtones stemming from the non-root pitch can cause extreme dissonance.

Harmonica players who amplified their instrument with microphones and tube amplifiers, such as blues harp players, also have a range of techniques that exploit the properties of the microphone and the amplifier, such as changing the way the hands are cupped around the instrument and the microphone or rhythmically breathing or chanting into the microphone while playing. Blues and folk players refer to the instrument with a range of less-common names including: ''hand reed,'' ''Mississippi saxophone,'' ''licking stick,'' ''pocket sax,'' ''toe pickle,'' ''tin sandwich,'' ''ten-holed tin-can tongue twister,'' and ''French Harp''.

History

The harmonica was developed in Europe in the early part of the 19th century. Free reed instruments like the sheng were fairly common throughout East Asia for centuries and were relatively well known in Europe for some time. Around 1820, free reed designs began being created in Europe. While Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann is often cited as the inventor of the harmonica in 1821, other inventors developed similar instruments at the same time. Mouth-blown free reed instruments appeared in the United States, South America, the United Kingdom and in Europe at roughly the same time.

Early instruments

The harmonica first appeared in Vienna, where harmonicas with chambers were sold before 1824 (see also Anton Reinlein and Anton Haeckl). Richter tuning, invented by Joseph Richter (who also is credited with inventing the blow and draw mechanism), was created in 1826 and was adopted nearly universally in the subsequent years. In Germany, violin manufacturer Mr. Meisel from Klingenthal bought a harmonica with chambers (Kanzellen) at the Exhibition in Braunschweig in 1824. He and the ironworker Langhammer in the 3-mile-away Graslitz copied the instruments; by 1827 they had produced hundreds of harmonicas. Many others followed in Germany and also nearby in what would later become Czechoslovakia. In 1829, Johann Wilhelm Rudolph Glier also began making harmonicas.

In 1830, Christan Messner, a cloth maker and weaver from Trossingen, copied a harmonica his neighbour had brought from Vienna. He had such success that eventually his brother and some relatives also started to make harmonicas. From 1840 onwards, his nephew Christian Weiss was also involved in the business. By 1855, there were at least three harmonica-making businesses: C. A. Seydel Söhne, Christian Messner & Co., and Württ. Harmonikafabrik Ch. WEISS. Currently, only C.A. Seydel is still in business.

Owing to competition between the harmonica factories in Trossingen and Klingenthal, machines were invented to punch the covers for the reeds. In 1857, Matthias Hohner, a clockmaker from Trossingen, started producing harmonicas, eventually to become the first person to mass-produce them. He used a mass-produced wooden comb that he had made by machine-cutting firms. By 1868, he began supplying the United States. By the 1920s, the diatonic harmonica had largely reached its modern form. Other types followed soon thereafter, including the various tremolo and octave harmonicas.

By the late 19th century, harmonica production was a big business, having evolved into mass-production. New designs were still developed in the 20th century, including the chromatic harmonica, first made by Hohner in 1924, the bass harmonica, and the chord harmonica. In the 21st century, radical new designs are still being introduced into the market, such as the Suzuki Overdrive, Hohner XB-40, and Harrison B-Radical.

Diatonic harmonicas were designed primarily for the playing of German and other European folk music and have succeeded well in those styles. Over time the basic design and tuning proved adaptable to other types of music such as the blues, country, old-time and more. The harmonica was a success almost from the very start of production, and while the centre of the harmonica business has shifted from Germany, the output of the various harmonica manufacturers is still very high. Major companies are now found in Germany (Seydel, Hohner - the dominant manufacturer in the world), Japan (Suzuki, Tombo, Yamaha), China (Huang, Leo Shi, Suzuki, Hohner), Brasil (Hering, Bends) and the United States Harrison Harmonicas. Recently, responding to increasingly demanding performance techniques, the market for high quality instruments has grown.

Europe and North America

Early use

Shortly after Hohner began manufacturing harmonicas in 1857, he shipped some to relatives who had emigrated to the United States. Its music rapidly became popular, and the country became an enormous market for Hohner's goods. President Abraham Lincoln carried a harmonica in his pocket, and harmonicas provided solace to soldiers on both the Union and Confederate sides of the American Civil War. Frontiersmen Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid played the instrument, and it became a fixture of the American musical landscape.

The first recordings of harmonicas were made in the U.S. in the 1920s. These recordings are 'race-records', intended for the black market of the southern states with solo recordings by DeFord Bailey, duo recordings with a guitarist Hammie Nixon, Walter Horton, Sonny Terry, as well as hillbilly styles recorded for white audiences, by Frank Hutchison, Gwen Foster and several other musicians. There are also recordings featuring the harmonica in jug bands, of which the Memphis Jug Band is the most famous. But the harmonica still represented a toy instrument in those years and was associated with the poor. It is also during those years that musicians started experimenting with new techniques such as tongue-blocking, hand effects and the most important innovation of all, the 2nd position, or cross-harp.

The harmonica's versatility brought it to the attention of classical music during the 1930s. American Larry Adler was one of the first harmonica players to perform major works written for the instrument by the composers Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin.

The United States experienced a shortage of harmonicas during World War II. Wood and metal materials that were used for harmonicas were in short supply due to military demand. Furthermore, the primary manufacturers of harmonicas were based in Germany and Japan, who happened to be the Axis powers opposed to the United States and the allied forces in the war. It was during this time that Finn Harkon Magnus, a Dutch-American factory worker and entrepreneur, developed and perfected the molded-plastic harmonica. The plastic harmonica used molded plastic combs and far fewer pieces than traditional metal or wood harmonicas, which as a result made the harmonica more sanitary and far more economical to mass produce. Though these harmonicas produced a less distinctive (and, to many ears, inferior) sound than their metallic counterparts, Magnus harmonicas, as well as several imitators, soon became commonplace, particularly among children.

1950s blues players

The harmonica then made its way with the blues and the black migrants to the north, mainly to Chicago but also to Detroit, St. Louis and New York. The music played by African Americans increasingly began to use electric [[instrument amplifier| amplification]] for the guitar, harp, double bass, and a crude PA system for the vocals. Alec Rice Miller, better known as Sonny Boy Williamson II, is one of the important harmonicists of this era. Using a full blues band, he became a popular act in the South with his daily broadcasts on the 'King Biscuit Time', originating live from Helena, Arkansas. He also helped to popularize the cross-harp technique, which became an important blues harmonica technique.

A young harmonicist named Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs revolutionized the instrument by playing the harmonica with a microphone (typically a "Bullet" microphone marketed for use by radio taxi dispatchers cupped in his hands with the harmonica, giving it a "punchy" mid-range sound that can be heard above radio static, or an electric guitar). He cupped his hands around the instrument, tightening the air around the harp, giving it a powerful, distorted sound, somewhat reminiscent of a saxophone.

Big Walter Horton was the favored harmonicist of many Chicago blues bandleaders, including Willie Dixon. His colorful solos used the full register of his instrument and some chromatic harmonicas. Howlin' Wolf's early recordings demonstrate great skill, particularly at blowing powerful riffs with the instrument. Sonny Boy Williamson II used the possibilities of hand effects to give a talkative feel to his harp playing. Williamson extended his influence on the young British blues rockers in the 1960s, recording with Eric Clapton and The Yardbirds and appearing on live British television. Stevie Wonder learned harmonica at age 5 and plays the instrument on many of his recordings. Jimmy Reed played harmonica on most of his blues shuffle recordings.

1960s and 1970s blues players

The 1960s and 1970s saw the harmonica become less prominent, as the overdriven electric lead guitar became the dominant instrument for solos in blues rock. Paul Butterfield is a well known harp player of the era in the blues and blues-rock arena. Heavily influenced by Little Walter, he pushed further the virtuosity on the harp. Chicago harmonica player James Cotton specialized in slow, magnificent note-bends.

Blues harmonica players who are primarily or mainly associated with the instrument include Norton Buffalo, Jerry Portnoy, Lazy Lester, Bob Dylan, Rabini Zami, Sugar Blue, Billy Branch, Charlie Musselwhite, Corky Siegel, Junior Wells, Kim Wilson, Slim Harpo, Al "Blind Owl" Wilson of Canned Heat, Jack Bruce of Cream and John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful.

Musicians who are primarily known as singers or performers on another instrument who also have recorded and performed harmonica solos include Bruce Springsteen, Donovan, Taj Mahal, Mick Jagger and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News, John Mayall, Peter Green of (the original) Fleetwood Mac, Roger Daltrey of The Who, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Bono of U2, and Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz of The J. Geils Band. Billy Joel famously plays the harmonica, in addition to his piano, on his signature song, "Piano Man". includes the harmonica throughout the piece. John Lennon played harmonica on early hits as "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me", "I'll Get You" and "I Should Have Known Better" and in his solo career on songs such as "Oh Yoko!".

2000s blues players

Contemporary harmonicists Howard Levy, Chris Michalek, Jason Ricci, and Carlos del Junco have pushed the envelope of the instrument. Levy explored and pioneered the over blow technique in the early seventies, which enables the diatonic harmonica to play full chromatic scales across three octaves, while retaining the particular sound of the harp. Overblowing is used by Howard Levy, Frédéric Yonnet, Adam Gussow, Chris Michalek, Paul Nebenzahl, and Jason Ricci and Carlos del Junco are starting to integrate it in a more blues or rock oriented music. Richard "Magic Dick" Salwitz, Billy Branch, John Popper, Tom Ball, "Dirty" Patrick Walsh, Big Dave Perea, Joe Filisko, Miles Ryan and others are keeping the harmonica tradition alive. Peter Doherty of The Libertines and Babyshambles has also been known to use a harmonica especially during songs such as Albion and Killamangiro.

Other styles and regions

European harmonica player Philip Achille, who performs Irish, Classical, Jazz, Qawali and sufi music, has won jazz competitions and his classical performances have led to appearances on the BBC as well as ITV and Channel 4. Performers include French harmonicist Nikki Gadout, and Germans Steve Baker and the late Johnny Müller (who played the title melody of the Winnetou-movies). The Brazilian Flávio Guimarães performs a variety of styles. From France Yvonnick Prene plays jazz on chromatic harmonica.

In Nashville, P. T. Gazell has an influential style, as does Charlie McCoy, an American music harmonicist. Irish stylists include John and Pip Murphy, Noel Battle, Austin Berry, James Conway, Andy Irvine, Mick Kinsella, Brendan Power, Joel Bernstein, Don Meade, Paul Moran and Rick Epping. Peter "Madcat" Ruth maintains a website that links to the sites of contemporary players around the world. Wade Schuman, founder of the group Hazmat Modine, has fused overblowing with older traditional styles and middle European harmonies.

East Asia

In 1898, the harmonica was brought to Japan, where the Tremolo harmonica was the most popular instrument. After about 30 years, the Japanese developed scale tuning and semitone harmonicas to be able to perform Japanese folk songs.

Harmonica music started to develop in Hong Kong in the 1930s. Individual tremolo harmonica players from China moved to Hong Kong to set up different harmonica organizations such as The Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra, the China Harmonica Society, and the Heart String Harmonica Society. In the 1950s, chromatic harmonica became popular in Hong Kong, and players such as Larry Adler and John Sebastian were invited to perform.

Local players such as Lau Mok (劉牧) and Fung On (馮安) promoted the chromatic harmonica. In the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Harmonica Orchestra, the chromatic harmonica gradually became the main instrument. The Chinese YMCA Harmonica Orchestra started in the 1960s, with 100 members, most of whom played harmonicas. Non-harmonica instruments were also used, such as double bass, accordion, piano, and percussion such as timpani and xylophone.

In the 1970s, the Haletone Harmonica Orchestra (曉彤口琴隊) was set up at Wong Tai Sin Community Centre. Fung On and others continued to teach harmonica and also set up harmonica orchestras. In the 1980s, the number of harmonica learners decreased steadily. In the 1990s, harmonica players in Hong Kong began to participate in international harmonica competitions, including the World Harmonica Festival in Germany and the Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival. In the 2000s, the Hong Kong Harmonica Association (H.K.H.A.) (香港口琴協會) was established.

The history of the harmonica in Taiwan began around 1945. By the 1980s, though, as living standards increased, many instruments that were once too expensive to buy could be bought by the Taiwanese in preference to the harmonica.

Medical use

Playing the harmonica requires inhaling and exhaling strongly against resistance. This action helps develop a strong diaphragm and deep breathing using the entire lung volume. Pulmonary specialists have noted that playing the harmonica resembles the kind of exercise used to rehabilitate COPD patients such as using a PFLEX inspiratory muscle trainer or the inspiratory spirometer. Learning to play a musical instrument also offers motivation in addition to the exercise component. Many pulmonary rehabilitation programs therefore have begun to incorporate the harmonica. Harmonicist Frédéric Yonnet suffered from childhood asthma and credits the harmonica for helping him manage his asthma through adulthood.

Competitions

The World Harmonica Festival is held in the autumn every four years in Trossingen, Germany, home of the Hohner harmonica company. The last World Harmonica Festival was in 2009, and a harmonica workshop is held every year. The Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival is held regularly; in 2008 it was hosted by China.

In Hong Kong, Schools Music Festival is held every year for school students to compete in different music classes. Harmonica classes include band for primary and secondary schools, ensemble for secondary school, duet for secondary school, solo (junior, intermediate, and senior), and concert work (open).

Every August there is a harmonica contest in Idaho. The contest has been running since 1989. The contest is held in Yellow Pine about 150 miles outside of Boise, Idaho and is called the Yellow Pine Harmonica Contest.

Related instruments

The concertina, diatonic and chromatic accordions and the melodica are all free-reed instruments that developed alongside the harmonica. Indeed, the similarities between harmonicas and so-called "diatonic" accordions or melodeons is such that in German the name for the former is "Mundharmonika" and the later "Handharmonika," which translate as "mouth harmonica" and "hand harmonica." In Scandinavian languages, an accordion is simply called "harmonika," whereas a harmonica is a "mundharmonika" (mouth harmonica). The names for the two instruments in the Slavic languages are also either similar or identical. The harmonica shares similarities to all other free-reed instruments by virtue of the method of sound production.

The glass harmonica has the word "harmonica" in its name, but it is not related to free-reed instruments. The glass harmonica is a musical instrument formed from a nested set of graduated glass cups mounted sideways on an axle. Each of the glass cups is tuned to a different note, and they are arranged in a scalar order. It is played by touching the rotating cups with wetted fingers, causing them to vibrate and produce a sustained "singing" tone.

Notation

Tabulature

Tabulature notation (often abbreviated as "tab") is a method of writing melodies by indicating where the notes are played on the instrument, rather than by indicating the pitches with circles and note heads printed on a staff, as with standard notation. One of the advantages of tab is that it can be easier for performers without formal training to learn, because the notation directly indicates where to play the note.

While tab is most often associated with fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, tab is also used with other instruments such as the organ and harmonica.

There are many harmonica tab systems in use. A simple tab system appears as follows:

Diatonic Harmonica tab:

2 = blow the 2 hole < Also: +2 > -2 = draw the 2 hole -2' = draw the 2 hole with a half bend < Also -2b > -2" = draw the 2 hole with a full bend < Also -2bb>

Chords are shown by grouping notes with parentheses

(2 3) = blow the 2 hole and the 3 hole at the same time

Chromatic Harmonica tab:

2 = blow the 2 hole -2 = draw the 2 hole <2 = blow the 2 hole with the button in <-2 = draw the 2 hole with the button in

Text Tab is another common type of harmonica tablature. It indicates when a player should "blow" or "draw" on a note by appending a letter suffix (B for blow or D for draw) to the appropriate harmonica hole number. Text Tab is used by harmonica instructors such as Dave Gage and Jon Gindick. It can be found on their websites and books and web forums.

Harmonica tab is usually aligned with lyrics to show the tune and the timing, and usually states the key of the harmonica required for the song.

Complete example of harmonica tab:

Cockles And Mussels (Molly Malone):
6  7  7     7    7 8   7     -8    -8  -8 -8  -9
In Dublin's fair city, where girls are so pretty,
-8 9    9   9  9     9  7     -8 8  7 -8
I first set my sight on sweet Molly Malone.
6   7   7 7   7  8    7   -8    -8     -8 -9
She was a fishmonger, and she'd stroll along,
8   8    9  8    7   9  8     7 -8   8 -8   7
Singing "Cockles And Mussels, Alive, Alive, Oh."
6 7   7 7   -8 8  7 -8  -8 -8 -8 8
Alive alive oh-oh Alive alive oh-oh
7   7   9   8   7   9  8    7 -8  8 -8  7
Singing Cockles and Mussels alive alive oh

Regular notation

Below the sheet music manuscript, there will be the number (sometimes inside a circle) with an arrow beneath that number. An upwards arrow means to blow, and a downwards arrow means to draw. Bend notes will have a curved arrow, slightly to the left for a flat half tone, and a long one for a full bend. (For a sharp bend, the arrows will point to the right).

Real music notation and harmonica education

The use of harmonica in public school systems required the use of real music notes, such as is used with all other instruments. Until the mid 1990s, there were no instruction methods that taught using real music notation. With the publication of The Perfect Harmonica Method by Jerry Perelman, harmonica was now officially a recognized instrument in the New York City school system. Thousands of students learned to play and numerous other schools throughout the world have incorporated this method into their general music programs. To date, there is still no other harmonica method approved by the New York Department of Education for use as a textbook in their schools.

Notable performers

See also

List of Famous Harmonica Solos

Harmonica concerto

The Society for the Preservation and Advancement of the Harmonica

Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival

References

Notes

Sources

http://www.prweb.com/releases/World/Record/prweb574418.htm

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/arts_and_media/music_feats_and_facts/fastest_harmonica_player.aspx

External links

Layout of 12 Keys of Richter-tuned Diatonic Harmonica

12 Keys of Pentatonic Scales on one Richter-tuned Diatonic Harmonica in C

HarmoPoint Diatonic harmonica initiation using a multi-media concept that allows you to visualize the playing

Riccardo's Harmonica Tutorial Free lessons on harmonica theory, positions, scales and chord structures.

"Free shared harmonica links" International harmonica weblinks grouped by theme

Frequently Asked Question about harmonica playing Questions about how to play harmonica

"Mark Purintun's Harmonica Tutorial"

The Tremolo: Learning to Play

Category:Free reed aerophones Category:Sets of free reeds *

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Buddy Greene is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player. Most of his recordings consist of gospel music, with a distinctly Southern flavor. Much of his music is influenced by country music and bluegrass music. Greene grew up in Macon, Georgia. He has written the music for many songs and also co-wrote the Christmas song "Mary, Did You Know?" with Mark Lowry; Greene also wrote "Recovering Pharisee" recorded by Del McCoury, and "He Is" recorded by Ashley Cleveland.

External links

Answers.com bio of Buddy Greene

Buddy Greene website

"Classical Medley" By Buddy Greene (HARMONICA)

Buddy Greene harmonica performance at Carnegie Hall, standing ovation

Category:American harmonica players Category:American performers of Christian music Category:Living people

es:Buddy Greene

name	Modern Blues
type	studio
artist	Lapush
cover	ModernBlues.jpg
released	May 30, 2007
genre	Alternative rock, pop, indie
length	21:57
label	Lapush Recordings
producer	Thom Donovan
last album	''Someplace Closer to Here''(2005)
this album	''Modern Blues''(2007)
next album	}}

''Modern Blues'' is the second studio album by American rock band Lapush, released in May 2007. The album features the singles, ''Closer'' and ''Run''. Several songs from the album have appeared in "The Hill's" on MTV.

Category:Rock albums by American artists Category:2007 albums

name	Benny Goodman
landscape	Yes
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Benjamin David Goodman
alias	"King of Swing", "The Professor", "Patriarch of the Clarinet", "Swing's Senior Statesman"
birth date	May 30, 1909
death date	June 13, 1986
origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
instrument	Clarinet
genre	Swing, big band
occupation	Musician, bandleader, songwriter
years active	1926–1986 }}

Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".

In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America. His January 16, 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music."

Goodman's bands launched the careers of many major names in jazz, and during an era of segregation, he also led one of the first racially-integrated musical groups. Goodman continued to perform to nearly the end of his life, including exploring his interest in classical music.

Childhood and early years

Goodman was born in Chicago, the ninth of twelve children of poor Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire, who lived in the Maxwell Street neighborhood. His father was David Goodman, a tailor from Warsaw; his mother was Dora Grisinsky (from Kaunas, Lithuania). His parents met in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to Chicago before Benny was born.

When Benny was 10, his father enrolled him and two of his older brothers in music lessons at the Kehelah Jacob Synagogue. The next year he joined the boys club band at Jane Addams' Hull House, where he received lessons from director James Sylvester. He also received two years of instruction from the classically trained clarinetist Franz Schoepp. His early influences were New Orleans jazz clarinetists working in Chicago, notably Johnny Dodds, Leon Roppolo, and Jimmy Noone. Goodman learned quickly, becoming a strong player at an early age: he was soon playing professionally in various bands.

Goodman attended Lewis Institute (now Illinois Institute of Technology) in 1924 as a high school sophomore, while also playing the clarinet in a dance hall band. (He was awarded an honorary LL.D. from IIT in 1968. When Goodman was 16, he joined one of Chicago's top bands, the Ben Pollack Orchestra, with which he made his first recordings in 1926.

He made his first record on Vocalion under his own name two years later. Goodman recorded with the regular Pollack band and smaller groups drawn from the orchestra through 1929. The side sessions produced scores of sides recorded for the various dimestore record labels under an array of group names, including Mills' Musical Clowns, Goody's Good Timers, The Hotsy Totsy Gang, Jimmy Backen's Toe Ticklers, Dixie Daisies, and Kentucky Grasshoppers.

Goodman's father, David, was a working-class immigrant about whom Benny said (interview, ''Downbeat'', February 8, 1956); "...Pop worked in the stockyards, shoveling lard in its unrefined state. He had those boots, and he'd come home at the end of the day exhausted, stinking to high heaven, and when he walked in it made me sick. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the idea of Pop every day standing in that stuff, shoveling it around".

On December 9, 1926, David Goodman was killed in a traffic accident. Benny had recently joined the Pollack band and was urging his father to retire, since he and his brother (Harry) were now doing well as professional musicians. According to James Lincoln Collier, "Pop looked Benny in the eye and said, 'Benny, you take care of yourself, I'll take care of myself.'" Collier continues: "It was an unhappy choice. Not long afterwards, as he was stepping down from a streetcar—according to one story—he was struck by a car. He never regained consciousness and died in the hospital the next day. It was a bitter blow to the family, and it haunted Benny to the end that his father had not lived to see the success he, and some of the others, made of themselves." "Benny described his father's death as 'the saddest thing that ever happened in our family.'"

Career

Goodman left for New York City and became a successful session musician during the late 1920s and early 1930s (mostly with Ben Pollack's band between 1926 and 1929). A notable March 21, 1928 Victor session found Goodman alongside Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, and Joe Venuti in the All-Star Orchestra, directed by Nat Shilkret. He played with the nationally known bands of Ben Selvin, Red Nichols, Isham Jones (although he is not on any of Jones's records), and Ted Lewis. He recorded sides for Brunswick under the name Bennie Goodman's Boys, a band that featured Glenn Miller. In 1928, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller wrote the instrumental "Room 1411", which was released as a Brunswick 78. He also recorded musical soundtracks for movie shorts; fans believe that Benny Goodman's clarinet can be heard on the soundtrack of ''One A. M.'', a Charlie Chaplin comedy re-released to theaters in 1934.

During this period as a successful session musician, John Hammond arranged for a series of jazz sides recorded for and issued on Columbia starting in 1933 and continuing until his signing with Victor in 1935, during his success on radio. There were also a number of commercial studio sides recorded for Melotone between late 1930 and mid-1931 under Goodman's name. The all-star Columbia sides featured Jack Teagarden, Joe Sullivan, Dick McDonough, Arthur Schutt, Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, Coleman Hawkins (for 1 session), and vocalists Jack Teagarden and Mildred Bailey, and the first two recorded vocals by a young Billie Holiday.

In 1934 Goodman auditioned for NBC's ''Let's Dance'', a well-regarded three-hour weekly radio program that featured various styles of dance music. His familiar theme song by that title was based on ''Invitation to the Dance'' by Carl Maria von Weber. Since he needed new arrangements every week for the show, his agent, John Hammond, suggested that he purchase "hot" (swing) arrangements from Fletcher Henderson, an African-American musician from Atlanta who had New York's most popular African-American band in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Goodman, a wise businessman, helped Henderson in 1929 when the stock market crashed. He purchased all of Henderson's song books, and hired Henderson's band members to teach his musicians how to play the music.

In early 1935, Goodman and his band were one of three bands (the others were Xavier Cugat and "Kel Murray" [r.n. Murray Kellner]) featured on ''Let's Dance'' where they played arrangements by Henderson along with hits such as "Get Happy" and "Jingle Bells" from composer and arranger Spud Murphy. Goodman's portion of the program from New York, at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time, aired too late to attract a large East Coast audience. However, unknown to him, the time slot gave him an avid following on the West Coast (they heard him at 9:30 p.m. Pacific Time). He and his band remained on ''Let's Dance'' until May of that year when a strike by employees of the series' sponsor, Nabisco, forced the cancellation of the radio show. An engagement was booked at Manhattan's Roosevelt Grill (filling in for Guy Lombardo), but the crowd there expected 'sweet' music and Goodman's band was unsuccessful. The band set out on a tour of America in May 1935, but was still poorly received. By August 1935, Goodman found himself with a band that was nearly broke, disillusioned and ready to quit.

Catalyst for the Swing era

In July 1935, a record of the Goodman band playing the Henderson arrangements of "King Porter Stomp" backed with "Sometimes I'm Happy", Victor 78 25090, had been released to ecstatic reviews in both ''Down Beat'' and ''Melody Maker''. In Pittsburgh at the Stanley Theater some of the kids danced in the aisles. This had made little impact on the band's tour until August 19 when they arrived in Oakland to play at McFadden's Ballroom. There, Goodman and his artists Gene Krupa, Bunny Berigan, and Helen Ward found a large crowd of young dancers, raving and cheering the hot music they had heard on the ''Let's Dance'' radio show. Herb Caen wrote that "from the first note, the place was in an uproar." One night later, at Pismo Beach, the show was another flop, and the band thought the overwhelming reception in Oakland had been a fluke.

The next night, August 21, 1935 at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles, Goodman and his band began a three-week engagement. On top of the ''Let's Dance'' airplay, Al Jarvis had been playing Goodman records on KFWB radio, and Los Angeles fans were primed to hear him in person. Goodman started the evening with stock arrangements, but after an indifferent response, began the second set with the arrangements by Fletcher Henderson and Spud Murphy. According to Willard Alexander, the band's booking agent, Krupa said "If we're gonna die, Benny, let's die playing our own thing." The crowd broke into cheers and applause. News reports spread word of the enthusiastic dancing and exciting new music that was happening. Over the course of the engagement, the "Jitterbug" began to appear as a new dance craze, and radio broadcasts carried the band's performances across the nation.

The Palomar engagement was such a marked success it is often exaggeratedly described as the beginning of the swing era. Donald Clarke wrote "It is clear in retrospect that the Swing Era had been waiting to happen, but it was Goodman and his band that touched it off."

In November 1935 Goodman accepted an invitation to play in Chicago at the Joseph Urban Room at the Congress Hotel. His stay there extended to six months and his popularity was cemented by nationwide radio broadcasts over NBC affiliate stations. While in Chicago, the band recorded ''If I Could Be With You'', ''Stompin' At The Savoy'', and ''Goody, Goody''. Goodman also played three special concerts produced by jazz aficionado and Chicago socialite Helen Oakley. These "Rhythm Club" concerts at the Congress Hotel included sets in which Goodman and Krupa sat in with Fletcher Henderson's band, perhaps the first racially integrated big band appearance before a paying audience in the United States. Goodman and Krupa played in a trio with Teddy Wilson on piano. Both combinations were well-received, and Wilson stayed on.

In his 1935–1936 radio broadcasts from Chicago, Goodman was introduced as the "Rajah of Rhythm." Slingerland Drum Company had been calling Krupa the "King of Swing" as part of a sales campaign, but shortly after Goodman and crew left Chicago in May 1936 to spend the summer filming ''The Big Broadcast of 1937'' in Hollywood, the title "King of Swing" was applied to Goodman by the media. Goodman left record company RCA for Columbia, following his agent and soon to be brother-in-law John Hammond.

At the end of June 1936, Goodman went to Hollywood, where, on June 30, 1936 his band began CBS's "Camel Caravan," its third, and, according to Connor and Hicks, its greatest of them all, sponsored radio show, co-starring Goodman and his old boss Nat Shilkret.

Carnegie Hall concert

In late 1937, Goodman's publicist Wynn Nathanson attempted a publicity stunt by suggesting Goodman and his band should play Carnegie Hall in New York City. If this concert were to take place, then Benny Goodman would be the first jazz bandleader to perform at Carnegie Hall. "Benny Goodman was initially hesitant about the concert, fearing for the worst; however, when his film ''Hollywood Hotel'' opened to rave reviews and giant lines, he threw himself into the work. He gave up several dates and insisted on holding rehearsals inside Carnegie Hall to familiarize the band with the lively acoustics."

The concert was the evening of January 16, 1938. It sold out weeks before, with the capacity 2,760 seats going for the top price of US$2.75 a seat, for the time a very high price. The concert began with three contemporary numbers from the Goodman band—"Don't Be That Way," "Sometimes I'm Happy," and "One O'Clock Jump." They then played a history of jazz, starting with a Dixieland quartet performing "Sensation Rag." Once again, initial crowd reaction, though polite, was tepid. Then came a jam session on "Honeysuckle Rose" featuring members of the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands as guests. (The surprise of the session: Goodman handing a solo to Basie's guitarist Freddie Greene who was never a featured soloist but earned his reputation as the best rhythm guitarist in the genre—he responded with a striking round of chord improvisations.) As the concert went on, things livened up. The Goodman band and quartet took over the stage and performed the numbers that had already made them famous. Some later trio and quartet numbers were well-received, and a vocal on "Loch Lomond" by Martha Tilton provoked five curtain calls and cries for an encore. The encore forced Goodman to make his only audience announcement for the night, stating that they had no encore prepared but that Martha would return shortly with another number.

By the time the band got to the climactic piece "Sing, Sing, Sing", success was assured. This performance featured playing by tenor saxophonist Babe Russin, trumpeter Harry James, and Benny Goodman, backed by drummer Gene Krupa. When Goodman finished his solo, he unexpectedly gave a solo to pianist Jess Stacy. "At the Carnegie Hall concert, after the usual theatrics, Jess Stacy was allowed to solo and, given the venue, what followed was appropriate," wrote David Rickert. "Used to just playing rhythm on the tune, he was unprepared for a turn in the spotlight, but what came out of his fingers was a graceful, impressionistic marvel with classical flourishes, yet still managed to swing. It was the best thing he ever did, and it's ironic that such a layered, nuanced performance came at the end of such a chaotic, bombastic tune."

This concert has been regarded as one of the most significant in jazz history. After years of work by musicians from all over the country, jazz had finally been accepted by mainstream audiences. Recordings were made of this concert, but even by the technology of the day the equipment used was not of the finest quality. Acetate recordings of the concert were made, and aluminum studio masters were also cut.

Goodman took the newly discovered recording to his record company, Columbia, and a selection was issued on LP. These recordings have not been out of print since they were first issued. In early 1998, the aluminum masters were rediscovered and a new CD set of the concert was released based on these masters. The album released based on those masters went on to be one of the best selling live jazz albums of all time.

Charlie Christian

Pianist/arranger Mary Lou Williams was a good friend of both Columbia records producer John Hammond and Benny Goodman. She first suggested to John Hammond that he see Charlie Christian.

Charlie Christian was playing at the Ritz in Oklahoma City where [...] John Hammond heard him in 1939. Hammond recommended him to Benny Goodman, but the band leader wasn't interested. The idea of an electrified guitar didn't appeal, and Goodman didn't care for Christian's flashy style of dressing. Reportedly, Hammond personally installed Christian onstage during a break in a Goodman concert in Beverly Hills. Irritated to see Christian among the band, Goodman struck up "Rose Room", not expecting the guitarist to know the tune. What followed amazed everyone who heard the 45-minute performance.

Charlie was a hit on the electric guitar and remained in the Benny Goodman Sextet for two years (1939–1941). He wrote many of the group's head arrangements (some of which Goodman took credit for) and was an inspiration to all. The sextet made him famous and provided him with a steady income while Charlie worked on legitimizing, popularizing, revolutionizing, and standardizing the electric guitar as a jazz instrument.

Charlie Christian's recordings and rehearsal dubs made with Benny Goodman in the early forties are widely known and were released by Columbia.

Beyond swing

Goodman continued his meteoric rise throughout the late 1930s with his big band, his trio and quartet, and a sextet. By the mid-1940s, however, big bands lost a lot of their popularity. In 1941, ASCAP had a licensing war with music publishers. In 1942 to 1944 and 1948, the musician's union went on strike against the major record labels in the United States, and singers took the spot in popularity that the big bands once enjoyed. During this strike, the United States War Department approached the union and requested the production of the V-Disc, a set of records containing new and fresh music for soldiers to listen to. Also, by the late 1940s, swing was no longer the dominant mode of jazz musicians.

Bebop, Cool Jazz

By the 1940s, jazz musicians were borrowing advanced ideas from classical music. The recordings Goodman made in bop style for Capitol Records were highly praised by jazz critics. When Goodman was starting a bebop band, he hired Buddy Greco, Zoot Sims, Wardell Gray and a few other modern players.

Goodman enjoyed the bebop and cool jazz that was beginning to arrive in the 1940s. When Goodman heard Thelonious Monk, a celebrated pianist and accompanist to bop players Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Clarke, he remarked, "I like it, I like that very much. I like the piece and I like the way he played it. [...] I think he's got a sense of humor and he's got some good things there."

By 1953, Goodman completely changed his mind about bebop. "Maybe bop has done more to set music back for years than anything [...] Basically it's all wrong. It's not even knowing the scales. [...] Bop was mostly publicity and people figuring angles."

Forays into classical repertoire

Goodman's first classical recording dates from April 25, 1938 when he recorded Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581, with the Budapest Quartet. After his bop period, Goodman furthered his interest in classical music written for the clarinet, and frequently met with top classical clarinetists of the day. In 1946, he met Ingolf Dahl, an emigre classical composer on the faculty of the University of Southern California, who was then musical director of the Victor Borge show. They played chamber music together (Brahms, Milhaud, Hindemith, Debussy) and in 1948 Goodman played in the world premiere performance of Dahl's ''Concerto a Tre''.

In 1949, when he was 40, Goodman decided to study with Reginald Kell, one of the world's leading classical clarinetists. To do so, he had to change his entire technique: instead of holding the mouthpiece between his front teeth and lower lip, as he had done since he first took a clarinet in hand 30 years earlier, Goodman learned to adjust his embouchure to the use of both lips and even to use new fingering techniques. He had his old finger calluses removed and started to learn how to play his clarinet again—almost from scratch.

Goodman commissioned and premiered works by leading composers for clarinet and symphony orchestra that are now part of the standard repertoire, namely ''Contrasts'' by Béla Bartók, ''Clarinet Concerto No. 2, Op. 115'' by Malcolm Arnold, ''Derivations for Clarinet and Band'' by Morton Gould, and Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto. While Leonard Bernstein's ''Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs'' was commissioned for Woody Herman's big band, it was premiered by Goodman. Woody Herman was the dedicatee (1945) and first performer (1946) of Igor Stravinsky's ''Ebony Concerto'', but many years later Stravinsky made another recording, this time with Benny Goodman as the soloist.

He made a further recording of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, in July 1956 with the Boston Symphony String Quartet, at the Berkshire Festival; on the same occasion he also recorded Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch. He also recorded the clarinet concertos of Weber and Carl Nielsen.

Other recordings of classical repertoire by Goodman are:

''Premiere Rhapsodie for Clarinet'' by Claude Debussy

Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E flat by Johannes Brahms

Rondo from ''Grand Duo Concertant in E flat'' by Weber, and

An arrangement by Simeon Bellison of Beethoven's ''Variations on a theme from Mozart's "Don Giovanni"''.

Touring with Armstrong

After forays outside of swing, Goodman started a new band in 1953. According to Donald Clarke, this was not a happy time for Goodman.

Movies

Benny Goodman's band appeared as a specialty act in major musical features, including ''The Big Broadcast of 1937'', ''Hollywood Hotel'' (1938), ''Syncopation'' (1942), ''The Powers Girl'' (1942), ''Stage Door Canteen'' (1943), ''The Gang's All Here'' (1943), ''Sweet and Lowdown'' (1944) and ''A Song Is Born'' (1948). Goodman's only starring feature was ''Sweet and Lowdown'' (1944).

Goodman's success story was told in the 1955 motion picture ''The Benny Goodman Story'' with Steve Allen and Donna Reed. A Universal-International production, it was a follow up to 1954's successful ''The Glenn Miller Story''. The screenplay was heavily fictionalized, but the music was the real draw. Many of Goodman's professional colleagues appear in the film, including Ben Pollack, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton and Harry James.

Personality and influence

Goodman was regarded by some as a demanding taskmaster, by others an arrogant and eccentric martinet. Many musicians spoke of "The Ray", Goodman's trademark glare that he bestowed on a musician who failed to perform to his demanding standards. Guitarist Allan Reuss incurred the maestro's displeasure on one occasion, and Goodman relegated him to the rear of the bandstand, where his contribution would be totally drowned out by the other musicians. Vocalists Anita O'Day and Helen Forrest spoke bitterly of their experiences singing with Goodman. "The twenty or so months I spent with Benny felt like twenty years," said Forrest. "When I look back, they seem like a life sentence." At the same time, there are reports that he privately funded several college educations and was sometimes very generous, though always secretly. When a friend once asked him why, he reportedly said, "Well, if they knew about it, everyone would come to me with their hand out."

Goodman is also responsible for a significant step in racial integration in America. In the early 1930s, black and white jazz musicians could not play together in most clubs or concerts. In the Southern states, racial segregation was enforced by the Jim Crow laws. Benny Goodman broke with tradition by hiring Teddy Wilson to play with him and drummer Gene Krupa in the Benny Goodman Trio. In 1936, he added Lionel Hampton on vibes to form the Benny Goodman Quartet; in 1939 he added pioneering jazz guitarist Charlie Christian to his band and small ensembles, who played with him until his death from tuberculosis less than three years later. This integration in music happened ten years before Jackie Robinson became the first black American to enter Major League Baseball. "[Goodman's] popularity was such that he could remain financially viable without touring the South, where he would have been subject to arrest for violating Jim Crow laws." According to ''Jazz'' by Ken Burns, when someone asked him why he "played with that nigger" (referring to Teddy Wilson), Goodman replied, "I'll knock you out if you use that word around me again".

John Hammond and Alice Goodman

One of Benny Goodman's closest friends off and on, from the 1930s onward was celebrated Columbia records producer John H. Hammond. Hammond and Goodman were so close that Hammond influenced Goodman's move from RCA records to the newly created Columbia records in 1939.

Benny Goodman dated John H. Hammond's sister Alice Frances Hammond (1913–1978) for three months. She had previously been married to British politician George Duckworth, from whom she obtained a divorce. She and Goodman married on March 14, 1942. They had two daughters, Benjie and Rachel.

Both daughters studied music, though neither became the musical prodigy Goodman was.

Hammond had encouraged Goodman to integrate his band, persuading him to employ pianist Teddy Wilson. But Hammond's tendency to interfere in the musical affairs of Goodman's and other bands led to Goodman pulling away from him. In 1953 they had another falling-out during Goodman's ill-fated tour with Louis Armstrong, which was produced by John Hammond.

Goodman appeared on a 1975 PBS salute to Hammond but remained at a distance. In the 1980s, following the death of Alice Goodman, John Hammond and Benny Goodman, both by then elderly, reconciled. On June 25, 1985, Goodman appeared at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City for "A Tribute to John Hammond".

Later years

After winning numerous polls over the years as best jazz clarinetist, Goodman was inducted into the ''Down Beat'' Jazz Hall of Fame in 1957.

Goodman continued to play on records and in small groups. One exception to this pattern was a collaboration with George Benson in the 1970s. The two met when they taped a PBS salute to John Hammond and re-created some of the famous Goodman-Charlie Christian duets.

Benson later appeared on several tracks of a Goodman album released as "Seven Come Eleven." In general Goodman continued to play in the swing style he was most known for. He did, however, practice and perform classical clarinet pieces and commissioned compositions for clarinet. Periodically he would organize a new band and play a jazz festival or go on an international tour.

Despite increasing health problems, he continued to play until his death from a heart attack in New York City in 1986 at the age of 77, in his home at Manhattan House, 200 East 66th Street. A longtime resident of Pound Ridge, New York, Benny Goodman is interred in the Long Ridge Cemetery, Stamford, Connecticut. The same year, Goodman was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Benny Goodman's musical papers were donated to Yale University after his death.

He is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in the radio division.

His music was featured in the 2010 documentary ''Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story'', narrated by Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman.

Discography

(This discography combines LP and CD reissues of Goodman recordings under the dates of the original 78 rpm recordings through about 1950)

''A Jazz Holiday'' (1928, Decca)

''Benny Goodman and the Giants of Swing'' (1929, Prestige)

''BG and Big Tea in NYC'' (1929, GRP)

''Swinging 34 Vols. 1 & 2 (1934, Melodean)

''Sing, Sing, Sing'' (1935, Bluebird)

''The Birth of Swing'' (1935, Bluebird)

''Original Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Sessions, Vol. 1: After You've Gone'' (1935, Bluebird)

''Stomping at the Savoy'' (1935, Bluebird)

''Air Play'' (1936, Doctor Jazz)

''Roll 'Em, Vol. 1'' (1937, Columbia)

''Roll 'Em, Vol. 2'' (1937, CBS)

''From Spirituals to Swing'' (1938, Vanguard)

''The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert'' Vols. 1, 2, & 3 (Live) (1938, Columbia)

''Mozart Clarinet Quintet'' (with Budapest String Quartet) (1938, Victor)

''Ciribiribin'' (Live) (1939, Giants of Jazz)

''Swingin' Down the Lane'' (Live) (1939, Giants of Jazz)

''Featuring Charlie Christian'' (1939, Columbia)

''Eddie Sauter Arrangements'' (1940, Columbia)

''Swing Into Spring'' (1941, Columbia)

''Undercurrent Blues'' (1947, Blue Note)

''Swedish Pastry'' (1948, Dragon)

''The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert'' (1950, Columbia)

''Sextet'' (1950, Columbia)

''BG in Hi-fi'' (1954, Capitol)

''The Benny Goodman Story Volume 1'' (1955?, Decca)

''Mozart Clarinet concerto'' (with Boston symphomy) (1956)

''The Great Benny Goodman'' (1956, Columbia)

''Peggy Lee Sings with Benny Goodman'' (1957, Harmony)

''Benny in Brussels'' Vols. 1 & 2 (1958, Columbia)

''In Stockholm 1959'' (1959, Phontastic)

''The Benny Goodman Treasure Chest'' (1959, MGM)

''Texaco's Swing into Spring 59'' (1959, Cunningham & Walsh, Inc.)

''Swing With Benny Goodman And His Orchestra'' (1960s?, Columbia/Harmony)

''Benny Goodman in Moscow'' (1962, RCA Victor)

''Benny Goodman Today'' (London Records of (1970) Canada Ltd.)

''Benny Goodman And His Orchestra'' (1977)

''Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall; 40th Anniversary Concert'' (1978)

''Live! Benny Let's Dance'' (1986)

''The King Swings Star Line''

''Pure Gold'' (1992)

''1935–1938'' (1998)

''Portrait of Benny Goodman'' (Portrait Series) (1998)

''Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert '38'' (1998)

''Bill Dodge All-star Recording'' (1999)

''1941–1955 His Orchestra and His'' (1999)

''Live at Carnegie Hall'' (1999)

''Carnegie Hall: The Complete Concert'' (2006) Remastered again

Notes

References

External links

Benny Goodman official site

Benny Goodman web biography with audio

Benny Goodman scores (a portion of the musician's estate) in the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Benny Goodman papers (the bulk of the musician's estate) in Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University

Benny Goodman biography

for the Benny Goodman Sextet performing live in 1950 as regulars on the DuMont network TV series Star Time, see http://www.jfredmacdonald.com/avhighlights/playbawtv34_startime.htm

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Name	Carey Bell
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Carey Bell Harrington
Born	November 14, 1936Macon, Mississippi, United States
Died	May 06, 2007Chicago, Illinois, United States
Instrument	Harmonica, vocals
Genre	Chicago bluesHarmonica bluesElectric blues
Occupation	Musician, singer
Years active	1956–2007
Label	Delmark, Blind Pig, Alligator
Associated acts	Lurrie BellWillie DixonScott Cable
Past members	}}

Carey Bell (November 14, 1936 - May 6, 2007) was an American blues musician, who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica (harp) and bass for other blues musicians during the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s before embarking on a solo career. Besides his own albums, he recorded as an accompanist or duo artist with Earl Hooker, Robert Nighthawk, Lowell Fulson, Eddie Taylor, Louisiana Red, Jimmy Dawkins as well as a frequent partner with his son, guitarist Lurrie Bell. ''Blues Revue'' called Bell "one of Chicago’s finest harpists." The ''Chicago Tribune'' said Bell is "a terrific talent in the tradition of Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter."

Career

Early life

Bell was born Carey Bell Harrington in Macon, Mississippi. As a child, Bell was intrigued by the music of Louis Jordan. Bell wanted a saxophone in order to be like his hero Jordan; however, Bell's family could not afford a saxophone he had to settle for the harmonica, colloquially known as a "Mississippi saxophone." Soon Bell was attracted by the blues harmonica greats: DeFord Bailey, Big Walter Horton, Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs, and Sonny Boy Williamson I and II. Bell taught himself to play. By the time he was eight, he was quite proficient on the instrument. When he was thirteen, Bell joined his pianist godfather Lovie Lee's blues band.

Chicago

In September 1956, Lovie Lee convinced Bell to go with him to Chicago. Not long after arriving, Bell went to the Club Zanzibar, where Little Walter was appearing. Bell met Walter and later learned some harp playing from him and his main Chicago teacher, Big Walter Horton. To help further his chances of employment as a musician, Bell learned how to play the electric bass (from Hound Dog Taylor).

Despite Bell's learning from some of the greatest blues harp players of the genre, he arrived in Chicago at an unfortunate time. The demand for harp players was decreasing there as electric guitar became the prominent blues instrument. To pay the bills, Bell continued to play bass and joined several bands as a bassist. In the late 1960s, he appeared regularly on the west side of Chicago with guitarists Eddie Taylor and Royal Johnson, playing both harmonica and bass. In 1969 Bell toured Europe and the UK with the American Folk Blues Festival, and played at the Royal Albert Hall in London, appearing on a live recording of the event.

Debut through 1980s

In 1969, Delmark Records in Chicago released Bell's debut LP, ''Carey Bell's Blues Harp''. Bell played with Muddy Waters in late 1970 and 1971 and later with Willie Dixon's Chicago Blues All-Stars. In 1972, Bell teamed up with Big Walter in the studio and released ''Big Walter Horton with Carey Bell'' for Alligator Records. A year later Bell released a solo project entitled ''Last Night'' for ABC Bluesway. Bell continued to play with Dixon as well as with his own groups, and in 1978, Bell was featured on the Grammy-nominated album ''Living Chicago Blues'' on Alligator. Also, in the 1970s, Bell appeared on two Bob Riedy Blues Band recordings.

During the 1980s Bell continued to record for various labels and to tour. In 1990, Bell teamed up with fellow harpists Junior Wells, James Cotton and Billy Branch to record ''Harp Attack!''. A modern Blues classic, ''Harp Attack!'' became one of Alligator Records's best selling albums.

Alligator years

Despite years in the business and work with Alligator, Bell's first full-length solo album for the label was not until ''Deep Down'', released in 1995. In 1997, Bell released the second album on the label ''Good Luck Man''. ''Second Nature'' (originally recorded in Finland a few years earlier) followed in 2004; a duet album with his guitarist son, Lurrie Bell (who shared the guitar duties with Carl Weathersby on ''Deep Down'').

In 1998, Bell was awarded the Blues Music Award for Traditional Male Artist Of The Year.

Final work

In 2007 Delmark records released a live set by Bell accompanied by a band which included his son Lurrie, guitarist Scott Cable, Kenny Smith, Bob Stroger and Joe Thomas.

Death

Carey Bell died of heart failure on May 6, 2007 in Chicago.

Discography

1969 ''Carey Bell's Blues Harp'' (Delmark)

1973 ''Last Night'' (One Way)

1977 ''Heartaches and Pain'' (Delmark)

1982 ''Goin' on Main Street'' (Evidence)

1983 ''Son of a Gun'' (Rooster Blues)

1986 ''Straight Shoot'' (Blues South West)

1988 ''Harpslinger'' (JSP)

1990 ''Dynasty!'' (JSP)

1991 ''Mellow Down Easy'' (Blind Pig)

1992 ''Breakdown Blues-Live '' (CMA Rec.) with 'The Cat'

1994 ''Harpmaster'' (JSP)

1995 ''Carey Bell & Spike Ravenswood'' (Saar)

1995 ''Deep Down'' (Alligator)

1997 ''Good Luck Man'' (Alligator)

1999 ''Brought Up the Hard Way (JSP CD 802)

2004 ''Second Nature'' (Alligator)

2007 ''Gettin Up: Live at Buddy Guy's Legends Rosa's'' (Delmark)

with Louisiana Red

1980 ''Reality Blues'' (L+R)

1983 ''Boy from Black Bayou'' (L+R)

1984 ''My Life'' (L+R)

1993 ''Brothers in Blues (CMA Rec.)

1994 ''Live at 55 '' (Enja)

2004 ''The Blues Masters Bad Case of the Blues ''(Mojo Tone )

Collaborations with other artists

1969 ''Wanna dance all Night'', John Lee Hooker (Musidisc)

1972/73 ''Lake Michigan Ain't No River'' with Bob Riedy Blues Band

1974 ''Just Off Halsted'' with Bob Riedy Blues Band (Flying Fish FF 006)

1980 ''Blues after Sunrise'', Heinz Sauer, Bob Degen (L+R 40017)

1990 ''Harp Attack!'' (Alligator) with James Cotton, Junior Wells and Billy Branch

1991 ''Delta Bluesman'', Honeyboy Edwards (Earwig 4922)

1994 ''Good Candy '', Lovie Lee (Earwig 4928)

1996 ''You Can't Take My Blues'', Doug MacLeod (Sledgehammer Blues 2-AQM-1041)

1998 ''Blues Blues Blues'', The Jimmy Rogers All Stars (Atlantic)

2001 ''Superharps II'' (Telarc) with Lazy Lester, Raful Neal and Snooky Pryor

References

External links

"Harmonica Great Dies at 70" at NPR.org

Chicago Blues Harmonica Legend Carey Bell 1936 – 2007 (Alligator press release)

Carey Bell memorial website

Category:1936 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Chicago blues musicians Category:Harmonica blues musicians Category:Electric blues musicians Category:American blues harmonica players Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi Category:People from Noxubee County, Mississippi Category:Deaths from heart failure

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