Being relatively inexpensive, relatively easy to play and extremely portable, the harmonica has long been the perfect instrument for a nation on the move. Its popularity has waxed and waned, and ...

“Classic Harmonica Blues,” out on May 21, features 20 tracks by the blues’ greatest harmonica players. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings In the early 20th-century, southern ...

Mark Hummel’s harp ‘Blowout’ show is preserving the revered art harmonica blues, but it ain’t easy.

The veteran harmonica player and vocalist’s albums have favored fairly standard, fairly safe, Chicago-style blues tinged with Cajun accordion.

Mississippi blues harp player James Cotton was certainly considered lucky for the break he got joining Muddy Waters’ band in the late 1950s, taking over a spot previously held by such venerated ...

Lazy Lester, a Louisiana-born singer and harmonica player whose rough and rollicking style of swamp blues influenced musicians on both sides of the Atlantic, died Aug. 22 at his home in Paradise ...

Willie "Big Eyes" Smith was a stalwart of the Chicago blues scene. A multi-award winning drummer, best known for his long tenure in Muddy Waters' band, he had more recently emerged as a bandleader ...

First as half of the duo Cephas and Wiggins and later on his own, he was one of the best-known musicians playing the style known as the Piedmont blues.