Little Walter could make his harp sound like a tenor sax; he was instrumental in defining the sound that is now known as Chicago blues harp. Singer, composer, bandleader and peerless harmonica ...

I’m not an especially fervent advocate of blues harmonica, but I do love the greats—both the Sonny Boy Williamsons, Big Walter Horton, much of Charlie Musselwhite‘s innovative output. But for me no ...

Somewhat like such other musical innovators as Bix Beiderbecke, Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, blues harmonica virtuoso Little Walter Jacobs checked out early - dead at age 38, in 1968, from a head ...

The harmonica found its way into blues because it was cheap: You could buy a good one in the 1930s for a quarter. But although blues musicians discovered all kinds of tricks with the instrument, it ...

Buddy Guy, a renowned blues guitarist, advocated for a historical marker to commemorate the birthplace of his friend and fellow musician, Marion "Little Walter" Jacobs. The unveiling ceremony, held in ...

Blues giant Little Walter was only 37 when he died in 1968, but this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s towering influence has been felt ever since. One of the first harmonica players to perform ...

Chicago blues harmonica master Billy Branch didn’t really want to record a tribute to a legend of his instrument, Little Walter. But with last year’s 50th anniversary of Little Walter’s death and next ...

In 1957 my first child with Hazel was born, Valerie. Hazel, I, and the baby moved from my brother Alvin’s home to the 1100 block of Troy Street on Chicago’s West Side. Little did I know, on the next ...

Little Walter was at the top of his list as far as blues harmonica, he said. "I grew up listening to Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, mostly for harmonica, and my dad," said Neal. He passed on tips to those ...

No one know when the harmonica first got the blues, but WC Handy reported hearing train imitations being played on the instrument in the 1870s, and by the 1920s, after Mamie Smith hit with Crazy Blues ...

The harmonica was originally crafted in the 1800s as an instrument to play German folk songs. But when it made its way to the U.S., it was merely considered a toy -- that is, until the Harmonicats' ...