Listen Up!

Your ears are some of the biggest assets you have as a learning musician. Feed them a healthy diet of great music and it will not only make you & your ears happy, but it will also affect how you play in a positive way. But just casual listening to good music is only one part of what you can do.

You can also be learning to listen for specific things – what I call “focused listening”. An instrument’s tone, a musician’s sense of phrasing, rhythmic variations or accents used in certain styles of music (or by certain players), etc…the list goes on & on. And don’t forget, you can also learn a lot from watching and listening to some great players perform live, in addition to hearing some great music you’ll probably never hear on record. (Yes, I just said “record”. I still love to hold an album sleeve in my hands when I listen to it…pretty hard to hold onto a download…and let’s not get STARTED on the sonic comparisons!)

I update this page on a regular basis and give you the head’s up on some classic harp & blues recordings still in print (or recently re-issued),  new recordings or contemporary re-issues worth knowing about…as well as local NY/NJ/PA area performances & jams of note.

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Recommended Listening: (updated regularly)

Classic Release:

(Little) George Smith – “Harmonica Ace” – Ace

For those that aren’t “in the know”, George “Harmonica” Smith is one of the unsung heroes of blues harmonica playing and has influenced many of today’s top blues harmonica players. This collection brings together his earliest recordings as a leader, on the RPM label. There is some great stuff here to be sure, especially his groundbreaking 3rd position harp playing on both diatonic and chromatic harps…such as the classic “Telephone Blues”, “Rocking”, and the chromatic instrumental “Blues In The Dark”. Simply a MUST-HAVE!

Contemporary Release:

Steve Guyger – “Keep It Moving” – Harpophone

Steve Guyger is another one of those well-kept secrets that I have been trying to tell the world about…one blues fan (or harp fan) at a time. He spent many years playing on & off with the great Jimmy Rogers – and as if that alone isn’t enough – he remains one of my favorite living blues harp players and singers anywhere. This guy is the real deal, Chicago stylist through-and-through. He re-visits many classic blues, as well as some originals in a traditional vein. There has been a lot of slack thrown the way of the “traditionalists” in recent years, but guys like Steve Guyger are true musicians and artists…and bring way more to the plate than mere imitators or flash-in-the-pan showboaters. Dig Mr. Guyger!

Listen Up! past recommendations here

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NY/NJ/PA area performances of note:

  • 1/13 - Steve Guyger @ Terra Blues – New York, NY (7pm)
  • 1/20 - Steve Guyger & Rich Yescalis @ Otto’s Brauhaus – Horsham, PA

NJ area jams:

  • MONDAYS @ 10PM – Great Notch Inn, 400 Rt 46 W, Little Falls, NJ
  • TUESDAYS @ 7PM – Brewster’s, 1217 Main St., Bradley Beach, NJ
  • WEDNESDAYS @ 8PM – Franklin Tavern, 99 Franklin Ave, West Orange, NJ
  • WEDNESDAYS @ 8PM – Robin’s Nest, 3103 Tremley Point Rd, Linden, NJ

NY area jams:

  • WEDNESDAYS @ 8:30 PM – Foley’s Club Lounge, 479 Bedford Rd, Pleasantville, NY
  • THURSDAYS @ 9PM – Gordo’s, 415 Commerce St, Hawthorne, NY

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