Little Walter Jacobs, born on May 1, 1930, had a revolutionary approach the harmonica that found him compared to artists such as Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix when it came to innovation and his impact on succeeding generations. In 2008 it earned him a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the only artist ever to be inducted specifically for work as a harmonica player.

He arrived in Chicago in 1945 and garnered instant attention for his harp work. Reportedly, he grew frustrated with having his harmonica drowned out by electric guitarists, and adopted a simple, but previously little-used method of cupping a small microphone in his hands along with his harmonica, plugging the microphone into a guitar amplifier. While he is sometimes credited with being the first to amplify the harp, Sonny Boy Williamson and Snooky Prior might also claim the same honour. One thing for sure, though, Jacobs was the first to purposely try to push his amplifiers beyond their technical limitations, using the amplification to explore and develop radical new sounds, previously unheard from a harmonica.

Jacobs joined Muddy Waters' Band in 1948, and by 1950, he was playing on Muddy's recordings for Chess Records. He was also frequently utilized as a sideman behind artists like Jimmy Rogers, Memphis Minnie, Johnny Shines, Bo Diddley, Otis Rush and Robert Nighthawk.

In February 1968, he was involved in a fight while taking a break from a performance at a nightclub on the South Side of Chicago. While he received relatively minor injuries, they aggravated damage he had suffered in a previous encounter and he died in his sleep. He was only 37.

But why all this talk about Little Walter?

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, exactly 80 years since the birth of Little Walter, a group of musicians, under the direction of Raoul Bhaneja, gathered at the Silver Dollar in Toronto to celebrate their hero's birthday and to release a live CD that they had recorded on January 5, 2009 at the Dollar entitled BLUE MIDNIGHT: A LIVE TRIBUTE TO LITTLE WALTER. And what a tribute night it was. A stellar band made up of Daren Galen on guitar, Tom Bona on drums and Terry Wilkins on Bass (Raoul's Big Time Band) as well as Jake Chisholm on second guitar and, recent Juno award winning pianist, Julian Fauth backed a veritable who's who of GTA harp players.  Raoul Bhaneja, Doctor Nick Ouroumov, Mark "Bird" Stafford, Mr. Rick Zolkower, Aaron Kazmer, Mojo Willie Rymer, Mike "Shrimp Daddy" Reid, Fraser Finlayson, Tortoise Blue, Chris Whiteley and even David Rotundo, who had dropped by "just to see the show". One after another, they came to the stage and reproduced Little Walter's hits of the 50's and 60's. If you were there and wondered why some of the band would come and go as the night went on, it wasn't because Raoul was a task master and wouldn't allow them a break, it was because he wanted to be as true to form as possible in reproducing Little Walter's songs. If there was a piano on the original cut, Julian would play, if not, he was out. If it included drums and just one guitar, that's what you saw on stage. A number of times Terry Wilkins left the stage and at one point he dropped the bass and picked a six string.  A true-to-form reproduction of Little Walter's material.

Raoul led the charge with perhaps one of Jacobs biggest commercial hits, My Babe. Soon after that, Doctor Nick knocked out songs like Driftin', Mellow Down Easy and Rollercoaster. Nick had brought one of his vintage amps that added a unique sound to the harps. More than one of the players credited Nick with making the evening a better by providing his "unique toys".

Dressed in a fine black suit and tie, Mark "Bird" Stafford followed with his 16 hole Chromatic Harp. He did a few songs then stuck around for a couple more featuring the vocals of Julian Fauth. Julian continued with a particularly good version of Baby Please Don't Go with Mr. Rick of Mr. Rick and the Biscuits on harp. Daren Galen then stepped to the microphone and sang I Want to be Loved. If I were Raoul, I wouldn't let Darren sing much, he just might get the itch and start a band of his own.

Aaron Kazmer then hit the stage and backed Jake Chisholm's vocals on Worried Life Blues followed by Mojo Willie's version of Everything Gonna Be Alright with Julian rejoining the band. Shrimp Daddy then did a fantastic version of the slow blues classic, Little Girl. I love that down and dirty slow stuff, especially with "Shrimp Daddy's growly voice. It was about then that I realized, WOW, these are all great songs, mostly blues classics in fact, and they were all written and performed by Little Walter Jacobs. All this great music and the night was far from over.

Next to grace the stage was Toronto harp legend, Fraser Finlayson. Back in the '60's and '70's Fraser was heavily influenced by Little Walter and included his material when he played. No tribute would be complete without Fraser's harp. Some of you "old folks" might remember Fraser as the harp player in a band called Knights of the Mystic Sea fronted by a friend to many Toronto blues musicians, Morgan Davis.

And no, the night was not done yet! As Fraser left, Tortoise Blue came on to do a fabulous rendition of Just Your Fool, which included Julian's piano. The hits just kept coming and coming. The instrumentation changed once again as Tom took his long anticipated break from the drums and Jake whipped out his slide to back both Raoul and Doctor Nick on "Honey Bee". Multi-instrumentalist Chris Whiteley, who had just played a matinee at The Duck in St. Catharines and hauled it down the QEW to make it to the Dollar in time,  followed with She Moves Me that including only Jake on guitar and Tom on drums, beating out a simple but rhythmic beat that really made the song for me. Man, this guy can keep a beat, and so effortlessly. After a few songs, Chris started to show off by playing his harp in a unique style. I had seen him play this way last year at the South Side Shuffle in Port Credit when he played his guitar and harp at the same time without a harp rack. I have never seen anyone else do what he does. He places his harmonica length ways into one cheek on a bit of an angle and blows his notes that way. To change the notes, he either sucks the harp into his mouth or pushes it out, much like a trombonist might do with a slide. His technique was an instant hit with the crowd.

Just as the evening seemed to be winding down, Raoul called Jon Knight to the stage. Now Jon's not a harp player so you might wonder what a guitar slinger might have to do with the evening. Turns out that Jon was the mastermind  behind the recording and mixing for the CD. He strapped on his guitar and joined the band for a rocking rendition of Key to the Highway, with Chris remaining on the stage to play harp with the full band.

As if that wasn't enough, harpmeister David Rotundo had dropped by to catch the show but was quite easily coaxed to the stage to join the group, getting the crowd going with his version of Tell Me Mama.

What a night. ELEVEN harp players, almost two and a half hours of straight ahead Chicago Harp Blues, No breaks. No rests. The place was packed from the first song and the dance floor was hoppin' the entire time. What a fabulous evening. And the price was certainly right. The $20.00 entry fee not only included a copy of the CD BLUE MIDNIGHT: A LIVE TRIBUTE TO LITTLE WALTER but a portion of the evening's receipts were being donated to the Toronto Blues Society's Blues in the Schools program that funds blues musicians going into area schools promoting music in general and blues in particular. Many of the musicians involved with the night take part in the project, in fact Tortoise Blue told us that the students he's been involved with call him "Mr. Blues".

** Publisher's note: I, too, had the pleasure of being at this show. Although getting there was a little hectic - a ride from a friend to the Hamilton Go station, a bus to downtown Toronto and then a half hour walk to the Silver Dollar - it was definitely worth the trek. I got there at 8:02 and found myself walking into a wall of people. I knew right away that this show would be smokin' (and that was certainly true from the getgo since there was an acrid smell of smoke as I walked in. I'm not sure what happened in the kitchen but my eyes were stinging for the first half hour or so.)

There was no way I could even make my way from the door to the bar so I quickly made my way around through the back room to the other side. From that vantage point I realized this would be the best spot for me and I stood by the ladies room the entire night. This allowed me to have a great sightline without being stuck in a mob of people, as much as I would have loved to be on the dance floor! It also gave me a chance to chat with several people as they made their way around through the back room. And even though I was two feet away from the bathroom, I hesitated to go because I didn't want to miss any of the show and I certainly didn't want to lose my spot!

It was an absolutely fabulous night. ** blueschick

Wow.

Well I'm still recovering from the 270+ people who packed the Dollar for our CD release on Sat. May 1st. It was an incredible night and I have to thank EVERYONE who came out both audience and participants. Many remarked it felt like "the old days" and hopefully we will have more nights like it in the future.

To purchase a copy of the CD go to: www.raoulandthebigtime.com .

For old photos of Little Walter there is a great site at: www.bobcorritore.com/photos139.html

Experiencing live music is a PRIVILEGE. Get out to a club this weekend and support your local talent.

© 2010 - All photos copyright Larry "Dawk" McCarthy.
Copying or use of the images is not permitted without written permission.

© 2010 - All photos copyright Larry "Dawk" McCarthy.
Copying or use of the images is not permitted without written permission.