Most blues fans have a great appreciation for the harmonica. In fact many couldn't imagine hearing blues without it. But most of us couldn't tell the difference between a diatonic and a chromatic harmonica and couldn't tell you what a vibrato is or that you could "bend" a musical note.
 
All I know is that I fell in love with the blues harp through guys like Paul Butterfield but later came to a much greater appreciation of the music through Little Walter Jacobs, Sonny Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry and James Cotton. I also noticed that the heavy blues-rock bands that I grew up with would always throw in a little harp when they wanted to show their blues roots, just to make it sound authentic.

So where do our local blues harmonica wannabes go when they want to learn more about their instrument? Well, there are a lot of good local teachers who do private and group classes but the one event that seems to pack the house is the Toronto Blues Society's Annual Harmonica Workshop. Each year one of our local harp maestros is chosen to host the event. Joining him or her is a group of three or four players, usually chosen for their diversity of playing style and musical background. On occasion, a harp player of international renown, who happened to be in town at the time, has joined in on the sessions. And whereas most private lessons have little or no accompaniment or the rhythm is provided by a CD made specifically for that purpose, the TBS workshop is backed by a real live, top notched, blues band.

This years event, sponsored by Lee Oscar Harmonicas and held at Dominion on Queen, was hosted by Juno & W.C. Handy Nominee and multiple Maple Blues Award winner, Paul Reddick. Paul was joined by Ken Yoshioka (Ken Yoshioka Blues Band & Julian Fauth, by way of Japan), Howard Willett (Bebop Cowboys), and Al Lerman (Fathead). The all-star back-up band consisted of Teddy Leonard (Fathead) on guitar, James Rasmussen (David Rotundo Band) on bass and the tireless, Bucky Berger (Fathead) on drums.

Article continues below photos - click first photo then hover top right or left for option to see previous or next photo.

I'm sure that many local blues fans have never been to a TBS workshop because they think that its only for the blues harmonica players. While there are numerous questions from the learned students, some answers  seemingly going well over my head, there are a lot of interesting things to learn about the harmonica and there is a lot of good music to hear on a relaxing Saturday afternoon. I've been to a number of these events over the years and I have always left the day with a greater understanding of the blues harp that allows me to better appreciate and enjoy the musicianship of those that play the music that I love so much. I never learned to play the harmonica and I really have no interest in playing it but now that Al Lerman showed us that you can play an entire blues song by using just ONE note, I just might try to learn that note.

As well as the Harmonica Workshop, the Toronto Blues Society sponsors numerous events throughout the year, including a Guitar Workshop, the Woman's Blues Review, an annual Blues Talent Search, the Maple Blues Awards and the Blues Summit as well as other periodic events for the blues fan and the blues musician. If you are in the Toronto area, watch for the next TBS event. And if you catch your blues in other parts of the country, keep a look out for similar workshops in your city. I have always found that that understanding the music leads to much greater enjoyment and appreciation of the music and I'm sure you will too.

Don't forget to get out to a local haunt and listen to and most importantly experience your local blues scene. A lot of love and hard work goes into the music. You won't regret it!

Enjoy.
Dawk

For more information about Toronto Blues Society events or to join the TBS, go to www.torontobluessociety.com .

For more blues related photos of Southern Ontario events visit Dawk's web site at www.dawk.ca or contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . All photos copyright Larry "Dawk" McCarthy, 2011.