Bob Kessler Harmonica

It turned out to be an incredible night of music.  James Conway, Joe Filisko AND special surprise guest Howard Levy made the Hideout Chicago “the center of the harmonica world” as one friend put it.  For me, it was a chance to bring out several pieces I’d never played before an audience and to do it alongside three of my favorite players, all representing different styles of music and approaches to the instrument.  Here’s “The Duo for Flute and Piano, First Mvt.” by Aaron Copland. I’m joined by Abigail Allison.

Ramsey Lewis has been an incredible mentor to me.  We go back a few years.  I was his writer/producer on his radio show from 1997-2009.   When he asked me to sit in on a Christmas video series for his Facebook page this year, it was a big honor. This is what we created in one take…

from Chris & Heather’s Country Calendar Showcase at FitzGerald’s.  We learned some classic Ferlin Husky.

I’m very excited to be performing in this production, a series of dramatic readings written by everyday people responding to the film “Brokeback Mountain.”  Shawn Kirchner, who wrote and arranged the music will be in this production.  Shawn’s original recording of these works featured harmonica legend Tommy Morgan (Beach Boys, Carpenters and just about any other pop recording featuring harmonica in the 60s, 70s and beyond), so I have a lot to live up to!  Find out more about it here.

Gregg Coffey is a world-class artist and good friend. This features an overview of  the works of the master Printmaker/Painter  alongside my original music.  All the sounds were created with harmonicas (some electronically treated), shakers, plucked bass harmonica reeds, clarinet (either conventionally or percussive keying), a bit of piano…the last part is a low-D pennywhistle with a microphone taped inside and run through a phase shifter!

The Saturday workshop, “Blues/Country/Folk in Seven Positions” was great fun (at least for me as the teacher).  The students could all play in 1st and 2nd position (that’s C and G on a C harp, for you non-harmonicists). After two hours, we were all improvising on 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th,  AND 12th positions (that’s D, A, E, B and F).  They found out it’s not as mysterious or daunting as it seems, which was the whole point!

The BlackWilloughbys have been busy playing our unique blend of blues, folk & Americana … we have a few dates coming up in the near future, which you can always check out at BlackWilloughbys.net

Fri. Dec. 16   Chris & Heather’s Country Calendar Show  FitzGeralds – Berwyn IL. This is always a fun show to see – my first time participating.  Bands are given an artist to cover.  We’ve been given the late Ferlin Husky!

Sunday, Dec. 18    The Whister  10pm  FREE  Part of Lawrence Peters’ Country Throwdown Series

Tues. Dec. 20   The Hideout   9pm

Tues. Jan 10   The Hideout   10pm