HARMONICA BLUES / VARIOUS

It is a testament to the harmonica's status in music that even it's finest practitioners remain relatively unknown. Compiling a disc of harp players, as Yazoo has done here, isn't going to turn up a bunch of familiar names. As an early document of an instrument that remained essential to the blues well after it became an electric medium, however, Harmonica Blues is excellent. The instrument served numerous roles during the 1920s and 1930s (the period covered here), showing up in dance music, solo showcases, and blues; on street corners and in juke joints.