Mark Hummel
Encyclopedia
Mark Hummel is an American
blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter, and long-time bandleader of The Blues Survivors. Since 1991, Hummel has produced the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, of which he is also a featured performer. The shows have featured blues harmonica players such as James Cotton
, Carey Bell
, and Charlie Musselwhite
. Although he is typically identified as performing West Coast blues, Hummel is also proficient in Delta blues, Chicago blues, swing and jazz styles.
, and grew up in Los Angeles
, California
. Hummel and his family lived for a time in Aliso Village, a housing project in East Los Angeles that was demolished in 1999. As Hummel explains in his forthcoming autobiography, his parents hired Mexican babysitters who often played R&B
and soul music
on the radio when they cared for him. It was through these babysitters that Hummel was first introduced to black music. Early on, he was also drawn to the music of Jimmy Reed
and Slim Harpo
. Hummel did not start playing harmonica seriously until high school, and by the age of sixteen he was already playing in bands.
in the early 1970s. A number of jazz and blues artists had already made their mark on Hummel at this point in his early career, including Billie Holiday
, Count Basie
, Ella Johnson
, Lester Young
, Jimmy Reed
, Little Walter
, Muddy Waters
, Big Walter Horton
, Paul Butterfield
, Sonny Boy Williamson II
, and Charlie Musselwhite
.
Once established in the East Bay
in the 1970s, Hummel started performing with Boogie Jake, Sonny Lane, Cool Papa Sadler, and Mississippi Johnny Waters. He formed the Blues Survivors in 1980, and they have been his band ever since. Since its inception the band has featured a number of popular performers before they became household names, such as King of the Hill
creator and blues bassist Mike Judge
. Other noteworthy members include Jimmy Bott, June Core, Rusty Zinn
, Ronnie James, Chris Masterson, Charles Wheal and Joel Foy. Over the years Hummel has also toured or recorded with Sue Foley
, Charles Brown
, Brownie McGhee
, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Bob Stroger, Dave Myers, Jimmy Pugh, Kid Andersen and Frank "Paris Slim" Goldwasser. Hummel has also toured with Lowell Fulson
, Jimmy Rogers
, and Eddie Taylor
; live recordings from those tours are available on his CD compilation Chicago Blues Party. In addition to playing in blues clubs across the U.S. and throughout Europe, Hummel and the Blues Survivors have performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival
, the Sonora Blues Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival
, the King Biscuit Blues Festival
, and the Monterey Jazz Festival
. He has also contributed CD reviews to Blues Wax, an online weekly blues music magazine. Writing in Living Blues, Lee Hildebrand described Hummel's performance at the 1978 San Francisco Blues Festival as one that "epitomized the high musical quality of the entire weekend" festival.
Jerry Portnoy
, a blues harmonica player who used to play in Muddy Waters
' band, described Hummel as a musician who possesses "tremendous chops and great knowledge, not only of traditional blues harmonica but other music as well - R&B and swing and big-band jazz. He brings a lot to the table when he plays." He appeared on the cover of the August/September 2005 issue of Blues Revue magazine, and in April 2010, Hummel was a guest on the House of Blues Radio Hour, a syndicated weekly radio program hosted by Dan Aykroyd
(in character as Elwood Blues).
Hummel is also known for founding the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, which he has produced regularly since 1991. The tour features a rotating lineup of veteran harmonica players backed by the Blues Survivors. Past tours have included Snooky Pryor, James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson
, Jerry Portnoy, Magic Dick, Rod Piazza
, Paul DeLay
, James Harman, Mitch Kashmar, Huey Lewis
and many others. Live recordings from these tours can be found on at least four CD releases from Mountain Top Productions and Electro-Fi Records (see discography below).
Hummel currently endorses Sonny Jr. harmonica amplifiers, Seydel harmonicas, and Fat Bottom microphones.
Mark Hummel is a contributor to David Barrett's BluesHarmonica.com.
EPs
As Bandleader
Sideman LPs
Sideman CDs
Anthologies
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues harmonica player, vocalist, songwriter, and long-time bandleader of The Blues Survivors. Since 1991, Hummel has produced the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, of which he is also a featured performer. The shows have featured blues harmonica players such as James Cotton
James Cotton
James Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
, Carey Bell
Carey Bell
Carey Bell was an American blues musician, who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass for other blues musicians during the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s before embarking on a solo career...
, and Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...
. Although he is typically identified as performing West Coast blues, Hummel is also proficient in Delta blues, Chicago blues, swing and jazz styles.
Childhood
Mark Hummel was born in New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, and grew up in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Hummel and his family lived for a time in Aliso Village, a housing project in East Los Angeles that was demolished in 1999. As Hummel explains in his forthcoming autobiography, his parents hired Mexican babysitters who often played R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
on the radio when they cared for him. It was through these babysitters that Hummel was first introduced to black music. Early on, he was also drawn to the music of Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
and Slim Harpo
Slim Harpo
Slim Harpo was an American blues musician. He was known as a master of the blues harmonica; the name "Slim Harpo" was derived from "harp," the popular nickname for the harmonica in blues circles.-Early life:...
. Hummel did not start playing harmonica seriously until high school, and by the age of sixteen he was already playing in bands.
Career
Hummel began working professionally after moving to the San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
in the early 1970s. A number of jazz and blues artists had already made their mark on Hummel at this point in his early career, including Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Ella Johnson
Ella Johnson
Ella Johnson was an American jazz and rhythm and blues vocalist.Born Ella Mae Jackson in Darlington, South Carolina, United States, she joined her brother Buddy Johnson in New York as a teenager, where he was leading a popular band at the Savoy Ballroom...
, Lester Young
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young , nicknamed "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and clarinetist. He also played trumpet, violin, and drums....
, Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
, Little Walter
Little Walter
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, Big Walter Horton
Big Walter Horton
Walter Horton, better known as Big Walter Horton or Walter "Shakey" Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming and essentially shy man, Horton is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the history of blues...
, Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
, Sonny Boy Williamson II
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
, and Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite
Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...
.
Once established in the East Bay
East Bay
-Places:In Canada:*East Bay, Nova Scotia, a small town in Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia*East Bay , the east arm of the Bras d'Or Lake located in Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton IslandIn the United States:...
in the 1970s, Hummel started performing with Boogie Jake, Sonny Lane, Cool Papa Sadler, and Mississippi Johnny Waters. He formed the Blues Survivors in 1980, and they have been his band ever since. Since its inception the band has featured a number of popular performers before they became household names, such as King of the Hill
King of the Hill
King of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
creator and blues bassist Mike Judge
Mike Judge
Michael Craig Judge is an American animator, film director, writer and voice actor, best known as the creator and star of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-head , King of the Hill , and The Goode Family .He also wrote, directed and in some instances produced the films Beavis and...
. Other noteworthy members include Jimmy Bott, June Core, Rusty Zinn
Rusty Zinn
Rusty Zinn is an American electric blues and reggae guitarist and singer-songwriter. Zinn released six albums between 1996 and 2009, on Black Top, Alligator, Bad Daddy, and 9 Above Records...
, Ronnie James, Chris Masterson, Charles Wheal and Joel Foy. Over the years Hummel has also toured or recorded with Sue Foley
Sue Foley
Sue Foley is a Canadian blues singer and guitarist.-Career:Foley has been writing and playing professionally since 1984. She has recorded ten albums, for both Antone's Records and Shanachie Records. She has spent over fourteen years on the road as a bandleader, lead vocalist, guitarist and...
, Charles Brown
Charles Brown (musician)
Charles Brown , born in Texas City, Texas was an American blues singer and pianist whose soft-toned, slow-paced blues-club style influenced the development of blues performance during the 1940s and 1950s...
, Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Bob Stroger, Dave Myers, Jimmy Pugh, Kid Andersen and Frank "Paris Slim" Goldwasser. Hummel has also toured with Lowell Fulson
Lowell Fulson
Lowell Fulson was a big-voiced blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. Fulson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also recorded for business reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom...
, Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
, and Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor
Eddie Taylor was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.-Biography:Born Edward Taylor in Benoit, Mississippi, United States, as a boy Taylor taught himself to play the guitar. He spent his early years playing at venues around Leland, Mississippi, where he taught his friend Jimmy Reed to...
; live recordings from those tours are available on his CD compilation Chicago Blues Party. In addition to playing in blues clubs across the U.S. and throughout Europe, Hummel and the Blues Survivors have performed at the San Francisco Blues Festival
San Francisco Blues Festival
Debuting in 1973, the San Francisco Blues Festival is the longest running blues festival in the United States. Tom Mazzolini, the event's producer, founded the blues festival to educate the public about the history and evolution of the blues...
, the Sonora Blues Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival
Chicago Blues Festival
The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the City of Chicago Mayor's Office of Special Events, and always occurs in early June...
, the King Biscuit Blues Festival
King Biscuit Blues Festival
The King Biscuit Blues Festival is an annual multi-day Blues festival held in Helena, Arkansas which attracts upwards of 100,000 Blues aficionados.The name comes from “King Biscuit Time,” which was the longest running radio show...
, and the Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival
The Monterey Jazz Festival is one of the longest consecutively running jazz festivals. It debuted on October 3, 1958 and was founded by San Francisco jazz radio broadcaster Jimmy Lyons.-History:...
. He has also contributed CD reviews to Blues Wax, an online weekly blues music magazine. Writing in Living Blues, Lee Hildebrand described Hummel's performance at the 1978 San Francisco Blues Festival as one that "epitomized the high musical quality of the entire weekend" festival.
Jerry Portnoy
Jerry Portnoy
Jerry Portnoy is an American harmonica blues musician, who has toured with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton.-Biography:Portnoy grew up in Chicago's Maxwell Street neighborhood where his family owned a store...
, a blues harmonica player who used to play in Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
' band, described Hummel as a musician who possesses "tremendous chops and great knowledge, not only of traditional blues harmonica but other music as well - R&B and swing and big-band jazz. He brings a lot to the table when he plays." He appeared on the cover of the August/September 2005 issue of Blues Revue magazine, and in April 2010, Hummel was a guest on the House of Blues Radio Hour, a syndicated weekly radio program hosted by Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
(in character as Elwood Blues).
Hummel is also known for founding the Blues Harmonica Blowout tour, which he has produced regularly since 1991. The tour features a rotating lineup of veteran harmonica players backed by the Blues Survivors. Past tours have included Snooky Pryor, James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite, Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."-Career:...
, Jerry Portnoy, Magic Dick, Rod Piazza
Rod Piazza
Rod Piazza is an American blues harmonica player and singer. He has been playing with his band The Mighty Flyers since 1980 which he formed with his pianist wife Honey Piazza...
, Paul DeLay
Paul deLay
Paul Joseph deLay , was an American blues vocalist and harmonicist from Portland, Oregon.-Life and career:Paul deLay was born January 31, 1952 in Portland, Oregon....
, James Harman, Mitch Kashmar, Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
and many others. Live recordings from these tours can be found on at least four CD releases from Mountain Top Productions and Electro-Fi Records (see discography below).
Hummel currently endorses Sonny Jr. harmonica amplifiers, Seydel harmonicas, and Fat Bottom microphones.
Mark Hummel is a contributor to David Barrett's BluesHarmonica.com.
Discography
Singles- 1976 Boogie Jake (w/ Mark Hummel, harp) "Automobile Blues" b/w "The Boogie Train" (Blues Connoisseur Records)
- 1979 Bob Kelton (w/ Mark Hummel & The Blues Survivors) "Grandpa Said" b/w "Race Track Blues" (Rhodes-Way Records)
- 1979 Mississippi Johnny Waters & the Blues Survivors "I'm Wondering Woman" b/w "You Can Look For Me" (Rhodes-Way Records)
- 1981 Blues Survivors with Mark Hummel "Gotta Make A Change" b/w "Sugar Sweet" (Rockinitus)
EPs
- Mississippi Johnny Waters & The Blues Survivors (Tree Of Hope Records)
As Bandleader
- 1985 Playin' In Your Town (Rockinitus; w/ Bill Kirchen & Brownie McGhee)
- 1987 High Steppin (Double Trouble Records)
- 1988 Harmonica Party (Double Trouble)
- 1989 Up & Jumpin (Rockinitus; w/ Sue Foley & Charles Brown)
- 1990 Sunny Day Blues (Deluxe Records)
- 1991 Hard Lovin' 90s (Double Trouble)
- 1993 Feel Like Rockin (Flying Fish)
- 1995 Married to the Blues (Flying Fish)
- 1996 Heart Of Chicago (Tone-Cool)
- 1998 Lowdown to Uptown (Tone-Cool)
- 2002 Golden State Blues (Electro-Fi)
- 2004 Blowin My Horn (Electro-Fi)
- 2006 Ain't Easy No More (Electro-Fi)
- 2010 Retro-Active (Electro-Fi)
- 2011 Back Porch Music (Mountain Top Productions)
Sideman LPs
- 1978 Various Artists, San Francisco Blues Festival, Vol. 2 (Solid Smoke Records; w/ Charles Houff)
- 1985 Brownie McGhee, Facts of Life (Blue Rockit)
Sideman CDs
- 1997 Blues Across America - The Chicago Scene (Cannonball; w/ Robert Plunkett)
- 2000 Too Slim & the Taildraggers, King Size Troublemakers (Burnside)
- 2003 Kid Andersen, Rock Awhile (Blue Soul; w/ Jr. Watson)
- 2004 Steve Freund & Dave Specter, Is What It Is (Delmark)
- 2004 Johnny DyerJohnny DyerJohnny Dyer is an American electric blues harmonicist and singer. He has received a nomination for a Blues Music Award, and been involved in a number of recordings in the last three decades, both as a solo performer and with other musicians.-Biography:Dyer grew up on the Stovall Plantation in...
& Mark Hummel, Rolling Fork Revisited (Mountain Top Productions) - 2005 Jimi Bott, Cheap Thrills (RoseLeaf; w/ Luther Tucker)
- 2009 Various Artists, Chicago Blues Party (Mountain Top Productions)
Anthologies
- 1990 Blooze & Boogie: Blues Dance Party! (Wax Museum)
- 1991 Got Harp, If You Want It! (Blue Rockit)
- 1992 Texas Harmonica Rumble (New Rose)
- 1997 Blues Harp Greats (Easydisc)
- 1997 Mean Streets Blues (Biscuits & Blues)
- 2001 Live at the Boston Blues Festival, Vol. 1 (Blues Trust)
- 2001 Blues Harp Meltdown, Vol. 1 (Mountain Top Productions)
- 2002 San Francisco Bay's Best Blues (Raw)
- 2004 This Is Blues Harmonica (2004)
- 2005 Blues Harp Meltdown, Vol. 2 (Mountain Top Productions)
- 2007 Blues Harp Meltdown, Vol. 3 (Mountain Top Productions)
- 2009 Blues Harmonica Blowout: Still Here and Gone (Electro-Fi)