Harmonica Blowout fest motors on, miracles and all
Mark Hummel has been running the annual blues show for 30 years
Mark Hummel didn't set out to be an impresario.
He had no burning ambition to corner the market on the world's greatest blues harmonica players. But after getting a bracing shot of energy from bringing together a bevy of top harpists at the San Francisco Blues Festival in the early 1980s he was eager for more.
When the festival's founder and producer Tom Mazzolini balked at booking another harp showcase with Hummel, “I figured I'll just do my own,” he said. “I kind of did it as a lark. It was definitely not something I planned on doing every year.”
But ever since the first 1991 Blues Harmonica Blowout at Berkeley's Ashkenaz club, Hummel has kept whirlwind spinning while turning the changing lineup into a movable musical feast. Now, after a twoyear pandemic-induced hiatus, the Castro Valley bluesman is back with the 30th Annual Blues Harmonica Blowout, a West Coast tour that hits Berkeley's Freight & Salvage Friday and Saturday and Santa Cruz's Moe's Alley on Sunday.
Over the decades the Blowout has featured just about every major harp player on the scene, from James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite and Billy Boy Arnold to John Mayall, Lee Oskar and Howard Levy. For the 30th anniversary lineup Hummel is joined by fellow harp experts Sugar Ray Norcia, the J. Geils Band's Magic Dick, John Németh and the South Bay's Aki Kumar.
Harmonica players need a band too, of course, and Hummel hasn't skimped in that department. For this tour he's recruited North Bay bassist Randy Bermudes and Texas drum great Wes Starr, who's known for his work with the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Page. Veteran producer and bandleader Anson Funderburgh holds down the guitar chair and Bob Welsh alternates on guitar and keyboard.
Welsh's late addition to the tour, stepping in for ailing guitarist Duke Robillard, speaks to Hummel's primary challenge in keeping the Blowout on the road. Many foundational blues artists were still active in the 1990s, but the ranks have dwindled, “and it's getting pretty dicey,” Hummel said.
“So many people featured on the Blowouts have passed on,” Hummel adds, “Snooky Pryor, Lazy Lester, Carey Bell, James Cotton, William Clarke, Sam Myers, Norton Buffalo, James Harmon. It's gotten a little bit hairy. The old guard is gone and the second generation is dwindling.”
Given the rigors of the blues life, third- and fourthgeneration players are also facing health challenges. Memphis-based star John Németh's participation on the tour is a minor miracle considering the vicissitudes of the American health care system.
A charismatic vocalist and bandleader, Németh was living in the Bay Area in the early 2000s when his career took off with a series of soul-steeped releases for San Francisco-based Blind Pig Records. Last April he found out that a noncancerous tumor in his lower jaw required major surgery that could leave him unable to sing.
The best bet for preserving his voice meant finding a specialist for a delicate series of operations, but his health insurance wouldn't cover the procedures. At the suggestion of a neighbor, Németh and his wife, Jaki, launched a GoFundMe campaign, which ended up raising more than $120,000.
“I would have had to sell my house to pay for this, but friends and family and fans loved what I do and wanted to see me keep on doing it,” Németh said. “I really couldn't believe it. You play this music for the love of doing it. You travel around the world and it doesn't pay very much. If it did I'd be able to pay for good insurance. It wound up working out and everybody took care of me.”
Németh faced the dire dilemma in his music, releasing his 11th album “May Be the Last Time” last July. The project earned him five Blues Music Awards nominations, more than any other artist, including song of the year, traditional blues album and instrumentalist-harmonica. (The Blues Foundation presents the 44th Annual Blues Music Awards May 11 in Memphis.)
For Németh hitting the road with the Blowout is the cherry on the sundae, reuniting him with friends who've inspired and shaped his music from the beginning, starting with the rhythm section. Funderburgh produced his breakthrough album for Blind Pig, 2007's “Magic Touch,” and Németh experienced a blues epiphany filling in for harp great Sam Myers on a tour through Texas and Mississippi with Funderburgh and Wes Starr.
Loving the blues is one thing. Experiencing the music in the cradle from which it emerged at the Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival in Greenville transformed his relationship to the tradition, Németh said.
“The language you're singing, the audience reacted to every line, the double entendres, the fun in the music. I didn't fully get it until it was reciprocated.”