Grammy-nominated Harmonica man/singer/songwriter/bandleader/author/impresario MARK HUMMEL was born in New Haven, CT, but moved to Los Angeles as a newborn. Hummel became interested in blues harp & rock-blues music in high school but soon discovered the originators like Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson & Little Walter. Soon after, Hummel frequented the Ash Grove club on Melrose Ave. in LA where he saw (in three months) three blues legends he would later work regularly with Charlie Musselwhite, Brownie McGhee (w/Sonny Terry) & James Cotton. By 1985 Mark Hummel's Blues Survivors hit the road full time & continue till the present (Hummel's memoir, "Big Road Blues: 12 Bars on I-80" recounts many road exploits). Hummel's been featured on over thirty recordings since 1985 including his 2014 Blind Pig Records, Remembering Little Walter (a recording of a Hummel Blues Harp Blowout.) The CD was nominated for a Grammy Award and won two Blues Music Awards. Hummel's most recent release, Harpbreaker (September 2018/Electro-Fi), is an all-instrumental harmonica album that redefines the scope and beauty of what the instrument is capable of in the right hands.
What The Critics Are Saying
"Hummel, a specialist in West Coast Blues, knows a thing or two about how to please an audience"
- New Yorker
"Hummel plays the harmonica with the fat, full sound that made Little Walter sound almost like a saxophonist rather than a harp man".
-Chicago Sun-Times
“Mark Hummel is a Harmonica God. He is one of a handful of the Best Players ever on the Instrument”.
– Blues Revue Magazine
"Harmonica ace Mark Hummel has always surrounded himself with top-notch talent.
Hummel certainly spends time on center stage with both his vocals and harmonica, most prominently on the instrumental "Walking with Mr. Lee". Top-notch from start to finish, skip this one at your peril."
- Mark Smith/Music Revue
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Empress Lounge, 324 Virginia St, VallejoDirections
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