In the mid-1800s, a German harmonica manufacturer named Hohner started exporting his product to North America. Being relatively inexpensive, relatively easy to play and extremely portable, the ...

“Classic Harmonica Blues,” out on May 21, features 20 tracks by the blues’ greatest harmonica players. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings In the early 20th-century, southern black ...

NPR's Scott Simon spoke to James Cotton in 2013. Hear an encore of their conversation at the audio link. James Cotton, one of the foremost blues harmonica players of the 20th century, died Thursday of ...

Getting his start as a member of the legendary Muddy Waters’ band, Little Walter Jacobs took the harmonica to a whole new level. Developing his own unique techniques, blues musicians still look to him ...