Elvis, Muddy, and how to choke a harmonica: Our podcast with blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, headliner of Saturday’s Morristown music fest

Charlie Musselwhite, blues harper extraordinaire.
Charlie Musselwhite, blues harper extraordinaire.
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By Kevin Coughlin

He partied with Elvis, he sang the blues with Muddy Waters.

Blues harp legend Charlie Musselwhitethe headliner at Saturday’s Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival, blows a whole lot of life experience into his Seydel harmonica.

Charlie Musselwhite, blues harper extraordinaire.
Charlie Musselwhite, blues harper extraordinaire.

In this audio interview, Musselwhite, 71, shares a Mississippi-to-Morristown musical odyssey that includes stops in Memphis, Chicago, San Francisco and the White House.

Early on, he developed an appreciation for all kinds of music: “If it was coming from the heart, it meant something to me.”

But he kept coming back to the blues, prowling junkyards and shops for scratchy old records.

“Blues, the way it sounded is how I felt,” Musselwhite explains.

He also offers tips for all you aspiring harmonica players.  Never “choked” a blues harp before?  Listen up, Morristown!

 

PODCAST: Charlie Musselwhite shares harmonica secrets

DOWNLOAD MP3  (Right-click, “save as”)

 

The Fifth Annual Morristown Jazz & Blues Festival

Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015

On the Morristown Green, rain or shine

Admission: Free. Bring lawn chairs or beach blankets

Noon: Swingadelic

2 pm: Bucky Pizzarelli’s Guitar Summit

4 pm: Bria Skonberg

6 pm: Roomful of Blues

8 pm: The Charlie Musselwhite Band

 

MORE COVERAGE OF THE 2015 MORRISTOWN JAZZ & BLUES FEST

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