Lazy Lester developed a unique style of blues harmonica playing that has influenced the beginner as well as the professional performer. His early recordings of his own songs led to his lo...
Syl Johnson recorded a string of popular blues and R&B songs in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, which have been inspirational for generations of musicians. Soul, funk and Hip-Hop artists hav...
Quincy Jones! How can you write a few sentences to describe Quincy Jones? His long and amazing career in music has produced the soundtrack to many of our own life experiences and his driv...
Casey Jones began his musical career as a Chicago-area blues drummer in the mid 1950s. He had only been playing a few years when he was encouraged to sing at a gig. He imitated Little R...
Jorma Kaukonen played guitar in two classic rock bands of the 1960s and 70s, Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna! His passion for the blues helped create his style, which was in such demand ...
Catfish Keith was proud to take part in the 40th anniversary of Santa Cruz Guitar Company in the fall of 2016. He not only performed on his favorite SCGC model on stage at the Rio Theate...
Little Freddie King has become a mainstay within the New Orleans music scene. His energetic performances, often with high kicks, always feature his main instrument, the Gibson Flying V! ...
B.B. King spoke of his great love of music making and provided sound advice for those who want to play an instrument. He smiled as he recalled buying his first guitar amplifier and spoke ...
Bob Koester was the founder of the Delmark label who began recording blues and jazz in 1953 in St. Louis. He later moved to Chicago where he helped define the music scene by recording art...
Sonny Landreth was born in Canton, Mississippi and grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, grounding his musical foundation in the blues, jazz, zydeco and rock and roll. He played trumpet in sch...
Joe Lovano worked with the Borgani Musical Instrument Company in Italy on a series of saxophones that fit his style of playing. The Borgani-Lovano instruments use pearl-silver alloy with...
Ralph MacDonald grew up in Harlem, where he was exposed to many musical traditions. As a drummer, he focused on his African roots and as a songwriter he relied on his soulful understandin...
Steve Madaio played trumpet on most of Stevie Wonders recordings during the innovative and creative period between 1971 and 1976. Stevie was experimenting with electric keyboards and syn...
Bill Magee began playing electric blues guitar before it was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s. When he first began playing professionally Bill used a Fender Jazz Master and later playe...
Taj Mahal helped expand the scope of the blues by incorporating elements of world music and a style of guitar playing that was rooted firmly in the African traditions that helped form the...
Neville Marten has enjoyed a long career as editor of Guitar Techniques, one of the magazines represented by his firm Future Publishing. Prior to that, he was editor of Guitarist magazin...
Greg Martin was able to combine the many musical styles he admired growing up when he helped form the Kentucky Headhunters. The band made up of friends began playing together in 1968 and ...
John Mayall was an enduring voice on the modern blues scene since the early 1960s. Mayall is a self-taught musician well-versed on guitar, harmonica, and piano. Following art school and m...
Big Jay McNeely was there when the emotions of rhythm and blues gave birth to rock and roll. His honkin' sax style gave raw and bold tones to the feelings behind the R&B and Jump Swin...
Keb’ Mo’ is the Grammy-winning blues guitarist and songwriter who got his big break in the music business thanks to Taj Mahal (interview class of 2016). He has performed as Keb’Mo’ ever...
Deacon John Moore has been a noted studio musician in New Orleans for decades. His performance and recordings have not only represented the New Orleans Sound over the years, he has helpe...
Sam Mosley and his friend Bobby Johnson played music together as teenagers in and around their hometown in northern Mississippi. Together the team formed a successful band and songwritin...
Gail Muldrow is a vocalist and guitarist who grew up completely surrounded by music. Living in the Oakland area, she would often take trips into San Francisco to experience the vibrant mu...
Chris Mulkey is a well-respected actor who has appeared on hundreds of movies and television programs dating back to the mid-1970s. Chris is also a passionate music maker who has carried ...
Charlie Musselwhite recalls the day Muddy Waters called him on stage to jam with the legendary bluesman in a small Chicago blues club. It was the beginning of a long and impassioned caree...
Paul Nelson was playing guitar behind his friend and musical hero, Johnny Winter, when a friendship developed. The two became musical partners, wrote songs and gigged together over the y...
Tony Newton was nicknamed “Baby Funk Brother” by the original studio musicians at Motown Records where he began working in 1964. His first session with the Funk Brothers was the song “Bab...
Nick Nixon and Andy Talamantez formed The Andy-T-Nick Nixon Band, which was based in Nashville. Nick teamed up with guitarist Andy to return to music, which he had left for many years. He...
Alan Peters is a trumpeter and guitarist who was brought up on blues and R&B and formed the group Almost Blues in the 1960s. Alan backed many artists in the famous club, the Cavern, i...
John Primer was born in Camden, Mississippi, where he learned to play the guitar before moving to Chicago to play an important role in the city's blues culture. While recording Magic Slim...
Jerry Puckett is a studio musician for Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi who played guitar on the hits “Groove Me” by King Floyd and “Mr. Big Stuff” by Jewel Bass, among many others....
Mickey Raphael grew up with a passion for music and was recruited to play sousaphone and tuba in his high-school marching band. While this was his excuse to get out of gym class, Mickey r...
