The harmonica, sometimes called a harp or mouth organ, is a mouth-blown instrument sounded with free reeds (one for each note). The simplest instruments are diatonic, with a single row of channels cut into a block of cedar or now often of plastic. Two metal plates, one mounted above the block and the other below, carry a reed for each note (making 20 reeds in all), the upper plate with the reeds set to sound on blow, the lower plate to sound on draw. While mouth organs originated in East Asia some thousands of years ago, the ancestor of the modern harmonica was invented around 1830 in Germany.  The cheap and portable instrument quickly became an important member in the repertoire of instruments in almost every type of American popular music.  

We invite you to explore the musical variety of the harmonica with us this month!

Blues Songbook  by Alan Lomax	Between the Sound and the Sea: Music of the North Carolina Outer Banks	Interstate City by Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men
Unplugged by Jimmy Dale Gilmore and the Flatlanders	Just A Closer Walk With Thee by Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry	Blues Masters  by Little Walter & Otis Rush

Folkways: The Original Vision by Woody Guthrie & Lead Belly	Get on Board: Negro Folksongs	Just Enough by Paul Geremia
The Mississippi River of Song: A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi	Close to Home: Old Time Music from Mike Seeger's Collection, 1952-1967	Life's Railway to Heaven  by Marcus

Harmonica Concertos by Spivakovsky, Arnold, Villa-Lobos	Larry Adler in Concert	Harmonica and Clarinet Music
Toots Thielemans: Live	Mississippi Saxophone by Bruce Ewan

Harmonica Blues: great harmonica performances of the 1920s and ‘30s CD 21965	The essential Sonny Boy Williamson CD 22102-22103	Muddy Waters at Newport, 1960 CD 27990
An offer you can’t refuse by Paul Butterfield CD 26380	Man bites harmonica by Toots Thielemans CD 3594	Eivets Rednow CD 6698
UFO TOFU by Bela Fleck &the Flecktones CD 6921	Steady Movin’ by Carlos Del Junco Annex CD (Box 37)	Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen CD 184
Serenade by Tommy Reilly CD 5464	Vaughan Williams in concert CD 5549	Affinity by Bill Evans CD 4233

Rev. Gary Davis and Sonny Terry DVD 650	The American folk blues festival, 1962-1966 DVD 899-900
Harmonica Power! Norton Buffalo’s bag of tricks LVD 451

Charlie Musslewhite: power blues harp MT682.8 .D68 1990	The harp styles of Bob Dylan  MT682 .D93 H37 1992	The harp styles of Sonny Terry MT682.8 .T47 1975
Gospel harp by Phil Duncan MP175.A4 D8	Blues harp songbook by Tony Glover MP175.H3 G53 1975	The great harmonica songbook: 45 songs by Eric Plahna MP175.H3 G74 2009