Mark Hummel

Biography

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.

Early Influences and Memoir

Hummel took up an interest in blues harp; Charlie Musselwhite, Brownie McGhee (w/ Sonny Terry); Blues Survivors hit the road full time; his memoir, Big Road Blues: 12 Bars on I-80 recounts many road exploits.

Recording Career

Hummel's been featured on over thirty recordings since 1985 including his 2014 Blind Pig Records release, 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.

Collaborations

Billy Flynn is the Grammy-winning guitarist on Cadillac Records and Beyoncé's version of At Last. Billy is on over 200 blues recordings and performances with Kim Wilson, Cash Box Kings, Legendary Blues Band, Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Dawkins, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Keith Richards, James Cotton and Eric Clapton. Flynn is a Delmark Records artist and a multi-instrumentalist.

Rodrigo Mantovani

Brazilian musician Rodrigo Mantovani is a four-time BMA bass-playing nominee - he plays with Nick Moss, Jontavious Willis, Big Creek Slim, Curtis Salgado and others. He's the premier upright blues bassist. Rodrigo now lives in Chicago.

Patrick Seals

Patrick Seals is a popular drummer from Chicago who plays with Curtis Salgado, Nick Moss and many others in the blues biz.

Mark Hummel and Reception

Mark Hummel is a harmonica God - Blues Revue. 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.