Mouth Organ Virtuoso [Import]

Larry Adler | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 2, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI
• ASIN: B00004XNG6
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,744 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #65 in Music > Imports > Jazz

Track Listings

1. Funiculaire

2. Sugarfuel

3. Bold

4. Interlude 01

5. Breathe, Pts. 1-2

6. Lonley Boy [Hard Bossa Mix]

7. Interlude

8. Mid-Class Hero

9. I'd Like to Hear This

10. Interlude

11. Jailhouserock

12. Eden 'Apple'' [Edit Version][Version]

13. Family Life

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harmonica Player, September 5, 2008

By 

Ronald A. Fourmet "Single Senior" (Lake Shastina, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mouth Organ Virtuoso (Audio CD)

I have been playing a Honer 64 Chromonica for over 60 years. I started playing as a boy being influenced by my original Larry Adler and John Sebastian 78 RPM records, now long gone. Finding this CD has been a wonderfull and nostalgic experience. I can once again "play along with Larry" on my new Honer Super 64 Chromonica. (I still have my 60 year old one). I will be buying more Larry Adler CD's from Amazon, naturally and can really recommend this one for all harmonica music lovers and players.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest harmonica albums of all time!, July 9, 2010

By 

Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mouth Organ Virtuoso (Audio CD)

After years of playing diatonic (traditional 10 hole) blues harps, I've purchesed some Chromatics in recent months and since I wanted to learn from a master, I bought this CD to practice while playing.

What a perfect choice! Stevie Wonder, John Popper, Toots Theilemans, and Lee Oskar are perhaps the greatest living harmonicists. But if you like these men, one listen to Larry Adler will make your jaws drop in awe! This man was to the harmonica what Jimi Hendrix was to the guitar and was truly the master of this instrument! He also popularized the use of the Chromatic harmonica (a more complicated type of harp with as many as 10, 12, or 16 holes and a handlebar to change keys) and pioneered its use as a lead instrument in jazz, show tunes, and classical music (as opposed to its more traditional backup use in blues and country music).

The CD itself is an awesome collection of Adler's recorded work from the 1930s (very clean sound, I might add) to some standards and Porgy & Bess tunes from the 1950s. "Londonderry Air" is actually "Danny Boy," and in the middle of the tune, Adler switches track from the traditional dirge and plays a jazzed up version of the classic Irish ballad. Speaking of jazz, our man hams it up and displays some early (1935) Chromatic pyrotechnics in "Tiger Rag." He clowns a bit while ad libbing some "Blackvoice" dialogue to the tune which as an African American with an open mind, I personally found more amusing than mean-spirited or offensive.

"La Mer" is actually the original French title of the standard "Beyond the Sea" and Adler's version could bring tears to the eyes. It is interesting to compare this to Stevie Wonder's more uptempo take on this tune a decade later (see "Stevie Wonder's Early Classics" Cd). Adler expanded the role of the Chromatic Harmonica while playing the lead solo on a complete version of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." He also plays on a recorded tribute to George Gershwin (a year after the composer's death and also speaks warmly about the famous compser on this track) and plays a delightfully moving version of "Bess You Is My Woman Now" from Porgy & Bess that will also make one wet in the eyes.

This may be frustrating for the harmonicist who uses this CD to learn and practice the Chromatic Harmonica, as Adler displayed some astounding wizardry with this instrument that is extremely difficult to come close to matching. But non-musicians will bask in the beautiful artistry of these recordings. Right now, a British Black kid named Phillip Achille is picking up where Adler left off in mastering the Chromatic in jazz, show, classical, and pop tunes. Let's wish him well. He and other aspiring Chromatic harmonicists have quite a legacy in the work of Larry Adler. Listen, marvel, and enjoy.

5.0 out of 5 stars Master of the Harmonica, January 9, 2010

By 

Harold Seckinger "oldgenttent" (Homosassa , FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mouth Organ Virtuoso (Audio CD)

Larry Adler was not only the master of the harmonica; but probably the greatest instrumentalist in history. One has to be thoroughly knowledgeable with the harmonica to understand my remark.