Smithsonian Folklife: This week, we are mourning the loss of blues musician Phil Wiggins, a longtime Smithsonian Folklife Festival and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings collaborator.
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1954, Wiggins grew up inspired by local blues greats, many of whom he met at the Folklife Festival. One such musician was Piedmont blues guitarist and singer John Cephas. Their musical partnership, known as Cephas & Wiggins, lasted nearly thirty-five years, earned them both NEA National Heritage Fellowships, and sent them around the world—every continent but Antarctica, Wiggins proudly proclaimed.
The duo performed at the Folklife Festival several times over many decades (pictured in 1983 and 2006). Wiggins’s last Festival appearance was just last summer, celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of Folkways Records.
“Just about every note of music I’ve ever played in my life has been dance music,” he would say. “If we can dance together, we can live together.”
From Mad Dog Friedman: A tribute to Phil Wiggins (May 8, 1954 – May 7, 2024) who was recorded on the historic “Blues Harp Blues by Three” in 1982 live at the American Folk and Blues Festival with Carey Bell and Billy Branch. This is a video from the last studio session for Mad Dog Blues’ new All The Way CD. (The full album won’t be released until Aug. 16, 2024, as there is still the mixing, mastering, album art and pressing to do, but we were very excited to finish the recording part of the process last night.)
We are sharing this fresh video of our session now to celebrate. You will have to check out this joy bomb of an album when it comes out, but, for now, we offer this video to whet your interest. In this video, the Colorado harmonica mainstay, Mad Dog Friedman, is on the left, The International Blues Challenge 2024 Solo/Duo winner, “Roadside” Joe Waters, is in the middle and the up-and-coming harp master, Josh Elioseff, is playing on the right. I am so grateful for Joe looping back by Dog House Music Studios tonight after his car blew up in Kansas on his way here from Dayon, Ohio, last Sunday.
Even though the three of us have never played together, we all were raised by the same mother, the blues, and our love of the rhythmic wailing of the country blues harp is something we all share. It is with great honor and humility we offer this tribute to a man who was perhaps the greatest country blues harp players of our time. I am also going say this now, just to see who agrees with me after watching this. I told Joe this and he was like “No way!”, but in my humble opinion “Roadside” Joe Waters could easily be the next Phil Wiggins.
#PhilWiggins #Tribute #ThreeHarps #HarmonicaBlues #BluesHarpBluesByTwo #Joe Waters #MadDogFriedman #JoshElioseff
https://www.facebook.com/coloradocountryblues/videos/1023431459146221/
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OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
If you are thinking of committing suicide, please think of how much it will hurt your family and friends, and maybe cause them a whole lot of trouble and financial problems. Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.
If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com
May 2024
22: Charlie Colin, 58, American bassist and guitarist (Train, The Side Deal), fall; Toni Montano, 62, Serbian rock musician.
21: Jan A. P. Kaczmarek, 71, Polish film composer (Finding Neverland, Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, The Visitor), Oscar winner (2005), complications from multiple system atrophy.
19: Peggi Blu, 77, American singer and vocal coach: Franchino, 71, Italian disc jockey, complications from a heart attack.
18: Palle Danielsson, 77, Swedish jazz double bassist; Frank Ifield, 86, Australian singer (“I Remember You”, “Lovesick Blues”, “The Wayward Wind”); John Koerner, 85, American songwriter and guitarist (Koerner, Ray & Glover), bile duct cancer; Jon Wysocki, 53, American rock drummer (Staind).
17: Roberta Marrero, 52, Spanish artist, singer and actress, suicide; Missinho, 64, Brazilian singer (Chiclete com Banana), multiple organ failure.
15: John Hawken, 84, English keyboardist (The Nashville Teens, Renaissance, Strawbs), melanoma; Ahmed Piro, 92, Moroccan singer.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2024
Photo: Phil Wiggins | From Smithsonian Folklife’s Facebook page | Photos by Sonya Pencheva, Daphne Shuttleworth, and Ginevra Portlock, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives