Published in the December 6 – 19, 2017 issue of Morgan Hill Life

Kim Wilson

The blues will come alive in South County with a major show coming to Morgan Hill at GVA Café  Friday, Dec. 8. The Kim Wilson Blues All-stars featuring Kim Wilson (harmonica master extraordinaire, singer-songwriter and band leader of The Fabulous Thunderbirds) will stop by to headline this major blues show.

This is the third show produced and presented by Aki Kumar one of the leading harmonica players in the style of Chicago Blues and West Coast Blues. San Jose’s blues harmonica ace, Aki Kumar, once again will be delivering a World Class blues concert to the heart of Morgan Hill.

The show features the incredible talents of Billy Flynn, Big Jon Atkinson, Troy Sandow and Marty Dodson. Widely hailed as one of the greatest modern-day blues harmonica players, Kim Wilson will be making his debut at the GVA Cafe as he celebrates the launch of his latest, critically acclaimed album — “Blues & Boogie.”

Adding to the excitement, San Diego-based blues heavy-hitters Chris James (guitar and vocals) and Patrick Rynn (bass guitar) will open the evening with their own brand of deep-rooted Chicago blues.

Tickets are $15, and once the word spreads they will most certainly be hard to come by. Get yours now by calling GVA Café at (408) 776-0571.

Aki Kumar will host the show and most certainly add a few licks and harp tricks to the mix. You can find out more about him and get his full performance by visiting www.akikumar.com.

But that’s not all, folks. This coming February there will be an all-day blues harmonica workshop at the GVA Café featuring two of the strongest harmonica teachers (and talents) Ronnie Shellist and Adam Gussow.

Five years ago, in Nov. 2012, Ronnie and Adam brought their newly-minted partnership to San Jose. They haven’t returned to the West Coast since 2013 but will be back Sunday, Feb. 4, when they’ll offer an all-day blues harmonica workshop followed by an evening concert featuring the fabulous Aki Kumar and his band, plus the two of them.

To date, Adam Gussow and Ronnie Shellist have co-hosted five harmonica workshops. These events are quickly growing in popularity across the country.

The format is such that not only do you get to hear Ronnie and Adam teach their own segment, but also co-teach for a portion of the event. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers.

You’ll have the opportunity to play and receive individual/direct feedback from both Ronnie and Adam, to help get you to the next step in your playing. Adam will be teaching a new session entitled “Working up and down through the blues scale, a study in two grooves,” which takes its cue from Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Checkin’ Up On My Baby.”

Ronnie’s session is entitled “Blending groove and melody in your playing.” And there’s more including a guided jam with instant point-by-point feedback in your playing. If you ever had any aspirations to learn the harmonica and find out how the professionals do it, join this workshop and the evening concert at 7 p.m. You can get all this for the price of a one-hour lesson. For more information go to www.harmonica123.com.

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On another note, with Christmas getting closer, a fantastic gift idea for your kids is not a skateboard, Legos, or a shiny new bike … but consider a shiny new harmonica! It’s portable, inexpensive and anyone can get a sound out of it. Who knows where it may take them, speaking from experience of course!

Got a music tip? Email [email protected].