Tucson bluesman's latest project benefits LA wildfire victims

During those early days of the pandemic when clubs, bars and concert venues shuttered and musicians pivoted to virtual performances on YouTube or Zoom from their living rooms, Tom Walbank checked a biggie off his bucket list.

He reached out to some of the world’s best blues players — folks like Joe Filisko, a leading pre-World War II harp player; the harmonica virtuoso Phil Wiggins; and Tucson’s dynamic young phenom Roman Barten-Sherman — and invited them to be part of “Hootmatic Blues.” The 22-track recording, available as a digital download, was a way for these musicians to make some money at a time when they needed it most.

“At the time, it was up in the air whether we all had jobs or not,” Walbank said. “I got together a bunch of guitarists, harmonica players, piano players, and did an album of acoustic instrumental music.”

That project opened the door the following year to record “Low Blows for Ida,” to benefit victims of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana. The 47-song album included tracks from Charlie Musselwhite, Wiggins, Aki Kumar, Will Wilde, Steve Barker, Ol Shady Pete, Kim Wilson, Rick Estrin, Carlos del Junco, Terry “Harmonica” Bean and dozens of the world’s leading blues players.

“I did a lot of the heavy lifting with those albums. In other words, getting in touch with top musicians in the blues through the agencies, through their managers, through various ways,” Walbank explained. “There was 50 players on that album, and that raised some decent cash for Hurricane Ida.”

So when the wildfires engulfed Los Angeles in January, Walbank was back on the phone reaching out to some of those same people.

“I was just seeing it all unfold, and the usual feeling of helplessness came about. You know, I can’t give up my life to go and help people in Los Angeles, but what can I do?” he thought. “I’ve already got a bunch of people. I know how to do it.”

The result was “Harp Love for LA,” an ambitious compilation that includes contributions from some of the world’s finest harmonica bluesmen.

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“I got in touch with a lot of players from the last album and said, ‘Hey, you mind if I recycle your tracks and put it on this album?’” he said. “And I also got in touch with people who hadn’t been on the last album ... people from Moscow, Catalonia, Spain, Italy, France, and a lot of people from the States.”

The newcomers recorded themselves and sent the tracks to Walbank, who mastered the album.

“You’d think that it would get boring if you’ve got 41 tracks of harmonica music, but it’s absolutely staggering the variety and just the expertise involved in all of these tracks,” he said. “These are master players. And it was very exciting for me to get certain players on the same album. You know, a lot of the players on this album have been a huge inspiration to me when I was a young man and even now.”

“Harp Love” includes a track from English folk musician Rory McLeod, a legend on the English folk scene whose repertoire spans folk, blues and Mexican folk songs that McLeod picked up when he lived in Texas in the mid-1970s.

Shane Sager, who plays harmonica in Brit rocker Sting’s band, added two tracks, while Kumar, the India-born bluesman played Tucson’s House Rockin’ Blues Review, contributed “Uncloudy Day,” the same song he offered for “Low Blows for Ida.” The album also showcases some younger players, including Italian blues player Marco Pandolfi, Adam Sikora from Poland and Nic Clark from Denver.

Walbank said it was an easy sell getting his peers to participate.

“This country’s given them the whole life of the blues,” said the England-born bluesman, who has spent more than half his adult life in Tucson. “You know, people talk about jazz being America’s classical music. Don’t forget about the blues. It’s like, no blues, no rock and roll, no modern music scene. That’s where it all comes from. These are all blues players, harmonica players, from Germany, Italy, Moscow, but the the American blues scene and 100 years of blues recordings has given them the passion.”

Visit tomwalbank.bandcamp.com to listen.

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