Hugh Holmes calls himself the Undaunted Professor Harp. And not without good reason. Holmes is fearless enough to stretch his repertoire outside of the blues and he knows as much about blues and harmonica to write a Ph.D dissertation. Last Saturday night’s show at Smoken’ Joe’s Café in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood was no exception.Professor Harp chooses only the best locations to plays his music, and the small but full of character restaurant was a perfect vehicle to launch his rockets.Harp and his band opened with “Shake Dance” and the rhythm section of drummer Mike Labelle and bassist Bruce Thomas kept it tight underneath the Professor’s chockfull of thick, blues-drenched harmonica lines. He moved those notes around like nobody’s business. Whether cruising with the groove or sailing over it with a melodic phrase, Harp was in control, putting his personal oomph into each number.
He sang with his own inimitable style the jump number “I’m Trying” while guitarist Tom Williams was bouncing his guitar licks all over. Harp used his electric harmonica on it and the wired mouth organ had a full Wurlitzer swirl going on. Next up was Slim Harpo’s “Sam.” Harp and his boys went into a groove just shy of funk. A flow of harp notes blew over that groove and his band did him justice. The rhythm section kept it tight, lively, and in motion by putting their thumps in all of the right places. Speaking of right places, Harp would slithered into those tight spaces within the groove before stepping out with a sly melody line.
Harp jumped into some material outside of the blues but he kept it in the framework of 1950s radio. Chuck Berry style guitar riffs and rockabilly beats and a little bit of twang turned “Just Want To Get To Know You” into something that made you picture a young man driving around in his father’s DeSota.
On the mellow, down tempo blues numbers, “Black Night,” Harp brought the notes up from some place deep. His Wurlitzer sound again coming out of that little mouth organ. The rhythm section locked it down with a meaningful bop on this tale of mournful loss. Williams stabbed into it with incisive cool notes, digging into it with feeling by unleashing quick, quirky guitar spikes. Intense applause erupted for the guitar man.
Harp made his harmonica sound like a Hammond on Bobby Rush’s “Chicken Heads,” a blues tune with a danceable beat while the gee-tar did its thing on some subtle high notes, counterpoint to the mouth organ. People there were doing a funky dance in their chairs to the soulful, guitar riffs. Slim Harpo’s “King Bee” got a hefty dose of beat as the rhythm section treated this simple one to a dose of meaning, widening it up and adding in plenty of color and tone. Harp’s electric mouth organ getting an edge with a focus on the second and fourth accents in each meter.
Original tune “Every Day Every Night” featured some of Harp’s most killer harmonica playing of the evening, and, he kept the tune grooving’ and sunny even though his playing was at its most serious. Bo Diddley’s “Pretty Thing” gave the Professor a chance to strut some more wanky stuff, squeezing the juice out of his instrument, making it moan with organish sound.
Another Harp original “Texago At Doyales” found the band getting riffier and their sound matched the song title, swampy beats coming on strong. The second half of the show was even better. Professor Harp was actually outside the front door saying goodnight to some patrons while the other ¾ of his band started things up with an instrumental. The band, without the professor, were in top form, and it was cool to see what they had to offer. The magic continued when Harp came back in to join them for a lot of riffing on the Link Wray number “Rumble.”
“Just Come Natural” gave the good professor a chance to show off an original from his upcoming CD. The song was pure blues rooted in the 1950s period. The call and response chorus was well-written and catchy as hell, and Williams let loose a hot, brittle lead guitar solo here. “Just Come Natural” will probably be a hit on blues radio. The Professor wailed the tar out of Ray Charles’ “What I Say,” using, of course, his electric harmonica to keep the song sounding busy, layering all of those golden notes over the beat. His band was slamming it home behind him. They jammed on this classic nugget, making it fun for the crowd and much longer than what would’ve made it onto radio back in the day.
Harp and his boys went through more classics as the evening went on. Little Walter’s “Oh, Baby,” Al Green’s “Take Me To The River,” and Elvis Presley Vegas staple “Polk Salad Annie” got the Professor Harp treatment. The Professor is also quite a crooner and his voice sizzled on Magic Sam’s “I Have The Same Old Blues,” making you appreciate what he brings to song even more.
Harp closed out with what he calls his “Wilson Pickett” trilogy, a medley of “Engine Number Nine,” “Hey, Hey, Hey,” and “Three Time Loser,” all sung and harped in the Professor’s inimitable style, soulful voice, heavy groove, and a lot of pretty, bluesy melodies.
Professor Harp knows how to get away with showing off and he knows how to show his audience a good time. Both talents were in rare form last Saturday night.
www.professorharp.com
Much obliged, Bill–hope you enjoyed the “boat cruise”.