The Undaunted Professor Harp

CD REVIEW!

THE UNDAUNTED PROFESSOR HARP They Call Me THE PROFESSOR

By Jim DeKoster, August 2011

The Undaunted Professor Harp - (No#)

Boston's Hugh Holmes was a Gene Krupa-inspired drummer until 1969, when an encounter with George Smith left him so enamored of the harmonica that he sat In with Muddy Waters in the mid-70s and assumed his current stage name from nicknames bestowed on him by Waters and Solomon Burke. Now, after some 35 years of gigging around Boston and the northeast, he finally has a debut recording to offer.

The Smith influence is immediately apparent in Holmes' huge sound, which gets its fullest expression on the closing instrumental tribute to his mentor, Eine Fur Herr Schmidt, on which it sounds like he's running the sound from his chromatic harp through a Leslie rotating speaker for added effect For the most part, however, the program stays uptempo, as on the opening title track, the Little Walter-influenced romp Texago at Doyle's and a take on Sugaree that owes more to the Hank Ballard version than to composer Marty Robbins' original, and there are tastes of jump blues on What You Do to Me, jazz on It Just Comes Natural, rock 'n' roll on Wild Weekend, and Texas/Louisiana blues on Sly Black Fox. Fightin' the Battle is an atmospheric but pointed lament on racial struggles penned by guitarist Tom Ferraro, while Bob Margolin's slashing slide guitar licks recall Waters on Holmes' own My Life: An Exercise in Blue, Other familiar names among the bandsmen include baritone saxophonist Doug James, bassist Marty Ballou and drummer Mark Teixeira (the Duke Robillard sideman, not the Yankee first baseman).

Throughout, the Undaunted Professor Harp proves himself to be a self-assured, powerful singer and player, You can mark this one down as a debut recording that deserves a sequel.

—Jim DeKoster
Courtesty: www.livingblues.com

CD REVIEW!

Bill Copeland Music News

Professor Harp bares his soul on debut CD They Call Me The Professor

By Bill Copeland on June 11, 2011

Professor Harp’s debut CD introduces the veteran Boston singer-harmonica player with its cool title, They Call Me The Professor. And “professor” is a title Hugh Holmes has earned. Muddy Waters, during a Boston gig, called Holmes “the professional of the harp” and Solomon Burke, when he too was in town, called Holmes Professor Harmonica. With those accolades from those legends, it made sense for Holmes to combine his monikers into one easy to remember nickname.

Of course, Holmes has been displaying his musical credentials in the greater-Boston area for several decades. He has made himself a popular staple in the local blues scene, well-respected by critics and fans, feared by some music business types who made the mistake of trying to do him wrong.

The most striking song on They Call Me The Professor is “Fightin’ The Battle,” a tune written by Holme’s guitarist Tom Ferraro but inspired by the professor’s life story. Not only does the song reflect Holme’s frustrated rage with the racial injustice he has obviously suffered, it expands thematically into an expression of the tortured soul of black America.

“Fightin’ The Battle” waltzes majestically in like a bucketful of soul and blues carried by icy cool piano melody, a determined rhythm section, and heavy drops of nimbly picked guitar notes. Holme’s electric harp here can match the powerful timbre of a B3 and his voice, heavy with emotion, carries a lifetime of scars within its richness. The song, at once beautiful and harsh, reaches the level of poetry in its direct language and frank scenarios of racial discrimination. No wonder the professor has so much fire in his belly.

Opening title track “They Call Me The Professor” is another Ferraro-penned original that captures the ideas and voice of Holmes. This track is chockfull of Professor Harp’s rich low tenor as well as his huge aural melodic structure on harmonica. It is just the way his heavy harp melody cruises over the bopping rhythm section that makes you go, “cool.”

A Holmes instrumental original “Texago At Doyle’s” will be familiar to longtime fans of the professor’s live shows. It’s got a fun, danceable, driving beat that keeps it moving in solid momentum. The professor blows a storm of notes all the way through, like he has something he wants to get off his chest, and he expresses it with huge, heavy gusts of chords.

“Sugaree,” contributed by Marty Robbins, is structured around nifty stop-start rhythms, and that motion keeps the guitar rocking, its lightning strikes of blistering notes setting the bridge aflame. Drums and bass play almost faster than the feet can dance to it, and Harp comes in with his hefty drawling vocal then his speedy, three-dimensional hurricane of notes. You feel like you’re caught in the perfect storm of blues instrumentation. Not for the faint of heart.

Holmes chills a little on Del Gordon’s tune “What You Do To Me.” This mid-tempo oldies rocker allows the professor to showcase his beautifully rich vocal abilities. His timbre is so full of emotion in its big, round roughness. Just close your eyes when you’re listening to this one, and you’ll hear shades of all the wonderful voices of yesteryear, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and more blues singers than you can possibly imagine in one sitting. The professor’s influences are quite clear. Yet, you also hear the distinctly personal touch of Holmes. His personality far too strong to settle for copycatting, he forges something heavy, new , and muscular with his amicable vocal vibe.

“Wild Weekend” can best be described as early 1960s surf-rock ala harmonica. With the harp subbing for Farfisa organ, popular in the day of Jan And Dean, the professor shows his musically lighter side. I’m not sure if Holmes was ever a surfer, but he certainly has a handle on the music associated. This one just rocks right out with an early 1960s vibe that conjures images of teenagers jumping out of their convertibles and racing to the water, board in hand.

Holmes shows a lot of vocal character in his co-written piece “Sly Black Fox.” The professor sings this one in a voice from the low register, and it is spiked with a toughness you don’t always hear in roots music. Don’t get wrong. The soul and the magic is certainly part of the blend. But the professor really rips it up with emotive vocal sustains in this particular approach. His harmonica playing here has a melodic fullness usually associated with baritone sax. He just makes those notes groove around at a pace he defines within the attitude of the story he is singing.

Holmes wrote his life story song called “My Life: An Exercise In Blue.” Here, the professor sings about his own long life by enriching it with a comparative to young men killed in overseas war, dead before they got a chance to build themselves up into something special. The harp is low and grooving here. It is chromatic, slow blues, and the professor grinds it out with the hip attitude and cool precision of a lead guitar player in an R&B band. Thick, zesty harmonica notes swirl around like joyful madness and keep the ears glued to every note within their multi-faceted textures.

“It Just Comes Natural” pops into our attention when Tom Ferraro’s lead guitar notes spike in and out of Keith Munslow’s loungey piano stride. From this melodic structure comes Holmes’s wonderfully smooth tenor voice. The professor is all class here, increasing the warmth of the chorus with each line. This is pure rock and roll in a solid 1950s vein.

Holmes closes out his CD with an ode to his idol, the late George Harmonica Smith, which is fitting, naturally, as Holmes is big enough to point out his debt to the key players who came before him. Respect is something hard to earn from someone as tough-minded as Holmes. Yet, here he is, undaunted, showing his appreciation for an earlier legend, giving it his all on his electric, layers of chromatic notes rising up and cascading, tasty dollops of colors and tones moving around like brush strokes creating a masterpiece.

There is much on They Call Me The Professor for any blues, rock and roll, and roots fans to sink their teeth into. Professor Harp is clearly a complex man and a complex musician, and he shows his many different musical and personal shadings on this debut CD.

Courtesty: www.billcopelandmusicnews.com

Hugh Holmes, The Undaunted Professor Harp

Professor Harp Biography

Although born and raised as Hugh Holmes of Boston, Mass., the emanations from his harmonica and vocals make it clear that Professor Harp has the blues of Texas and the whole wide Delta coursing through his veins.

The Professor was a rock 'n' roll drummer until '69, when the Boston blues revival and a sterling performance he caught of blues harmonica great George Allen 'Harmonica' Smith, combined to lure him away from drums and into a full court press on the blues harp. "Undaunted!" he brags, by the vicissitudes of his life as blues man, front man, every kind of man, Professor Harp puts forth his commanding presence and exceptional talent, night after night.

Primarily playing a sparse, yet full-sounding brand of no-nonsense, no-frills Texas style blues, Professor Harp specializes in what he calls, 'roots music'. "It's whatever makes me feel good and moves me, so to speak." Indeed it has evolved while continuing to move audiences for decades.

Under the influence of many diverse blues greats, Professor Harp has developed a robust playing style. He often utilizes the Leslie rotating-speaker sound system to give his harp a Hammond organ timbre, while he alternately and simultaneously employs the standard or traditional 'electrified' blues harp. The Professor tops this off by singing the blues with an infectious fervor, supported at his strictest insistence by only top-flight musicians on guitar, bass, and drums.

Professor Harp performed with various bands throughout the Northeast including legends Solomon Burke and Luther 'Guitar Jr.' Johnson and played live on NBC's Today Show. Among the legions of hot performances at rocking blues clubs, the memories that often stand out for The Professor are the nights his harp helped to swell the room, in a spontaneous jam with his old mentor, the inimitable bluesman Muddy Waters.

Muddy Waters and Professor Harp

It was the spring of '75 when a friend first introduced Hugh to Muddy Waters. Following his friend backstage at Boston's Paul's Mall, he found Muddy immersed in a game of Casino with bassist Calvin Jones. Muddy was unresponsive when it was suggested that Hughie Holmes should sit in on a few numbers. Holmes and his friend backed off.

Yet, halfway through his show Muddy stopped and asked where that harp player was. The Professor was ready. Overcoming the sudden burning in his ears, Harp climbed on stage and miraculously grabbed exactly the right harmonica from his disorganized bag of harps. As usual he took the time to grease it up with Vaseline, and still jumped in without slowing down the show for a moment. From that day on Harp had a standing invitation to join in whenever Muddy took the stage.

Harp says every show with Muddy was a learning experience and he cites Muddy as his greatest teacher. Muddy, in turn, called Hugh the professional of the Harp. Solomon Burke called him Professor Harmonica Holmes. After two greats anointed him with sobriquets, Hugh Holmes decided it was time to split the difference and became Professor Harp.

Readers of The Blues Audience are well aware that there is a seemingly end-less supply of musical talent bordering on legend in the New England area. As Jerry Portnoy once remarked "It must be something in the water." Just when you think you've seen it all, a new guitarist or new band comes along or you may encounter a band, that's been around for a long time, that you just have not seen before. To avoid being musically ignorant and negligent it is important to seek out as many bands as possible.

For those few who have not experienced Professor Harp, a brief description is in order. The Professor is in a word a powerhouse. His singing and harmonica playing are unique while being deeply rooted with earlier Blues masters such as Muddy Waters, Little Walter, George Smith et al. As the old adage goes "All great artists are profoundly influenced by great artists." That's just the way it is.

Do you ever get a hankering for Jimmy Reed style blues with the thick, tonal harp that will make the hair stand up on your head and your face all tight? Professor Harp is your man. AtMulligan's, Professor Harp and his excel-lent band consisting of just bass, drums and guitar intermixed authentic blues with sweet, original soul and gulf coast rock. In addition, the Professor has developed a completely unique tone on the harp (I don't know how he does it) where the harp sounds just like an organ- a true mouth organ.

If you haven't seen Professor Harp in a while you owe it to yourself to get out and catch up with what you have been missing.

Hugh Holmes likes to use the phrase “take it slow.” But he hardly does that during his shows. Holmes, whom most blues fans know as “The Undaunted Professor Harp,” has been playing the New England and beyond area for 35 or so years. On Valentine’s Day, when one indeed likes to “take it slow” the professor and his fantastic band took over the new Smoken’ Joe’s BBQ on Washington Street in Brighton center (a wonderful addition to Brighton) for a tremendous show. There wasn’t even a cover charge – the professor passed the hat.

Putting out two sets of a great selection of classic Chicago blues, including Slim Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It,” a little Jimmy Reed, and the funky “Chicken Heads,” - along with some R&B and roots - Holmes blew the mostly youngish crowd away.

This particular band - he has used various musicians throughout the years - is made up of Tom Williams, who absolutely smoked on guitar, especially during Willy Dixon’s “Let Me Love You Baby,” which is always a crowd pleaser. (Williams powered it like Buddy Guy himself.) Keeping great time on bass was Bruce “Dr. Feelgood” Thomas, (don’t know how he got the moniker, but he was funny in the men’s room line. That’s right, the men’s room. It seems the woman’s room was not functioning that night…)

Holmes said in an interview a few weeks after the show that his unique repertoire, which sometimes sounds like Texas blues, is purely derived from roots music, but it can include rock n’ roll, or rhythm and blues.

“As long as it’s in the roots vein, I’m happy,” Holmes said. But it’s the stage presence and talent of The Professor, who, at 57, made the shift early on - in 1969 - from a drummer in a rock band to harp player extraordinaire.

With a deep singing style full of shouts, whoops, and other wild sounds, his vocals, which I’m happy to report are on key, sound a bit like Muddy Waters, who, in fact is partly responsible for the “professor” moniker, although it was a malapropism.

Holmes met Muddy back in the 70s, and got to sit in. Muddy called him up to the stage as “the professional of the harp.” Later, Solomon Burke gave him the name “Professor Harmonica Holmes.” OK, it works for me.

Holmes said he occasionally used a chromatic harp, but he seemed to be switching back and forth with little notice from chromatic to regular at Smoken’ Joes, which by the way, serves excellent barbecue and Cajun specialties such as crawfish etoufee and andouille sausages. They have a license for beer and wine only. Born and raised around Boston, Holmes moved from rock 'n' roll to blues during the Boston blues revival in the late 1960s. A super performance by blues harmonica great George “Harmonica” Smith, helped lure him away from drums and into blues harp.

“Without him, there would be no Kim Wilson, Rod Piazza, or William Clark,” Holmes said of Smith.

Holmes initially played drums after viewing a film about the great Gene Krupa, but he was given an introduction to music from his father, who, he said, dabbled in saxophone.

Other harp influences include Little Walter and Big Walter Horton. Singing, he said, is part of the deal for harp players.

The “undaunted” adjective comes from Holmes’ refusal to compromise. While he told me how distressing it is to see fewer and fewer people our age in clubs, how hard it is to get good gigs, and the flat music scene in general, he undauntedly carries on.

With a commanding presence, Professor Harp puts phenomenal shows on week after week, and he has been doing this for decades.

Holmes has performed with some well-known bands throughout the Northeast including Burke, Luther “Guitar Jr.” Johnson, and Pete Best (the “fifth Beatle.”) Holmes also played live on NBC's Today Show.

“I want keep playing anywhere and everywhere,” he said. “I care about this music.”