MARK HUMMEL'S ALL STARS BLUES W/ ANSON FUNDERBURGH & JUNIOR WATSON

MARK HUMMEL was born in New Haven, CT but moved to Los Angeles as a newborn. Hummel took up an interest in blues harp & rock-blues music in high school but soon discovered the originators like Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson & Little Walter. Soon after, Hummel frequented the Ash Grove club on Melrose Ave. in LA where he saw (in a three-month period) three blues legends he would later work with on a regular basis; Charlie Musselwhite, Brownie McGhee (w/Sonny Terry) & James Cotton. By 1985 Mark Hummel's Blues Survivors hit the road full time & continue till the present (Hummel's memoir, "Big Road Blues: 12 Bars on I-80" recounts many road exploits). Hummel's been featured on over thirty recordings since 1985 including his 2014 Blind Pig Records, Remembering Little Walter (a recording of a Hummel Blues Harp Blowout.) The CD was nominated for a Grammy Award and won two Blues Music Awards.

Hummel's most recent release, True Believer is one of his most successful yet, receiving rave reviews and spending months in the top five spots on Living Blues Charts and is in rotation on Sirius XM currently.

"Hummel, a specialist in West Coast Blues, knows a thing or two about how to please an audience" 
- New Yorker

"Hummel plays the harmonica with the fat, full sound that made Little Walter sound almost like a saxophonist rather than a harp man". 
-Chicago Sun-Times

“Mark Hummel is a Harmonica Virtuoso. He is one of a handful of the Best Players ever on the Instrument”.
– Blues Revue Magazine

"Harmonica ace Mark Hummel has always surrounded himself with top notch talent. 
Hummel certainly spends time on center stage with both his vocals and harmonica, most prominently on the instrumental "Walking with Mr. Lee".   Top notch from start to finish, skip this one at your peril." 
- Mark Smith/Music Revue

Genius Guitarist Junior Watson is one of the most revered Blues players for three decades, both in US and abroad. He’s heavily influenced national guitarists Rick Holmstrom (Mavis Staples), Kirk Fletcher (Joe Bonamassa), Alex Shultz (Mighty Flyers) and many more. Watson has played over 200 sessions. Junior has stints and recordings with Canned Heat (10 yrs), Rod Piazza & Mighty Flyers (10 yrs), Kim Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, Jimmy Rogers, William Clarke & Mark Hummel.

Funderburgh undeniably remains best known in the blues field for his extraordinarily concise lead guitar attack.  In addition to anchoring his latest iteration of The Rockets, he’s been touring since 2010 with Bay Area-based harmonica player Mark Hummel as a prime factor in the Golden State-Lone Star Revue.  Anson played for 20 years with the great Sam Myers touring the world and recording seven award wining albums for Black Top and Rounder Records.

Funderburgh’s unmistakable style, tone and sensibility has made him one of contemporary blues music’s most important guitar players.  Once a clean-cut up-and-comer on the national blues scene who’s crisp, biting guitar licks belied his soft-spoken manner, Anson has developed into a legacy artist and his influence on countless guitarists is immeasurable. 

Drummer Wes Starr has impeccable credentials: Asleep At The Wheel, Delbert McClinton, Marcia Ball, Omar & The Howlers, Anson Funderburgh & the Rockets, Hal Katcham, Jimmy Vaughn, Willie Nelson, Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

Upright bassist Kedar Roy from Kim Wilson, Rusty Zinn, Earl Thomas & Watson is the best West Coast upright guy in blues today!