Mississippi blues harp player James Cotton was certainly considered lucky for the break he got joining Muddy Waters’ band in the late 1950s, taking over a spot previously held by such venerated ...

Blues harmonica virtuoso and onetime Muddy Waters sideman James Cotton died on Thursday at a medical center in Austin of pneumonia. He was 81. A rep for the musician confirmed his death. Cotton, who ...

Willie "Big Eyes" Smith was a stalwart of the Chicago blues scene. A multi-award winning drummer, best known for his long tenure in Muddy Waters' band, he had more recently emerged as a bandleader in ...

Fat, brassy sounds fill Cafe Van Kleef in downtown Oakland as Mark Hummel blows a slow Muddy Waters blues into his amplified B-flat Hohner harmonica. An off-white Dobbs shantung Panama hat rests on ...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — James Cotton, a Grammy Award-winning blues harmonica master whose full-throated sound backed such blues legends as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Howlin’ Wolf, has died ...