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The best kept secret in music
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Jeff Stone is one of the great harmonica stylists of our time. All the necessary steps of paying dues, studying the masters and never-ending practice have been carefully traversed, then each has been meticulously incorporated into the matrix of Jeff's playing. How many harp players have you heard that could make a harp sound like a piano? Or an Accordion? Or Bagpipes? And do it ON DEMAND? There is a convergence of skill, knowledge, talent and heart that puts Jeff more than "Just a Cut Above" most of the rest of the harp-blowin' masses...
Melvin Eddy, President
Gary Wagner, Vice President and Event Coordinator
The Southern California Blues Society
Melvin Eddy and Gary Wagner - Southern California Blues Society (Feb 2, 2004) - None
BATTLE OF THE BLUES HARPS XVI November 24. 2004 Golden West Hotel- Crystal Ballroom, Long Beach. CA
Zac Harmon and the Mid South Blues Revue started the music with an extended harp introduction by the talented Jeff Stone who was wearing his trademark bandolier of harps across his chest. The song was "Alberta" and Jeff seemed to be summoning her from the depths of Mississippi with his hard wailin' harp as Zac went stratospheric on his lead guitar. With Jeff Stone front and center, Zac anointed him with some "High John the Conqueror root oil" and then took the music down to Jackson, Mississippi: Zac's home. They segued right into "You Got Me Runnin" and Zac explained to the audience, who were now on their feet dancing, how the train, 'The Panama Limited,' would take folks from New Orleans to Detroit. Jeff Stone's harp became that train but he took it past Detroit all the way into Canada with his exuberance! Their final number had Zac summoning Junior Wells' harp style with Jeff as a conduit. It was a stellar performance and a tough act to fol1ow. No wonder they won the International Blues Challenge in Memphis this year!
Pete Sardon
Southland Blues
11/24/2004
Pete Sardon - Southland Blues Magazine (Nov 24, 2004) - Southland Blues
...The MidSouth Blues Revue includes the spectacular talents of Jeff Stone on harmonica...
Zac Harmon & The Mid South Blues Revue
Saturday, 9/17, 9:30 pm at
Moe's Alley
http://www.moesalley.com
1535 Commercial Way
Santa Cruz, CA
831-479-1854
mojotalent - Bluesradio.com (Sep 7, 2005 - mojotalent - Bluesradio.com
Discography
Stone's recording credentials are:
The Blues According to Zacariah (2006 Blues Music Award (W.C.Handy) for Best New Artist Debut
Zac Harmon
Live at Babe's & Ricky's Inn
Zac Harmon
Without Further Adieu...
Paul Byrd
Signatures of Legends
J.J. "Bad Boy'" Jones
Photos
Bio
Jeff Stone's love for the blues, flows throughout his music, whether playing behind, with or in front of some of the great singers and musicians in blues today. Stone is currently touring with Zac Harmon and the MidSouth Blues Revue. This band has accomplished an impressive run since their formation back in 2003:
2004 Winner, International Blues Challenge, Best Unsigned Band
2005 XM Radio Best New Blues Artist (Zac Harmon)
2006 Winner, 2006 Blues Music Awards (W.C. Handy Awards) Best New Artist Debut
In 2003, Stone co-founded BlueStone Records, a label devoted the the blues. The current project , The Blues According to Zacariah," features the 2004 International Blues Challenge Winner, Zac Harmon. The association with Harmon is one Stone earmarks as a turning point in his career. "Playing with Zac has given me the opportunity to expand on my traditional base as well as reaching out to as many listeners as possible. Zac is a tremendous talent, who plays with the same spirit and heart as I do."
True to his Chicago roots, Stone is a bluesman, in a traditional sense. Though playing jazz, soul, R&B, funk and gospel has broadened his range, and allowed him to truly express what he hears and feels, it is through the blues that Stone expresses most truly. 'Cutting teeth,' as it is said, by playing with mentor Charlie Love (and the Silky Smooth Band,) in Chicago, as well as the years at Babe's and Ricky's Inn, in Los Angeles, under the watchful eye of 'Mama' Laura Mae Gross, Stone has developed a style that Lowell Fulson once called, 'unique...all his own,' and the legendary Sam Meyers described as ‘... one BAAD harmonica player!’
Winning the 2004 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, TN as part of Zac Harmon & the Mid South Blues Revue, is a gratifying, humbling and proud achievement. "The true blues authenticity of what we have built as the sound of Zac Harmon's blues, is what we strive to achieve. As Little Walter was to Muddy Waters, and as Junior Wells was to Buddy Guy...this is how I approach the sound that is Jeff Stone to Zac Harmon,' Stone describes the Mid South Blues Revue's nature. 'This achievement (the IBC award,) allows us to share what we do with a much wider audience than where we come from.
Born and raised on Chicago's South-Side, Stone grew up listening to the fathers of 'America's music.' Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Little Walter Jacobs, Otis Rush, Luther Allison, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Magic Sam, were the majority of the blues education that Stone subscribed to. Rounding that out with a heavy jazz influence of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, Kenny Burrell and others, gave Stone the improvisational background that permeates throughout his playing. The 1970's and 80's found Stone discovering soul, funk and R&B, all genres that have stayed with him throughout his playing career.
Interests include a recording label under the name BlueStone Records, a publisher of four books of poetry and short stories, and two musical calendars, featuring blues artists of the Los Angeles area.
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