Larry Adler plays Summertime in three arrangements

[jagjitisher]

really a great magician with the splendour & flavour of his harmonica music to spellbound the music lovers taking in an aura of mailstrom. a great nostalgia.

[RitmoNo1]

God the harmonica can evoke such emotions when in the hands of a master.

[SvendBosanvovski]

@RitmoNo1 I saw the octogenarian Larry live when he came to Sydney in the mid-nineties, and in the course of his show he explained that his technique was to produce the quality of fine singing. I suppose, if we extend that analogy, the reeds would be the vibrating larynx and the cupped hands the lips. The human voice is able to connect us with the well of human emotion better than any instrument- the harmonica, in the hands of a virtuoso like Larry, is a close second.

[enmoreira]

Lindo demais. Its a dream hearing a song like this with such performance.

[curleyteeth]

What you have to know is that some things just come naturally to certain humanbeings.I picked up a harmonica back in the early 70s and could play a tune on it within 10 mins.I know with the right dedication to the instrument, I could have made it as a harmonica player to some degree but to reach the stage that Larry Adler got to is not possible for mere mortals to imagine.

[sunaJH]

Oh wow

I am amazed, so glad I discovered this great  talent

sunaj

[mkworkman]

3:44 YouTube video: Three performances of Summertime by Larry Adler - orchestral, solo with piano and a great performance with Itzhak Perlman - excellently edited together. Larry was a consumate musician and entertainer. These performances were from the 1980s when Larry was in his 70s.

February 10, 1914: birth of Larry Adler, American... harmonica player (d. 2001)

[Mundharp]

Larry Adler was a great musician, and a very nice person. He also liked Afgan Hounds!

In my opinion, his chromatic harmonica tone was simply the sweetest ever.

John "Whiteboy" Walden

[frisky5454]

harmonica pierre is good too

[alexsocc]

he's great but i prefer harmonica pierre

[tootall2000]

classic

[TheRich1948]

My dad went to school with Larry Adler. He would go to see him everytime Larry played in Baltimore. My Dad would always ask me to go down to see him and meet him back stage. I was always too busy to take him up on it. Need I say more.

[gwtucker62]

Larry was an extraordinary musician and a great friend - he proves that a musician is defined from within, rather than the instrument played. In this case, we are fortunate that his was the mouth organ which he so successfully introduced in the world's greatest concert halls.

Miss you Larry - GW Tucker

[BenMcCormack91]

Should've known it was possible to be a good harmonica player. Hell, I play piano - the instrument that you can learn all the basics of in a day, and still not have mastered after fifteen years of playing - so I should know that even the simplest instrument can have virtuosos who really stand out.

I used to think the harmonica was just a stupid instrument. Then I heard this guy. And... need I say?

Set a genuinely intelligent musician loose on any instrument and it'll be good.

[SvendBosanvovski]

NIcely put Ben.  The chromatic harmonica has a simple construction, which enables just about anyone to play. But that could be said about the human voice. Anyone can utter a sound through their larynx, but there was only one Jussi Bjorling and only one Joan Sutherland. And why is it that there have been millions of mouth organs in circulation and only one Larry Adler? It takes a combination of natural gifts and a lifetime of perserverence to get this good at anything.

[al1970able]

Larry is sublime ..he always will be! Awesome Larry!! Always!!!

[sorim1967]

What is not appreciated is that Larry was one of the greatest melody writers of the century - but he just did not bother to produce songs. He could literally come up a good tune a day, and he often would. Sometimes, rarely, these tunes became recorded and published music but an external influence to provide discipline was required - e.g. a movie like genevieve. Most of his composition (which was much more structureed than mere improvisation) has been lost to posterity.

A unique genius.

[jakisnot]

thats kinda sad that a miniscule amount of people heard the majority of his work

[Ekdog]

What a great artist! Too bad the right wingers went after him back in 50's and had him blacklisted. Beware the hateful Republican party!

[MrEpeeJoe]

@Ekdog DO NOT BRING POLITICS to harmonica!!!!!!!!!!!

Harmonica is the only thing that politics has not changed so dont kill it

[pilotpa28]

Just Brilliant, My Uncle (Stan Kaye) played but no so much classical, You were truly a brilliant musician!

[SvendBosanvovski]

Larry elevated the harmonica's status from that of a novelty instrument to a symphonic instrument. Great contmeporary composers wrote pieces specifically for him, because they recognised his virtuosity. He stands, with Toots Thielmanns, the great Belgian, as the two peaks upon which the legacy of this instruments rests. This perfromance of the great Gershwin classic will never be surpassed, becuase it is as perfect as the instrument can be made to sound.

[camilo862]

@SvendBosanvovski I would add to that list the gerat Argentinian player Hugo Díaz. In our days, Antonio Serrano and Franco Luciano are amongst the top of great Chromatic Harmonica players.

[SvendBosanvovski]

@camilo862 Yes. Hugo is a remarkable artist. We could extend the list exponentially. Roberto Bonfiglio is an amazing technician, obviously influenced by Larry commitment to the primacy of technique and Brendan Power has adapted the chromatic instrument to the rich vein of celtic music with its fast melodic lines and rich embellishments.

[TheHelen61]

Larry, You are sadly missed.

An American British Man.

[engineer171]

Awesome sound, he was the ultimate player of the chromatic harmonica. You feel the mood of his music, can only be the techniques he adopted and probably perfected. Always will be the numero uno!

[japphan]

Best tone in harmonica history; he has such an understanding in the subtleties of tonal dynamics, making the harmonica sound in so many ways, but always as Larry Adler.

[GlenDoll]

This is great artistry combined with great mastery of the harmonica. A rare thing on any instrument!

[paulhallart]

nothin' like the humble harmonica...

[darkdave25]

How on Earth did he manage to play harmonica AND piano at the same time??? I struggle to play the hrarmonica on its own!

Genius!

[johnedunk]

I saw Larry in concert when he was about 87. He began with this and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I thought - how can you follow that? But he surely did!

[steerpike465]

The last third of this is from The Parkinson Show in the UK in the 70's. It was a magical moment when classical fused with popular that I have never forgotten.

[malarbusto]

I watched the Parky clip at the time too. A one-off moment over 30 yrs ago with me ever since. I'm here now because I was actually looking for it and, wow, wow. Late 70s family crowded around the box and all struck dumb. Thanks x 1,000. Anyone got more of that Parkie interview with Perlman? Especially the bit where he shows how violin magically joins orchestra in Beethoven's Violin Concierto. Remember? Pure magic. Thanks arty Rob!!

[bouncysmile]

schweet

[kevinharps]

wow!

[henrykkingdom]

great master

[ElizabethGS]

I hadn't yet seen Larry Adler play Live..was looking for Summertime videos and stumbled across this one. Wow, wow, wow...brilliant, gorgeous, stunning...then Itzhak Perlman's violin together with Adler's chromatic - sheer bliss. I love Izhak's little vocal sound of appreciation at Adler's 'wah-wah' harmonica at the end. Fabulous. Thanks SO much for this.

[doodah111]

It was Parkinson's little vocal sound, not Perlman

[chriskardos]

it's just so beautiful!

[cyberdude61]

It gets worse. Larry Adler was Jewish.

as a Brit from across the pond, sounds like you shot yourself in the foot.

[chriskardos]

screw you, damn racist. you're a horrible excuse for a human being.

[cyberdude61]

Can you spell ? I guess not. Racist? Me?

Call me a racist to my face. No ? Coward.

No my friend. Larry Adler was jewish and was targeted for it. To my eternal shame I just watched the Americans destroy him.

I was 5 years old .

What is your excuse ?

[marleyman0]

y wot did americans do?im British btw lol

[cyberdude61]

I was agreeing with, and adding to, OpaLocka90's comment.

Read the two together, OpaLocka90's first.

[cyberdude61]

My Canadien grandad played this.

[cyberdude61]

Go ahead. Flame me. Larry Adler is my Hero. He's Jewish. And I,m English. Go ahead.

Ooops. Guess you are Racist ;-)

[OpaLocka90]

What this country did to Larry Adler is beneath contempt. Like so many others in Richard Milhouse Nixon little foray, the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) ruined the lives of so many great artists.

[shararararararara]

I hate it when they put the artist talking over the start of the music.

[keepthemusicplaying0]

Wonderful osmosis, beautiful video, thanks :-)

[jasonricci]

Wow two of my faves together!!! Thankyou!!!