James Cotton plays the SAMPLER

The wait seems almost unbearable. The band comes out and you feel the tingling sensation of every body hair starting to stand up in anticipation of seeing and hearing the most powerful harmonica player of our time, James Cotton. The band is out on stage. They play a little bit, but really all you can do is sit there and try to imagine what it will be like when Cotton takes the stage.

To your immediate right, he is escorted past you, to the stage. He is sitting up at the right, waiting to be introduced. When it happens, everyone in the room is standing, so for a minute, you can catch only glimpses. Then you hear it. You hear the harp that you, as a harp fanatic, player, and fan have come to know undoubtedly as Cotton! There is nothing like it.

Every player has a distinct sound and when Cotton rips into one of his riffs of more than 60 years in the making, you know you are in the right spot. The high-compression sound of the Superharp is unmistakable and to be right there is absolutely humbling. Fellow harp players know what I mean. If you don't feel the humility, stop playing for a while and take some time to listen to the blues as Cotton shares his life, good times and bad without any reservation.

 

 

Most harp enthusiasts have a similar idea at a show like this. We want to see what instrument is delivering such raw power.

 

Cotton's stage set is simple - a tray of SEYDEL 1847, most of them Silvers with a few Classics in between. That's it! That unassuming harp in the hands of a master is confessing the blues with all the tone, soul, and tradition you want to hear and feel.

 

Cotton is primarily a diatonic player, so, what did he do when a SEYDEL SAMPLER landed in his hands?

He picked it up and after a short explanation about the fact that it is indeed a diatonic harp with two keys and three octaves, he tore into it. He had that SAMPLER confessing the blues with the rich tone that you know to be SEYDEL. Stainless steel reeds and half-valving give it all the flexibility and durability you need.  

Cotton has it as part of his set and you can, too! >Pick up a SAMPLER and experience the innovation and tradition that makes SEYDEL the choice of the masters!

>Available in the SEYDEL eShop

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