Corktown Sounds

September 2nd, 2021 6-8pm

Michigan Ave & Harrison in front of Bobcat Bonnie’s

Harmonica Shah & Howard Glazer first began performing together in the late 1990’s, Harmonica
Shah had already earned himself recognition as a Detroit Blues Legend with his Hasting Street
Grease/ Blues Suit record releases. Howard Glazer had just returned from a 4-year stint in
Chicago where he honed his blues skills. Meeting at the now defunct Soup Kitchen, one of
Detroit’s home for the blues, they immediately recognized their common interest in raw,
unadulterated blues, Detroit style.
In 2000 they released their first CD together “Deep Detroit”, on Bluetrack Records in the UK.
The CD quickly drew international acclaim, garnering “Best Blues Album of the Year” from Blues
Alive Magazine and one of the best blues releases of 2000 by Paul Jones Blues Show on the
BBC Radio 2 in the UK, charting #14 on the Living Blues charts. With many comparisons of
Shah and Glazer with the legendary guitar/ harmonica duo of Buddy Guy and Jr. Wells, they
began performing all over the world together. In 2000 The Detroit Blues Society honored
Harmonica Shah with the coveted Lifetime achievement award acknowledging his success and
commitment to the blues. In 2012 Howard received Outstanding Blues Instrumentalist Award
from The Detroit Music Awards. In 2013 they were both inducted into the Michigan Blues Hall of
Fame. In 2016 Howard won Best Blues Artist from WDIV “Click on Detroit”.
In 2001 the duo went to Europe 5 times and were hailed by critics worldwide. In 2002 they had
feature articles and were on the cover of Back To The Roots (Belgium) and Blues Alive (Japan)
and they signed with Canada’s Electro-Fi Records releasing “Tell It To Your Landlord.” From
2000 – 2005 they performed at festivals in 17 countries including: Australia, Italy, Japan,
Greece, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Holland and many more.
In 2005 Harmonica Shah and Howard Glazer parted ways to pursue solo interests. Harmonica
Shah continued to release several more CD’s on Electro-Fi records and Howard Glazer
released several CD’s on his own. Both have continued to perform with great success
regionally and internationally. Shah has played the Poconos and King Biscuit Blues (USA)
festivals. Glazer has played the Newcastle (Austraila) and Kavvi Blues (Finland) festivals
Now in 2020 they have reunited to record again for Electro-fi. Stripped down to the essentials of
a harp, a guitar and a couple of amps, it is bare boned blues at its dirtiest, to the delight of the
many fans of their early work. Harmonica Shah’s sound is as low down as ever and Howard
accompanies him with a raw rootsy guitar style. Together again, they bring their unique Detroit
Blues sound that can only be created by Harmonica Shah & Howard Glazer.