May 26, 2026 11:08 AM
Sonny Rollins Passes Away at 95
Sonny Rollins, the iconic saxophonist, composer and improviser whose career stretched from the origins of bebop to 21st…
Chicago harmonica ace Little Arthur Duncan died Aug. 20 at Kindred Hospital in Northlake, Ill. He was 74.
Born Feb. 5, 1934, in Indianola, Miss., Arthur moved to Chicago at age 16, where he heard and befriended Little Walter, who inspired him to take up the harmonica. While holding down a construction day job, he began performing around Chicago with John Brim, Floyd Jones, and Hip Lankchan. He would later own and operate the Artesia Lounge on Lake Street, which moved to West Madison Street and reopened as Backscratcher’s Social Club. Owning a club gave Arthur a regular place to perform, and he became a popular neighborhood attraction on the West Side. Twist Turner produced some of Arthur’s first recordings, which appeared first on cassette and then on Cannonball Records’ Blues Across America series.
As Arthur’s stature grew in Chicago, he recorded more, cutting two CDs for Delmark (Singin’ With The Sun and Live At Rosa’s Blues Lounge
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