(5CD/DVD)
Portnoy grew up in Chicago. He first heard the blues played outside his
father's carpet store in the Maxwell Street market in the late 1940s and
early 1950s. Maxwell Street was a mecca for blues musicians, who would
play on the street for tips. Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, Johnny "Man"
Young, Big Walter Horton and many others all played on Maxwell
Street.
Portnoy began to perform professionally in 1970, touring the Midwest
with the band of Johnny "Man" Young (guitar/mandolin). Two years later,
he left Johnny Young, but continued to perform around the Midwest in the
bands of guitarist Johnny Littlejohn and, later, drummer Sam Lay. For a
time, he was also a member of the house band at the Checkerboard Lounge.
He joined the Muddy Waters Blues Band in May 1974 and appeared on the
albums I'm Ready, Muddy 'Mississippi' Waters Live, and King Bee. He
remained until June 1980 when he and other members of Waters' band
(pianist Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and bassist
Calvin "Fuzz" Jones) formed The Legendary Blues Band, where he remained
until 1986.
Life of Ease was released in 1981 and Red Hot and Blue two years later.
After a brief hiatus from touring and the music business, he returned to
music in 1987 when Ronnie Earl asked him to help start a band which
became the Broadcasters. He formed his own band, called the
Streamliners, in 1989. They released the CD Poison Kisses in 1991 (later
re-issued as Home Run Hitter with three extra tracks). That same year
Eric Clapton invited Portnoy to join an all-star blues band for the six
blues shows at London's Royal Albert Hall as part of Clapton's 24-night
stand. In 1993, he joined Clapton's band and remained with it through
1996. During this time, the band recorded Clapton's blues album From the
Cradle.
Portnoy has performed in twenty-eight foreign countries on six
continents, including performances at the White House, Carnegie Hall,
Radio City Music Hall, the Smithsonian, the Newport Jazz Festival and
other major jazz and blues festivals worldwide. He was a Grammy Award
nominee in 1996 for his work with the Muddy Waters Tribute Band on their
recording You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Dead and Gone, and released an
instructional package, Jerry Portnoy's Blues Harmonica Masterclass, in
1997. In 2001, he released his second solo album, Down in the Mood
Room.
Known for his dark, amplified tone, he has long been a favorite of both
critics and peers. The New York Times (1987) said, "Mr. Portnoy crests
like an alto saxophone." Down Beat Magazine (2002) said, "Portnoy has
few equals as a harmonica player, blues or otherwise." Rick Estrin, a
leading professional player as well, was quoted in Blues Revue (2002) as
saying, "He can get so much sound out of that harp — such a beautiful,
just enormous, fat, rich tone.". In 2004, Portnoy appeared on the album,
Me and Mr. Johnson, with Eric Clapton.
He currently has available an online harmonica playing tutorial.
(Wikipedia)