Wallace Coleman, legendary blues harmonica player, will share his musical gift with us on Sunday, August 8th, at 2 p.m., in the Lakewood Public Library Auditorium. Coleman embodies a musical gift that has all but disappeared from the African-American musical landscape. He has traveled the world playing harp for the late, great Robert Lockwood Jr., but Wallace Coleman is back home in Cleveland and still playing songs that reflect his storied life and preserve the spirit of the pioneering blues label of the 50s and 60s, Chess Records.

Wallace Coleman was born in Tennessee, a state where country music still rules the radio waves, but from his youth he remembers listening to the late night blues on Nashville’s WLAC station. The songs of musicians like Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf, and Muddy Waters became touchstones and influences for Coleman’s musical development. Many of those recordings featured the guitar playing of Robert Lockwood Jr., with whom Coleman would eventually share countless stages. 

Upon moving to Cleveland in 1956, Coleman found a steady day job, but also discovered a flourishing blues scene. Jimmy Reed, Elmore James, B.B. King, and the heroes of Coleman’s childhood often played in Cleveland clubs. Coleman, a self-taught musician, entertained his co-workers during their breaks. One of these impressed co-workers brought a cousin to the jobsite to hear Coleman, and that meeting sparked Coleman’s public debut, a pairing with Cleveland’s Guitar Slim at the Cascade Lounge. During his year-long stint there, Coleman came to the attention of Robert Lockwood Jr., who was in the audience. Though he had once said he would never hire a harp player, Lockwood’s opinion changed the night he first heard Coleman play. Wallace Coleman became the first and only harmonica player in Lockwood’s band, and for 10 years, they traveled and played in the U.S., Canada, and overseas.

In 1997, Coleman became the leader of his own band, and produced his first solo CD. Three more would follow, including “Live at Joe’s,” a recording that succeeds at capturing the live feel from inside a studio, with no overdubs, multi-tracks, or other ‘slick’ tricks. Coleman received his due recognition as his path continued. He was featured in Living Blues magazine, and was named the magazine’s Best Musician Harmonica player in 2002. Coleman is also an Ohio Heritage Fellow Award recipient. His most recent recorded appearance on CD, as a ‘special guest,’ is on Dave Thomas’s CD “Repossession Blues.”

Join us to witness and enjoy this master harmonica player on Sunday August 8th, at 2 p.m., in the Library’s Main Auditorium. Wallace Coleman is rightfully called a blues legend and has played with the best in his field. This free event is generously funded by Cuyahoga residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Friends of the Lakewood Public Library.