Herbert Leonard holds the distinction of being the first blues harp player to have been recorded, appearing on Clara Smith's "My Doggone Lazy Man" made on January 31st 1924, a couple of months before the harp and guitar-playing songsters Daddy Stovepipe and Stovepipe No.1 made their first recordings.

Leonard's style of playing is probably fairly representative of the urban harp styles of the twenties - he recorded a second session with Clara Smith a year later and one with Louise Ross in December 1925 and fitted in far more easily with the "classic blues" style than did Jaybird Coleman, a more rural player, when Coleman played with Bertha Ross on her "My Jelly Blues" (1927).

Though perhaps not as skilful as the other New York-based harp players such as Robert Cooksey or Jimmy "Skeeter" Hinton, Leonard has quite a lot in common with them. Despite being familiar with cross-harp playing, he showed a preference for cleanly played first position harp, using mostly the upper register of the instrument. This style of playing lends itself readily to the ragtime influenced blues of the urban guitar players. Both the tracks recorded with ukulele-banjo player Harry "Ukulele" Mays in March 1925 and issued under the name "The Two Of Spades", use variations on a common ragtime-blues chord progression. (Though the recordings sound in the key of F#, both tunes were actually played in the key of G.)

Both "Harmonica Blues" and "Meddlin' With The Blues" are built around the same basic chord progression with minor variations: "Harmonica Blues" changes key for two verses (Leonard playing his G harp in the key of D) and "Meddlin' With The Blues" turns into an eight-bar progression half-way through, Mays supplying some double time chords on each tune.

The harp playing on both tunes is mostly confined to the upper octave of the harmonica, leaning heavily on the bent blow notes in holes 8 and 9 - a style commonly referred to today as 'Jimmy Reed style', even though these records predate Reed's work by almost thirty years.

Leonard's importance is perhaps more historical than artistic, but both "Harmonica Blues" and "Meddlin' With The Blues" are still interesting listening and have been reissued on "The Great Harmonica Players, Vol.1" (Roots Records RL-320).

I wrote the above as a short newsletter article, some thirty years ago. At that time, other than mentions in blues and jazz discographies, no information about Herbert Leonard was readily available; in fact, I believe I may have been the first person to have identified him as the first African-American harmonica player to appear on a blues recording. Since then, the digitizing of old newspapers and magazines has brought more information to light and I would like to share some of that here, as well as taking the opportunity to revise my opinions of his importance as an artist.

Herbert Leonard first gained public attention in 1923, after he took second place in a harmonica contest in New York City organized by The New York World and Hohner. This was just one of many publicity events masterminded by William J. Haussler, General Manager at Hohner's US branch, which helped Hohner firmly establish itself as the dominant harmonica brand in the US. The entertainment newspaper New York Clipper wrote in its May 23, 1923 issue:

The title of champion of the boy harmonica players was won last Saturday by Benjamin Kossover, fourteen, resulting in his being awarded The World's $50 prize, a solid gold medal, a trip to Philadelphia to attend the national contest from the M. Hohner Company, and a one week's vaudeville engagement at either Keith Royal or Franklyn Theatre at a salary of $100, and another $100 for recording a selection for the Emerson Phonograph Company. The second prize was won by Herbert Leonard, a colored lad, and Isidor Greenfield and Arthur Hansen were third and fourth, respectively. The judges of the contest which was held in Central Park, were Reinald Werrenrath, baritone; Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of Parks, and Borrah Minevitch, young harmonica wizard.

As far as I can make out, Kossover did not make any recordings for Emerson, although he did record as an accompanist to Billy Jones on a 1925 recording of "He Sure Can Play The Harmonica", released on Okeh records, where he was credited as Ben Kassover.

The May 26, 1923 issue of the New York Age, gave more details about the contest and focused more on Leonard than the other contestants, in an article headed "Herbert Leonard, Harlem Boy, Wins Honors in City-Wide Harmonica Contest":

Takes Second Prize Before Thousands Who Crowd Central Park Mall Where Event Is Staged by New York World and the M. Hohner Co., Under Commissioner Gallatin.

Herbert Leonard of 153 West 129th Street, proved himself to be the second best harmonica player in Greater New York when he took part in a contest staged by the New York World and the M. Hohner Co., the affair being held on the Mall of Central Park on Saturday afternoon, May 19, before a crowd that packed the ample spaces of the city's big playground.

Boys from every borough in New York City took part in the contest, which was sponsored by Park Commissioner Francis D. Gallatin, who declared that the musical education of children should be encouraged and defined the harmonica as one of the best mediums for that purpose because of its simplicity and convenience. J. V. Mulholland, Superintendent of Recreation, and Emanuel Schwartz, of the field staff.

A little Hebrew boy from The Bronx, Benjamin Kossover, won first place, but the judges had to call the players to repeat their efforts several times before the award was finally made. Herbert won his share of the honors by sheer mouth organ playing ability. One of the judges, Borrah Minevitch, said to be the best harmonica player in the world, was surprised at some of the effects the colored boy drew from his instrument.

Leonard had previous to this contest won for himself the undisputed championship of Harlem. Up at the New Douglas Theatre, Lenox avenue and 142nd street, on several occasions, the boy had carried off first honors in harmonica playing, in contests staged in that playhouse by the management. The last occasion, the finals, with eleven boys competing, was a complete and sweeping victory for little Herbert.

As a result of this triumph, through the activity of Mr. Livingston, publicity manager for the New Douglas, Herbert was entered in the city-wide contest engineer by the World and the Hohner Company.

The prizes awarded Leonard for winning second prize are substantial. In addition to the cash award from the World and the Hohner medal, he will be given an engagement on the Keith Vaudeville Circuit, at $75 a week, opening Monday night, May 28, at Keith's Colonial Theatre. He will also be sent by the Hohner Co. to Philadelphia on Friday of this week as one of three New York boys who will represent this city in the national harmonica contest being held there during an exposition which celebrates the 240th anniversary of the founding of the city. The national contest began on Monday night at the Palace of Progress, Philadelphia, with an elimination contest for the home city boys. The state elimination contest is to be on Thursday night and on Friday night Herbert and the other New York boys will uphold New York's credit against boys from other sections of the country.

In addition to these honors, Herbert will be given a lucrative contract for the making of phonograph records by the Emerson Phonograph Co. being paid, it is reported, in the neighborhood of $100 per record.

Herbert is seventeen years old, and was born in West Palm Beach, Fla. He has been living In New York for the past two years.

He played three numbers in the Central Park contest, "Home, Sweet Home," "Wang Wang Blues," and "Bugle Blues." The New York judges were Reinald Werrenrath, the famous baritone; Borrah Minevitch, champion harmonica player, and Park Commissioner Gallatin.

Many of the other news reports about this contest also focused on the runner-up, rather than the first place winner. In a small front page article headed "Black Boy Second In Harmonica Contest", the 25th May 1923 issue of the Baltimore Afro American went into more detail about Herbert Leonard and merely mentioned Kossover in passing:

Herbert Leonard, 640 Lenox Avenue, colored jazz harmonica artist, took second prize in the New York World Harmonica Contest here today. Benjamin Kossover, a Jewish lad of the Bronx was given first prize.

When it came Leonard's time to play, the Harlem boy, who was a real high brown, wrapped his lips around the mouth organ and extracted notes that the Judges never heard before. Everybody cheered when he played "Caroline In the Morning."

The contest took place in Central Park with crowds surrounding the band stand.

The address given for him, 640 Lenox Avenue, was at the time the location of the New Douglas Theatre.

The Music Trades of May 26, 1923 wrote:

The runner-up in the elimination tests was Herbert Leonard, colored, of Harlem, who made the harmonica produce such jazz as it had never known before and earned him the acclamations of the vast throng which crowded the Mall in Central Park, where the contest was held.

On June 3, 1923 the Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York ignored Kossover completely and published a photo of Leonard with the caption "Herbert Leonard, of Harlem, won second prize in New York's harmonica contest":

The Atlantic City Gazette Review of May 31, 1923, in a piece headed "Leonard Wins Prize" wrote:

Herbert Leonard, Harlem Youth, has won the second prize, in the recent Harmonica Contest, staged by the World. He was runner-up to Benny Kassover, of the Bronx, a Jewish lad. Leonard and Kassover have been offered a vaudeville contract calling for $100 per week, and are now spreading joy to the multitudes of theatre-goers. They are doing team work, and have already become very popular as is attested by recent reports.

Review of their vaudeville shows were indeed glowing. The Afro American wrote in their June 1, 1923 issue:

AUDIENCE SAYS BLACK, JUDGES SAY HEBREW

New York, May 29 - Playing together in Keith's Royal Vaudeville House where they have been given a two week's salary following their winning the national mounth (sic) organ contest. Herbert Leonard and Benny Kossover, Hebrew, took fourteen bows and stopped the show.

Herbert played the Wang Wang Blues, and a real Florida hoe-down, after which the audience was tied up into such knots that the critics termed it a "riot", a "panic", a "wow" and a "yell".

The June 9, 1923 issue of the Pittsburgh Courier contained this review:

NEW YORK. June 7. Benny Kossover (Jewish) of the Bronx, and Herbert Leonard (colored), of Harlem, continued their victorious careers last week by taking to the stage and knocking 'em dead in vaudeville. The two boys recently won the championships in state and national harmonica contests, the Jewish boy being awarded first prize, and the Afro-American lad coming a close second with second prize. In their first appearance behind the footlights they achieved the summit of vaudeville fame by "stopping the show." In the language of the two-a-day they were a "riot," a "panic," and a "wow."

The scene of their debut and triumph was Keith's Royal theater, 149th street and Third avenue, where they have been given a week's engagement as one of the rewards of winning the championships a week ago.

On May 28 of that year, the three winners of the New York contest went to Philadelphia to compete against the winners of the Pennsylvania contest. This time, Herbert Leonard failed to secure a place among the top three and the crowd apparently were not happy about that. The June 2 issue of The Music Trades wrote:

BENJAMIN KOSSOVER, the fourteen-year-old harmonica champion of New York City, was again crowned King of the Harmonica last Friday night when he cornered first prize in the national mouth organ contest held here under the auspices of the Palace of Progress. In so doing he defeated Frank Kane, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania State champion, who won second place; his friend and schoolmate, Isadore Greenfield, who finished third, and Herbert Leonard, the dusky champion from the Harlem section of New York, who, despite his sensational "blues" playing, failed to corner any of the prize money. Despite the fact that Herbert failed to impress the judges with his playing sufficiently to bring him into one of the three leading places, he won the whole-hearted support of the crowd, and the decision of the judges, in his case, met with the disapproval of a section of the crowd which voiced its objections in a series of boos and hisses.

Many of the thousands that filled the main auditorium of the Commercial Museum, where the contest was held, surged about Herbert after the contest and assured him that they were with him so far as disapproval of the judges' decision went.

The contest, which was open to any boy who won the championship of his district, narrowed down in the finals to Pennsylvania and New York. Of the home talent, Frank Kane was easily first pick. Kane, who is a diminutive lad, had the sympathy of the crowd from the first, but Benjamin Kossover, playing the same trusty little Hohner that won him first place in the New York contest in Central Park a week before, showed a finished musicianship in his playing which won him first place despite the excellent work of the local champion. His hearers were good sports, and, despite the sentiment in favor of the local champion, cheered him almost as enthusiastically as they would have if Frank Kane had won first place.

The contest was marked by at least one unexpected feature. According to the rules, all the contestants were required to play both "Home, Sweet Home" and "Marching Through Georgia" at the start. This proved a stumbling block for Herbert right at the outset, for the little dusky "blues" expert hails from Florida, where "Marching Through Georgia" is about as popular as mosquitoes at a lawn party and where the playing of the tune would mean a fight.

There was a long conference, and finally Herbert was permitted to play "Silver Threads Among the Gold" instead. But Herbert did not get into his own element until he opened on the subtle strains of his "Wang Wang Blues." To say that he stampeded the crowd would hardly be too strong a term for what happened. Utterly oblivious of his audience, his copious lips literally wrapped about the little Marine Band Hohner Harmonica that he played, he cut loose on one of the wildest assortments of jazz notes that ever escaped from a harmonica or in fact from any instrument. Herbert had the crowd back in the jungle of their primitive ancestors long before he completed his offering, and when he blew the last wailing note, the applause was almost deafening.

As the lad was about to leave the platform, John B. Geraughty, in charge of the contest, hurried after him and took the harmonica from his hand. He could not believe that the boy had dragged such weird sounds from an ordinary harmonica. He examined it thoroughly and found it was nothing more than a stock Hohner harmonica, obtainable at any music store in the city for a modest consideration.

Despite the rather culturally insensitive language, it is obvious that his playing made quite an impact. He also seemed to be popular with the other competitors. The same article went on to say:

The New York boys who went down to Philadelphia to carry away the lion's share of the prize money were "millionaires for a day." They went down with William J. Haussler and a delegation of twelve teachers, newspaper men, and a representative from the New York Park Commissioner's office, in a parlor car, they had dinner at one of the finest restaurants in the city, they taxied to the Palace of Progress, were treated with all the refreshments dear to the hearts of youth, and in fact received a royal welcome wherever they went.

And, best of all, they were real boys, generous and fair minded. On the way back on the eleven o'clock train from Philadelphia, they extended their genuine sympathy to the little colored boy whom they had vanquished and offered to divide up their prize money with him. Mr. Haussler was deeply touched by this spontaneous manifestation of brotherly feeling and told the boys that they did not have to make such a sacrifice. He then gave the young lad from Harlem $20 from his own pocket as a consolation prize.

Opportunity, Journal of Negro Life also commented on the audience's reaction to Leonard not being awarded a prize, in their Volume 1 No. 7, of July 1923:

The New York World held recently a contest for the world's harmonica championship. In New York, the second prize was awarded to Herbert Leonard, a Negro contestant. In the finals, when the New York champions were pitted against the Philadelphia champions, Herbert Leonard won a popular decision, but lost it to the judges who insisted that all of the players give a rendition of a piece selected by the judges. Leonard, though a master of his own selections, had never tried the one proposed by the judges. Said the World's correspondent:

"Herbert Leonard, the black hope of Harlem, and the other New York entry, won the popular decision but lost to the three judges. Their decision to leave Herbert out of the prizes was booed and hissed by the crowd.

"Many of the hundreds who had filled the main auditorium of the Commercial Museum, where the contest was held, surged about Leonard after it was over to pat him on the back and tell him what they thought of the judges. Others filed out of the hall hurling noisy comments in the direction of the platform."

Herbert Leonard even attracted the attention of Billboard magazine, who published the photo of him shown at the top of this page, in their June 16 issue.

William Haussler decided to build on the impetus created by these events and organised a "perambulating harmonica contest" as part of New York City's 25th anniversary celebrations, which also featured thirty entrants of the Central Park contest playing on a float as part of the parade.

In an article titled "Harmonica Champions Play to Thousands in New York", The Music Trades of June 23, 1923 wrote:

The boys were assigned seats on a large motor truck supplied by M. Hohner, each boy was given a new Hohner harmonica, and accompanied by Benjamin Kossover, Herbert Leonard and Isidor Greenfield, winners of the previous contest, who acted as judges, and also by Aaron Keil, a teacher in Junior High School No. 61, the Bronx; Borrah Minevitch, harmonica virtuoso. and Wesley Barry, movie star, they were transported to Thirty-first Street and Fifth Avenue, where they awaited their turn in the line of march with the Tenth Division.

The float was suitably decorated for the occasion and bore huge banners announcing that the boys were the city's champion harmonica players. The idea of the contest was to select the three best players from the runners-up in the previous New York City contest. Every boy played a Hohner Marine Band harmonica, key of C, in order to permit unison playing en route. "Carolina in the Morning," "Barney Google," "Yes! We Have No Bananas" and other popular numbers were played in unison during the triumphal passage of the Hohner float. The interest in the harmonica float was well nigh stupendous. When the float halted along the way large crowds surrounded it and cheered the young musicians. Herbert Leonard, the dusky champion of Harlem, was compelled to play his famous "Wang Wang Blues" several times to satisfy the crowd. It is stated on good authority that Leonard's remarkable "blues" playing has won him a theatrical engagement with a popular Broadway show of thirty-five weeks' duration at $100 a week.

The article also mentioned the letters of thanks that Hohner received from the boys that participated in the parade and quotes one from Irving Green, who wrote:

Dear Mr. Haussler: I cannot express the joy I had when I went in the float, and while we were passing through Fifth Avenue I saw many interesting things, such as the Museum of Art, the Hebrew Temple, the towers of the police signal stations and a fine view of Central Park, with a huge grandstand close by with Mayor Hylan and other officials of the city. When thousands of people cheered us, it sent a thrill through my back... It showed the people what good music they could get from the Hohner harmonica, and when the boys got into the harmonica band they learned better ways of playing. I myself, for one, learned some of Herbert Leonard's jazz, and it showed that in a band we could learn new songs quicker and better than by ourselves, and we learned - I think all the boys did - two very important things in music: rhythm and time.

A similar article in the Music Trade Review of June 30, mentioned:

Herbert Leonard, the colored youngster, was forced to play his famous rendition of "Wang, Wang Blues" for the enthusiastic crowds along Fifth avenue many times. The dusky youth, who gets such weird and original effects from the simple harmonica, announced that he has been engaged to play in Hammerstein's coming musical play, "Plain Jane," for a period of thirty-seven weeks at a salary of $100 a week.

"Plain Jane" was later renamed "Mary Jane McKane". It was not one of Oscar Hammerstein's greatest successes, but to a teenager in 1923, $100 per week must have seemed a princely sum. This article also mentions the letters sent to Hohner, quoting one from Herbert Leonard himself:

I take this opportunity to express my thanks to the firm of M. Hohner for their kind and wonderful treatment on one and all the places of amusement that 1 had the pleasure of playing, the trip to Philadelphia, also the kind consideration which was extended to me at the contest in Central Park when the second prize was given to me. During the coming year I have got quite some work ahead of me and I am sure that I shall get better and better each day with the Hohner harmonica to guide me. Once again accept my thanks and hope our relations in the future shall ever increase as they have in the past. H. H. Leonard.

Despite not taking first place in either of these contests, he seemed to get enough publicity to get his career underway. The August 13 issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle contained the following radio listing:

WDT was a short lived broadcast station in New York City. At the time of this broadcast, the studio manager was Vaughn De Leath, an extremely popular singer of the 1920s, leading her own 60 piece orchestra. Herbert Leonard was given just five minutes to play two tunes, presumably playing unaccompanied. Although blues harmonica has been a very familiar sound to radio listeners for decades now, both on hit tunes and commercials, it must have been a very surprising thing to hear in the very early days of broadcasting. Perhaps this was even the very first time that blues harp was played over the airwaves.

For the rest of 1923, Leonard was finding work on the vaudeville stage. On November 13, The Central New Jersey Home News published a review of another show from the Keith circuit:

Carl Shaw sings and dances with youthful abandon and his associates, one introduced as Herbert Leonard of Boston and the other a lad of dusky hue, engage in a lively harmonica contest. The colored lad, who makes his appearance from the audience, coaxes "blues" from the harmonica which he has stuffed in his various pockets.

The combination of Carl Shaw aged 15, who dances and sings in the act, Jos. Clayton and Walter Leonard, harmonica players, formed in New York last June following the harmonica playing in contest in which Clayton won the first prize and Leonard second.

At least they got Herbert Leonard's name half right, but I have no idea how Benjamin Kossover became Jos. Clayton. The article focuses on the issues faced by Black entertainers during the days of segregation:

Though it his to make other people smile and feel happy, he himself is often doled out hunger and discomfort for his efforts by an unkind fate. The company was organized in June 1923 In New York city and since then it has been traveling on the Keith circuit in northern cities, Washington being the nearest city to the Mason-Dixon line. Leonard is the problem and distraction the manager in every town the company plays. Hotels have refused him a room and restaurants have turned him down for a meal.

It goes on to describe how Leonard had to buy food from delicatessens and eat it in their dressing room, as well as going to a house after midnight and leaving before dawn so their neighbours wouldn't know that an African American had stayed overnight.

It was on the last day of January 1924, that Herbert Leonard made history, by accompanying Clara Smith in the studio, as she recorded "My Doggone Lazy Man" for Columbia Records.

With a rather basic guitar accompaniment by Lincoln M. Conaway and kazoo contributions by famous composer Porter Grainger, this can't really be called Clara Smith's greatest record, but Leonard acquits himself quite admirably for a teenager in a recording studio for the first time. He is playing a D harmonica in first position, sticking mostly to the highest octave and leaning on the bends in hole 8 and 9. Apparently, he made enough of an impression to be invited to record for with Clara Smith again, the following year. In the meantime, Clara Smith's records had featured such notable musicians as Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins and Louis Armstrong, so Leonard was in good company, to say the least.

On March 24, 1925, he recorded two songs with Smith for Columbia, both written by Spencer Williams (of "Basin Street Blues" fame) and both with guitar accompaniment by Harry Mays (or Mayes). "Rock Pile Blues", alternately titled "Mama's Prison Yard Blues", went unreleased and there appear to be no surviving copies of the recording. "My Good for Nuthin' Man" has Leonard playing a C harp in first position, again focusing on the top octave.

The nest day, Leonard and Mays were in the studio again, this time just the two of them. They recorded a pair of titles for Columbia that were issued under the name The Two of Spades. "Meddlin' With the Blues" was composed by Edgar Dowell and on this track Mays plays banjo-ukulele and Leonard plays a G harp in first position, although the recording plays closer to F#. "Harmonica Blues" is an original tunes, with Mays on banjo-ukulele again and Leonard once more playing a G harp, but this time he plays it in both first and second positions, as the tune temporarily changes key partway through. This recording also sounds a semitone flat.

Leonard was also working with Mays in vaudeville around that time. Billboard published this review of a show at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem, in their June 6, 1925 issue:

Danny Small, assisted by his wife, a handsome, lithe Charleston dancer, and two unique youngsters were next. One of the boys, Herbert Leonard, is a champion harmonica player, having won a city-wide contest a year or so since. The others, Harry Mayes, a 19-year-old Charlotte (N.C.) youngster, plays a ukelele with a degree of personality that stamps him as a real performer. The kids worked as "plants". So did the woman, all coming up from the audience after Danny opened the act. It was chock full of talent, but Danny occupied the stage too steadily and it ran much too long. Twenty-nine minutes was the time report.

Harry Mays later made several recordings with Danny Small, but without Herbert Leonard.

December 16 of that year saw Leonard return to the studio, this time to record with Louise Ross.

These are the only two sides recorded by Louise Ross and there is virtually no other information available about her. The pianist on the session, Dick Mitchell, was apparently a regular collaborator with Jesse Gines, who wrote both of the songs, although they didn't have any notable hits. "No Home Blues" has Leonard playing a C harp in first position, although the minor sections of the song suggest that he was probably comfortable playing in fourth position too. "Can't Fool Me Blues" is also played on a C harp in first position.

This was Leonard's last time in the recording studio, but he seems to have stayed busy in vaudeville. 1927 found him appearing with Gonzell White's "The Big Jamboree", sharing the stage with comedian Rock Markham, before he acquired his "Pigmeat" nickname. Some time later, he joined the crew of "Charleston Dandies", a musical revue put together by the actor Clarence Muse, which toured on the T.O.B.A. circuit. The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina wrote in their January 27, 1928 issue that:

Several other splendid specialty numbers will be included in the program. Among these are H. Leonard, harpist de luxe; Jimmie Stewart a champion buck and-wing, as well as soft shoe and tap dancer; Marie Winfield, 'blues' singer supreme; and Gladys Wainright, soubrette

A radio listing from the February 6, 1928 issue of The Virginian-Pilot from Norfolk, Virginia, promoted a show featuring the band from "Charleston Dandies", again getting his first name wrong:

This orchestra is appearing at a local theater and is noted for its characteristic and original rendition of "blues" numbers. Featured with the orchestra is Harry Leonard harmonica wizard who will play several solos.

In 1928 and 1929, he toured the with the Theda Deas Revue.

Theda Deas was the daughter of veteran vaudeville performer turned producer, Lawrence Deas. The Pittsburgh Courier of March 30, 1929 published a review of her show, which specifically mentioned Leonard:

She now heads her own revue and dances five different styles of dancing and is surrounded by a cast of clever performers, namely, Herbert Leonard, the harmonica king who won the championship at Madison Square Garden, New York, defeating 500 contestants. Then Lew Leslie featured him in the late Florence Mills' revue at the Plantation room, New York for two years.

His credentials may have been exaggerated here for the purposes of publicity, but there is no doubt that he was seen as one of the stars of the show. Unfortunately, I have so far been unable to find any reviews of his time with Florence Mills, who was one of the biggest stars of the Harlem Renaissance. Hopefully, this was not

Some time around 1930, he seemed to vanish. The last unambiguous reference to him that I have found is in The Afro American of December 28, 1929, which mentions "The brownskin Borrah Minevitch, named Herbert Leonard, who plays at Ye Olde Nest Club and accompanies himself doing a difficult clog." There is also an article from Billboard of January 27, 1933 that mentions "Herbert Leonard, colored musical specialty act", which may or may not be the same person. Harlem was hit badly by the Great Depression, so his disappearance around that time is perhaps not too surprising, although I would love to find out exactly what happened to him. If any further information comes to light, I will update this page.

Within just a few years of moving to New York City, this teenager from Florida became the first African American harmonica player on a blues record, possibly the first blues harp player to broadcast over the radio, probably the first blues harp player to play to audiences of more than a thousand and for many of them, perhaps even including the great Borrah Minevitch, he was the first blues harp player they had ever heard. He became the star of two harmonica contests, without winning either of them. He went on to play for an Oscar Hammerstein stage musical and work with stars like Clara Smith and Florence Mills. Although he never became a star himself, he got to experience both the highs and some of the lows of being a Black performer in vaudeville. I feel he deserves more than just the barest of mentions in discographies and I hope this article goes a little way to giving the credit he is due.

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