HarmonicaUK Festival 2023

Rob Paparozzi 

A native New Yorker, Rob began performing in 1967 and has since contributed to the works of stars such as BB King, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Judy Collins and Bobby McFerrin amongst many others. He has toured with Dolly Parton and George Jones and opened for Bruce Springsteen. 

In 2019 he toured with Steve Cropper and The Blues Brothers Band and contributed to their final release 'Last Shade Of Blue Before Black'. He made his debut as a guest soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lincoln Center, later performing at the iconic venue with Jeff Beck and Donald Fagen.

Further credits include appearing on Conan O'Brien and David Letterman's shows, working on Broadway shows such as Big River and The Will Rogers Follies, films including Flirting With Disaster and Ride along with numerous television advertisement jingles.

He is the lead singer for the reformed Blood Sweat and Tears and when not touring with them he leads his own band, The Hudson River Rats.

Adam Glasser

Adam is known for playing Jazz native to his South African roots as well as recording for some major pop stars and film composers including for the 1997 film "Hard Rain" where he shared harmonica credits with Toots Thielemans. He can also be heard playing incidental music in the West End production of "The Postman Always Rings Twice".

Born in Cambridge in 1955 to his South African composer father Stanley 'Spike' Glasser, the family returned to Johannesburg where as a teenager he regularly frequented the live Jazz venue Dorkay House,  hanging out with legendary horn players Barney Rachabane and Mackay Davashe among others.

In 1979 he moved to Paris to study Jazz piano and attended a semester at Berklee College in 1981. He then returned to London where he regularly played at restaurants, weddings, and cruises while further developing his Jazz skills with his trio.

Throughout the 1990's Adam began to specialise in chromatic harmonica. He performed live on TV with Sting to promote his 1999 album 'Brand New Day' as well as performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. Adam frequently plays at venues such as the world famous Ronnie Scott's club in London.

Beata Kossowska 

Born in Poland and now living in Germany, Beata plays a variety of styles including blues, jazz, funk and pop with the focus on her own compositions and arrangements.

She is known for playing with the bands Le Blue, United Blues Experience and most recently with Bluetrain and the excellent acoustic guitarist Eberhard Klunker.

With extensive tours of the USA and Europe with the above she has certainly honed her diatonic skills to the maximum!

On top of all this, Beata is a fantastic singer as well!

With harmonica instruction books to her name, her workshops and performance at the festival are not to be missed.

Cathal Johnson

Renowned Irish harmonica player Cathal Johnson grew up playing various genres on both guitar and harmonica, later adding accordion and melodeon.

Cathal studied alongside harmonica guru Brendan Power becoming a technician. In 2010 he attained a degree in Applied Music specialising in Harmonica Solo Performance. He attended workshops with harmonica virtuoso Mick Kinsella at the Miltown Malbay Summer Festival and over the years has performed at numerous festivals, pubs and clubs.

In 2019 he was officially recognised as a Hohner Service Technician by Hohner. His precision of reed work and reed-plate slot work along with pin point accurate tuning have singled him out as the go to person for custom work and repairs.

Known worldwide among the harmonica community for flawless expression  across genres including Traditional Irish Dance, blues, folk, pop and country, Cathal is certainly a must see harpist and superb technician. 

Aidan Sheehan 

Aidan Sheehan plays blues harmonica, Cajun accordion, flutes, whistles, and strings, along with fantastic swamp-drenched vocals. He is attending the festival as a duo with Martin Blake on guitar. Together they are the two founding members of the six piece Americana Whiskey River band (as seen in Bon Ton Roulez!!!, Baton Rouge and The Midland Aces).

You’ll hear some great Louisiana-style swamp music, retro Rock ‘n’ Roll, great Country music, harmonica and guitar boogie plus other musical surprises. These may include Celtic airs, Cossack ballads, Czech polkas, spicy Tex-Mex with some great sing-along numbers thrown in for good measure.

You may remember Aidan from his HarmonicaUK Saturday Session earlier this year - if you missed it check out the Saturday Sessions page in the Members area for a link to the recording.

Friday Evening Jam

On the Friday there will be a jam. Details to be confirmed.

The Old Rose & Crown Hotel
Rose Hill, Lickey,
Birmingham B45 8RS 
0121 453 3502
[email protected] 

Holiday Inn Express 
2 Hewell Road, 
Birmingham 
B97 6AE 
0800 43 40 40
[email protected]

Travelodge Hotel
462 Birmingham Road,
Marlbrook,
Bromsgrove 
B61 0HR 
08715 591809 

Bromsgrove Hotel 
Birmingham Road,
Bromsgrove
B61 0JB
0333 323 1574