Obituaries

In Memory of Willie Cobbs Norman Darwen

You Don’t Love Me – anyone who has been around the blues for a while will be familiar with this song, with its distinctive riff. It may be via The Allman Brothers, John Mayall, Buddy Guy and

Junior Wells, or other quality acts. It could even be through

Dawn Penn’s reggae hit version in the early ’90s. The first version, however, dates from 1961 and is by Arkansas singer and harmonica player Willie Cobbs.

Willie died on 25 October 2021 at the age of 89. He was born in Smale, Monroe County, Arkansas on 15 July 1932. He moved north to Chicago in 1951, where he initially worked with Little Walter and Eddie Boyd, and sang and played his harmonica on Maxwell Street, the famous Sunday morning street market that at that time was the venue for many of the city’s blues performers. He made his first recordings in 1958, and he also backed pianist Eddie Boyd on record in the same year. He was turned down by Vee-Jay Records for sounding too close to the label’s big star Jimmy Reed, though ironically, they did distribute You Don’t Love Me a couple of years later. By the end of the ’60s, Willie seemed to pop up from time to time on singles, with a Japanese album gathering up many of these in 1986. Willie recorded several albums after this date – Down To Earth was very well-received.

In memory of Danny Ronen Dror Adler

In memory of a great chromatic player, a dedicated lawyer, a role model to so many harmonica players and groups, and a close friend. Danny Ronen passed away recently, after a long struggle with a serious disease. He was only 62. In 1981 Danny, a young man of 23, and a physics student in the university, came and asked me to be his teacher, telling me that he is a great admirer of the Adler Trio. I refused, as I was not teaching at that time. He did not give up…When I started teaching him, I found out that he was already a brilliant player, and, within a year, he knew all the Adler Trio’s repertory. At that time, my brother, Danny Adler, the lead player and founder of the Adler Trio, decided to retire and dedicate his time to a private business of his own – based on one of his inventions. Danny Ronen joined the trio in 1982.

In 1984, The Adler Trio was invited to perform in the SPAH convention in Detroit, and this performance actually launched an amazing international career. The superlatives on Danny’s playing echoed all over the international harmonica community. Invitations to all major harmonica festivals followed, beginning with the first World Harmonica Festival in Jersey, England, organised by Jim Hughes, and then the second WHF in Trossingen, Germany 1989, followed by the first Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in Yokohama, Japan 1995. The Adler Trio became very popular in Danny’s era, especially in the east, and many top professionals of today say that Danny was their role model and triggered their decision to become professional. He also studied law, and when he became a lawyer he joined his father’s business and gradually retired from the trio, helping Michal Adler, my niece, to fill his place safely. Michal Adler was at that time an accomplished and busy soloist performing on her own, and whenever she was busy, Danny would come and replace her. His love for the harmonica did not subside when he retired, and he started playing the kind of music he loved best – jazz. Whenever he could, he would go out on gigs with different groups, always contributing his unique style, talent and quality. Looking back on the 20 years Danny played with The Adler Trio, 1982–2002, I realise what an amazing, joyful, fulfilling, meaningful and important part of my life they were. His leaving us so young is a great loss to his family, his friends and colleagues, and to the entire harmonica world.