Harmonious Wail is an American musical group from

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, known for their eclectic blend of gypsy jazz, acoustic swing, americana, and cabaret.

History

The group was founded in 1987 by Sims Delaney-Potthoff, a musician specializing in the

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, who drew inspiration from the tradition of

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

and the American swing school. Shortly after its formation, Harmonious Wail became a regular presence on the American jazz and folk scene, frequently performing at festivals and clubs across the U.S. and Europe. In addition to Sims, a long-time member of the band is

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Maggie Delaney-Potthoff. A former member of the band is the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Jeff Weiss, who won the Madison Area Music Award (MAMA) for Best Bassist in 2012. The band has performed throughout the United States and Europe, taking part in numerous festivals and concerts. They are well known for organizing the Midwest Gypsy Swing Fest, a festival dedicated to gypsy jazz music, which is held twice a year in Madison, Wisconsin. Harmonious Wail has collaborated with National Public Radio (NPR).

Awards and Recognition

Throughout their career, Harmonious Wail has received numerous awards, including honors at the Madison Area Music Awards (MAMA) for Best Jazz Album, Best Cover Song, and Best Percussionist. They received the Musicnotes Award for Outstanding Musical Career Achievement in 2017. Their 2019 album Holiday Spirits won the award for Best Jazz Album, while the song What the World Needs Now, Is Love Sweet Love was named Best Cover Song that same year.

Discography

* Airborne (1993) * Live at the Zelt Music Festival (1996) * Gypsy Swing (2003) * Resist Temptation (2008) * The Vegan Zombie's Lament (2010) * Bohemian Tango (2013) * Holiday Spirits (2014) * Virtue, Vice and Ukulele (2018) * Beyond the Pale (2020) * Wailing Allstars (Live) (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wail, Harmonious American jazz pianists Jazz ensembles