Dennis Gruenling is an American

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplifier, amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the ...

harmonicist The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

, songwriter, record producer and radio DJ. He has released seven albums since 1999, with his most recent being 2016's ''Ready or Not''. His contributions to other musician's albums has included stints playing the harmonica, audio engineering and mixing, production and album sleeve artwork. Gruenling has also been employed for over a decade as a DJ on

WFDU WFDU (89.1 MHz branded as ''89.1 WFDU'') is a non-commercial, college radio station licensed to Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Founded in 1971, WFDU's studios are on campus, with its transmitter on the Armstrong Tower in ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

. His dynamic harmonica playing style has been inspired variously by

Little Walter Marion Walter Jacobs (May 1, 1930 – February 15, 1968), known as Little Walter, was an American blues musician, singer, and songwriter, whose revolutionary approach to the harmonica had a strong impact on succeeding generations, earning him ...

Lester Young Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist. Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...

and

Illinois Jacquet Jean-Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on "Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. Although he was a pioneer of t ...

. Gruenling, who plays both

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...

and

diatonic harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, has been awarded the title of 'Best Modern Blues Harmonica Player' three years in a row by ''Real Blues'' magazine. In 2007,

Adam Gussow Adam Gussow (born April 3, 1958) is an American scholar, memoirist, and blues harmonica player. He is currently a professor of English and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Life and career Gussow spent twelve years (1 ...

described Gruenling as having "limitless potential". In 2019, he won a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

for 'Instrumentalist - Harmonica'.

Biography

Early days

Gruenling was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States. He acquired his first harmonica in his teenage years as a Christmas present from a family friend. With an earlier healthy interest in music, Gruenling then heard ''Harp Attack!'' (1990), an album featuring the harmonica playing of

James Cotton James Henry Cotton (July 1, 1935 – March 16, 2017) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who performed and recorded with many fellow blues artists and with his own band. He also played drums early in his career. ...

Junior Wells Junior Wells (born Amos Wells Blakemore Jr., December 9, 1934January 15, 1998) was an American singer, harmonica player, and recording artist. He is best known for his signature song "Messin' with the Kid" and his 1965 album ''Hoodoo Man Blues'' ...

Carey Bell Carey Bell Harrington (November 14, 1936 – May 6, 2007) was an American blues musician who played harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass guitar for other blues musicians from the late 1950s to the early 1970s bef ...

, and

Billy Branch Billy Branch (born William Earl Branch, October 3, 1951) is an American blues harmonica player and singer of Chicago blues. Branch is a three-time Grammy nominee, a retired two-term governor of the Chicago Grammy Chapter, an Emmy Award winner, ...

. Gruenling later stated "I made my uncle play the record for me and I was blown away by what I heard. I hadn’t heard real blues players before – or real blues music in general. I was knocked out by the music and the harmonica playing." Further inspired by records he purchased by Cotton, Wells,

George "Harmonica" Smith George "Harmonica" Smith (born Allen George Smith, April 22, 1924 – October 2, 1983) was an American electric blues harmonica player. Apart from his solo recordings, Smith is best known for his work backing both Muddy Waters and Big Mama Thornt ...

and

Big Walter Horton Walter Horton (April 6, 1921 – December 8, 1981), known as Big Walter (Horton) or Walter 'Shakey' Horton, was an American blues harmonica player. A quiet, unassuming, shy man, he is remembered as one of the premier harmonica players in the hi ...

, Gruenling set about teaching himself to play to an accomplished standard. Having dropped out of school and moved with his then girlfriend to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, he continued to practice and largely self-learn the instrument before returning to New Jersey in 1994. He worked in a number of local bands around

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was released by Back Bender Records, Gruenling's own label.

Mid career

At that time, Gruenling alternated between his Jump Time line-up that played mainly

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

and

boogie-woogie Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pian ...

, and a smaller unit that favored a

Chicago blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of the first half of the twentieth cent ...

styling. He heard both

Rod Piazza Rod Piazza (born December 18, 1947, Riverside, California) is an American blues harmonica player and singer. He has been playing with his band The Mighty Flyers, which he formed with his pianist wife Honey Piazza, since 1980. Their boogie sound ...

and William Clarke on blues radio, and regularly frequented both of their shows when they played locally. He gave Piazza a copy of his recording which led to a friendship that lasts to this day. ''Up All Night'' (2000) and ''That's Right'' (2001) followed, the latter featuring

Kenny Davern John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from Vi ...

on clarinet on a couple of the tracks. In 2000, Gruenling appeared at the

Chicago Blues Festival The Chicago Blues Festival is an annual event held in June, that features three days of performances by top-tier blues musicians, both old favorites and the up-and-coming. It is hosted by the Chicago, Illinois, City of Chicago Department of Cu ...

. However, Gruenling found it harder to sustain his own band and he moved towards working on other musician's material for a number of years. He contributed to albums by Gina Sicilia and

Cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Mos ...

in this period. In 2007, David Malachowski played at the Lake George Blues Blast, and assembled a band featuring Gruenling. The same year, Gruenling commenced on a project to record a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

, and ended up working alongside

Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top 40 ...

, Rick Estrin and Steve Guyger, plus

Rusty Zinn Rusty Zinn (born April 3, 1970 in Long Beach, California, United States) is an American electric blues and reggae guitarist and singer-songwriter. Zinn released six albums between 1996 and 2009, on Black Top, Alligator, Bad Daddy, and 9 Above ...

on guitar, to record ''I Just Keep Lovin' Him: A Tribute to Little Walter'' (2008). Gruenling and Guyger were described as "two youthful, white virtuosos" of the harmonica. The album included a cover version of Little Walter's "If You Were Mine", with the vocals supplied by Gruenling's wife, Gina Fox. In putting together a band to support the album, Gruenling turned to the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

-based guitarist Doug Deming, which led to them and Deming's backing ensemble, the Jewel Tones, collaborating on various recordings. These included, ''Rockin' All Day'' (2012), with Gruenling featuring Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones on an album that was recorded in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

by Ed Kinder, and in

Glen Ridge, New Jersey Glen Ridge is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough’s population was 7,802, reflecting an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2 ...

by Dave Gross. In August that year, the combination toured the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

undertaking 28 shows in 26 days. Teaching blues harmonica playing has been part of Gruenling's passion, and he has assisted at workshops and conventions including

Jon Gindick Jon Gindick (born September 10, 1948, Hollywood, California, United States) is an American best-selling musical instruction author. His books, CDs, and videos on playing the blues harmonica have sold over 2,000,000 copies. He puts on 'Blues Harm ...

's Harmonica Jam Camps, David Barrett's Harmonica Masterclass, and Joe Filisko's class at the

Old Town School of Folk Music The Old Town School of Folk Music is a Chicago teaching and performing institution that launched the careers of many notable folk music artists. Founded by Folk musicians Frank Hamilton and Win Stracke, and Dawn Greening, the School opened in the ...

. He also undertakes private lessons both online and locally. He has participated in other projects such as David Malachowski & the Woodstock All-Stars. In 2010, the ''History of the Blues Harmonica Concert'' featuring David Barrett, Joe Filisko, Kinya Pollard, John Garcia, Rusty Zinn, and Gruenling was another Back Bender Records release. As a hobby, Gruenling collects and trades vintage harp microphones. Gruenling featuring Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones played at the 2014 Bradenton Blues Festival. His album, ''Ready or Not'' (2016), is Gruenling's first with all original material, and follows a three year long touring schedule. His 2019 joint recording with Nick Moss, ''Luck Guy!'', was chosen as a 'Favorite Blues Album' by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. In May 2020, the Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling won two Blues Music Awards for 'Band of the Year' and 'Traditional Blues Album of the Year' for ''Lucky Guy!''.

Radio work

On the

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

based in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

, Gruenling is the weekly host of ''Blues & the Beat''.

Discography

Albums

Guest work

References

External links

*
Gruenling interview''Blues & the Beat'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruenling, Dennis Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American blues harmonica players Record producers from New Jersey American session musicians Harmonica blues musicians Electric blues musicians Songwriters from New Jersey American radio DJs Radio personalities from New Jersey