Booker T. Sapps & Roger Matthews

For those who were wondering who these two guys in the headline are:
it's Florida-based Booker T. Sapps and Roger Matthews actually, two fairly unknown harmonica players from the 1930's.
Some may have already heard about them on Blues-Harp-Muenster, but I'm just not getting tired of emphasizing: these guys rocked a**es back then like nobody's business...
Providing sort of an early but way more rooted "Coffeehouse Blues", as for instance Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee did throughout the following decades, we are especially lucky Alan Lomax did cross the duos' ways in 1935 - in Belle Glade, FL to be precise.
After a devastating hurricane had destroyed most of the town's infrastructure in 1928, construction workers were well demanded in this area and it's very probable that Sapps and Matthews also had found employment in either dam construction or the town's rebuilding itself.

However, what is so unique about their style is the fact that there were two harps involved, mostly one for accompaniment and one for lead that is. As to be heard in the following both artists were very skillful and surely knew how to get their instruments going:

Covering all the common pre war techniques such as rhythmical chugging patterns (assumedly played purely tongue blocked), whooping as well as melody the duo had a whole variety of classic material including trains and a fox chase but also traditionals and spirituals as from "John Henry" to
"Poor Lazarus".

As far as I know most of their material can be found on Document's

"Field Recordings Vol.7: Florida (1935-1936)".

As a bonus here's an audio stream of
"Frankie and Albert (Cooney and Delia)"

- enjoy!

maz