When you hear him play, you might think Blackie Marlo was born with a harmonica in his mouth, but it didn’t really happen that way. He got his first harmonica at age 12, so the 95-year-old has only been playing the instrument for 83 years.
Growing up in Brooklyn he was drawn to accordion music, an interest that led him to the harmonica and its similar sound. Marlo quickly discovered an aptitude for the instrument, as well as an uncanny ability to play the music he heard others play. He began playing along with the Mills Brothers and other musicians he heard on the radio or saw in the movies.
“I could never read music,” Marlo said. “I can’t read music now, but I play everything by ear.”
One of his early heroes was Larry Adler, who revolutionized the harmonica in the 1920s.
“He was one of the finest harmonica virtuosos. That’s what they called them at that time,” Marlo said of Adler. “This man was fantastic. He played with symphony orchestras, and that made me say, ‘Gee, I wish I could do that.’ I never played with the symphony, but I played with guys who appreciated that kind of music.