Harmonious Wail was formed in 1987 after years of listening to the music of gypsy guitar genius Django Reinhardt and experimenting with acoustic string swing music.
Founder and leader Sims Delaney-Potthoff says "it's Jethro Burns' fault". For seven years Sims studied jazz mandolin with Jethro Burns (legendary jazz mandolinist, of the late, great duo, Homer and Jethro), or more accurately, sat in Jethro's basement studio in Chicago (with tape machine running), watching the master and listening in awe with mouth agape. He furthered his studies at Boston's Berklee College of Music where for two years he was a student of Matt Glaser's. In addition to Jethro and Matt, Sims sites Django Reinhardt, Dan Hicks, Lester Young, Sam Bush, David Grisman, and Louis Armstrong as his musical heroes.
Celebrating it's 15th. year , Harmonius Wail has established itself as a forerunner of an enticing style of swing fusion. Blending the melodious sounds of the great jazz vocalists with the energy of Django Rreinhardt-inspired Gypsy Swing and the contemporary adventurousness of the new acoustic music, the Wail has traveled throughout the States and Europe delivering pure joy and infectious grooves.