Biography

Elihú Catalán “Barba Azul” is a Mexican professional musician. He is a guitarist, harmonica player, singer, string arranger, composer and harmonica teacher.
He has been part of several musical projects. He was a guitarist for almost seven years (1996-2003) in one of the most traditional blues bands in Mexico: the group Follaje, with which he formally began his career as a musician. He was also part of the group of singer Rosina Conde for two years between 2001 and 2002. In 2003 he formed his own group: Radio Blues.
With his band Radio Blues he has performed at festivals, cultural forums, Jazz and Blues clubs, bars, schools and jams, mainly in his hometown, CDMX, and also in several states of the country.
He currently resides in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, where he performs regularly, both with Radio Blues and with his classic Blues trio, as well as being a guest musician for other San Miguel bands.
He is one of the most prominent and active harmonica players in Mexico. The guitar was his first instrument, which he played at the age of 15, and later, in 2009, he began to play the harmonica as a self-taught player. He has developed his own style as a harmonica player, supported largely by the guitar, especially when composing, sometimes using phrases intended more for the guitar than for the harmonica. His style of playing the harmonica and guitar is energetic, influenced by genres such as Rock, Blues, Funk, Swing, Jazz Manouche and Heavy Metal.
He is the only harmonica player from Mexico to have played in the United States and Canada, performing with his band Radio Blues in 2018 and 2022. He was invited by American harmonica player Tod Parrot to perform at his harmonica convention “CAROLINA HARP FEST” in 2021 and 2023.
In August 2023, he attended the SPAH convention solo in St. Louis, Mo., and played at several jams including the Hohner Electric Blues Jam and Blues Blow-off.
In the USA he has alternated and played with renowned harmonica players, such as: Rick Estrin, Lee Oskar, Will Wilde, Roly Platt, Charlie Barath, Todd Parrot, Jerry Fierro, Sandy Weterman, Gary Green, Richard Sleight, Paul Messinger, among others.
And in Mexico Billy Branch, Melvin Taylor, Canned Heat, Carlos Johnson, Steve James, Carey Bell and Rod Piazza have alternated.
He has composed instrumental songs for harmonica as well as adaptations for this instrument of themes that are not limited to the Blues.
He has also dedicated himself to promoting and spreading the Blues in Mexico through the organization and production of national and international Blues festivals. From 2007 to 2013 he organized the National Blues Meeting at the José Martí Cultural Center, where he presented various Blues groups from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Spain.
In 2010 he organized and produced the Iberoamerica Blues Fest International Festival with blues groups from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Spain, at the Teatro de la Ciudad, in Mexico City.

Primary Instruments

Harmonica, guitar

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