Introduction
Jerry Murad (December 1, 1918—May 11, 1996) was an American Harmonica player.
Life and career
Jerry Murad was born Jerry Muradian in Istanbul, Turkey, on December 1, 1918, to Armenian Parents. When he was two, his parents emigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago, Illinois.
Murad started playing the harmonica in his childhood with his friends after his mother gave him a harmonica when he was 6 years old. One day, he noticed Pete Pedersen playing his harmonica in a park in Chicago. Murad let Pedersen try his chromatic harmonica and the two became friends.
When Borrah Minevitch was performing in Chicago with his group The Harmonica Rascals, he met Pedersen and Murad backstage. Minevitch was impressed by their harmonica skills and asked them to join his Rascals. They joined the Rascals in 1942 and played with fellow members of the group—Tony Reyes, Don Quagenti, Bobby Lee, Seymour Epstein, Ray Tankersley, and Johnny Puleo.
Murad left the Rascals in 1943 and returned to Chicago to form a group named The Harmonica Madcaps with Bob Hadamik (bass harmonica), Pete Pedersen (chromatic harmonica), and Al Fiore (chord harmonica). After Pedersen left the group, Murad formed a new group named Harmonicats with Fiore, Cappy Lafell on Polyphonia, and Don Les on bass harmonica. Pedersen became the group's main arranger and was the 2nd chromatic player for many albums over the band's nearly 50 years of recording. The Harmonicats was by far the most successful harmonica group in the United States.
In 1947, the Harmonicats recorded "Peg o' My Heart", a popular 1913 song written by Alfred Bryan and composed by Fred Fisher. The Harmonicats' version on Vitacoustic Records spent 21 weeks on the Billboard chart (peaking at No. 1) and sold more than 2 million copies the first year. It was the first record in history to use artificial reverb. In the following decades, they made 30 more records.
Murad also worked in Richard Hayman's Orchestra in a duo with Fiore and released a series of albums.
He kept playing his harmonica until his death in 1996.
Death
Murad died in Liberty Township, Ohio, on May 11, 1996, at age 77.