John "Juke" Logan

Even if John "Juke" Logan has yet to become a familiar name to most listeners, his harmonica has almost certainly reached audiences without their realizing it. The instrument surfaces in television themes for Home Improvement and Roseanne, in feature films such as Crossroads and La Bamba, and within advertisements for Jack-in-the-Box and Cherry Coke. Beneath that session work, however, stands a composer whose abilities surfaced on John Mayall's "Fanning the Flames" and on harp player Gary Primach's "The Sound of Money Talkin'" and "Hustler."

Logan's first notable opportunities arrived when he toured as a sideman with Dobie Gray and then spent four years alongside Leon Russell, including the period when Russell led New Grass Revival. During the late '80s he performed with ex-Blaster Dave Alvin in the Allnighters Band. An earlier connection with Ry Cooder on the soundtracks for Streets of Fire and Crossroads opened the door to steady studio work. In Los Angeles he co-hosts the weekly broadcast The Friday Night Blues Revue with Ellen Bloom. After many years of session playing, Logan issued The Chill in 1995 and Juke Rhythm in 1998, both albums revealing his deep affection for the blues; a live recording, Live As It Gets, appeared the following year.