Founder
Lee Oskar
f. 1948 · København, Danmark
The Dane who built the harmonica for people who live off it
He arrived in the US with a harmonica in his pocket and ended up in the band War. Then he built the instrument he wished he'd had when he started.
Lee Oskar Levitin was born in Copenhagen in 1948. As a teenager he travelled to the US with little more than a harmonica. In the 1970s he ended up in the funk/rock band War — the lead harp lines on 'Low Rider' and 'Why Can't We Be Friends?' are his.
In 1983 he partnered with Japanese maker Tombo to launch Lee Oskar Harmonicas. The idea was simple: build a harp that survives a full tour, where you can swap individual reed plates instead of throwing the whole instrument away.
Anecdotes & moments
- He played the famous solo run on 'Low Rider' in a single take, reportedly without knowing the tape was rolling.
- The Lee Oskar tuning system — Major Diatonic, Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor and Melody Maker, all in one product family — made it easier for blues players to handle both minor and major tunes without switching technique mid-song.
Links
Photo: Wikimedia Commons