It’s Bell Weather for a Big Time Blues Festival

Carey Bell’s standing among his peers is considerable. The veteran blues harpist-singer has played alongside giants Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Big Walter Horton. He jammed with Junior Wells, James Cotton and Billy Branch on 1990’s “Harp Attack,” one of Alligator Records’ best-sellers. He took home two W.C. Handy Awards for his latest solo release, last year’s “Good Luck Man.”

Yet when it comes to public recognition and commercial gain, Carey Bell--who will play the Big Time Blues Festival on Sunday in Long Beach--remains somewhat of an outsider.

When fans discuss the great harmonica players, names such as Little Walter (Marion Walter Jacobs), Sonny Boy Williamson, Sonny Terry--and more recently, Cotton and Wells--easily overshadow Bell. Plus, over the past 30 years, his record sales haven’t exactly topped the charts.

Yet instead of crying the blues, Bell keeps on playin’ ‘em.

Reached by phone recently at his home on Chicago’s Southside, he was upbeat about how far he’s come since leaving the family farm in Mississippi at 17.

“I spent some time moving furniture and cleaning hospitals ‘cuz I couldn’t make no money just playing the blues,” recalled Bell, 61.

“But then I hooked up with Sonny Boy [Williamson] and Big Walter [Horton] and got to learn directly from the greats. I loved that big tone that Walter had, and Sonny Boy kinda took me under his wing. They had their own style and showed me a lot of things.

“I just kept workin’ and practicin’, so it wasn’t that hard to develop my own style. . . . I’m not rich, but I feel good. . . . I got my own band now, won them [W.C.] Handys and get to play all over the world.”

Last spring, Bell toured Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Norway before playing some U.S. dates and then embarking on a short trek to Asia.

Sunday he’ll be backed by the Rusty Zinn Band. Also scheduled to play are R&B; sax man Big Jay McNeely with blues steel guitarist Freddie Roulette; the Latin-spiced Delgado Brothers Band with harpist John “Juke” Logan; 18-year-old guitarist “Monster” Mike Welch; New Orleans’ gospel-tinged singer Yolanda Ann; and, in a rare appearance, flamboyant guitarist Louisiana Red (Iverson Minter), backed by the Bernie Pearl Blues Band.

Bell, a fan of the late bandleader Louis Jordan, wanted to be a saxophone player. Unable to afford the instrument, his grandfather bought him a harmonica instead. Bell taught himself to play by age 8 and began performing professionally with his godfather, blues pianist Lovie Lee, at 13.

Lee convinced Bell that Chicago was the place for aspiring blues men, and, in 1956, the two left the South for the bright lights of the Windy City. Bell was so moved by a “brilliant, magical performance” by Little Walter one night at a downtown club that he dedicated himself to a career playing the blues.

In time, he developed his signature “chopped” harmonica phrasing--that is, alternating sharply between solo and ensemble playing--and recorded for a variety of blues-based labels, including Arhoolie, Chess, Delmark, ABC Bluesway and Alligator. His spirited harp solos are defined by their soulful edge and expressive phrasing.

Bell’s latest offering, “Good Luck Man,” is a robust, 14-track collection of gritty blues, from well-crafted originals of longing and heartbreak (“Brand New Deal,” “Double Cross”) to a scorching instrumental (“Bell Hop”) to choice, reworked covers including Willie Dixon’s “I’m a Business Man” and Big Walter Horton’s “Hard-Hearted Woman.”

The recording features Bell’s touring band on half the material and the funkier rhythm section of bassist Johnny B. Gayden (Albert Collins) and drummer Willie Hayes (Luther Allison) on the other half.

The switch “wasn’t even my idea,” he says. “The guys at Alligator--[label president] Bruce Iglauer and [co-producer] Scott Dirks--wanted to experiment a little and go after a funkier, more rhythmic groove on some of the tracks. I like how it turned out. . . . It gives the record some variety and freshness.”

Searching for different approaches is part of what keeps Bell excited about his work. He’s thinking about a new wrinkle for his next project.

“I want to do what horns do, for one thing,” he offered. “It’s kinda hard to do that, though, because the harp don’t have no sharps and flats, you know what I mean? I’ve been experimenting with my chromatic [scale]. . . . sometimes I come out pretty good with it. Heck, I’ll probably mess around with it some more, and we’ll just see where it goes.”

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THE BIG TIME BLUES FESTIVAL

The musical lineup (times subject to change):

* 11:00 a.m.: Yolanda Ann

* Noon: Big Jay McNeely with Freddie Roulette

* 1:10 p.m.: The Delgado Brothers with John “Juke” Logan

* 2:10: Louisiana Red with the Bernie Pearl Blues Band

* 3:30: “Monster” Mike Welch

* 4:45: Carey Bell with the Rusty Zinn Band

* The 6th Annual Big Time Blues Festival, Gemmrig Park, 7390 E. Carson St., Long Beach. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday; gates open at 10 a.m. $20 advance, $23 at the gate. 12-and-under free with adult admission. Picnic baskets, blankets and low-back lawn chairs allowed (no alcohol or glass containers). Food and drink vendors on-site. Children’s music and craft activities. Recorded information: (562) 493-8300. Partial proceeds to benefit the Big Joe Turner Musician’s Assistance Fund.