Blues Harmonica Great Norton Buffalo Passes Away At 58

Blues and rock harmonica great Norton Buffalo, who spent the past 32 years as a member of The Steve Miller Band, has passed away October 30 at the age of 58 after a short bout with cancer.

Buffalo had been diagnosed with lung cancer in September, when after a concert he complained of feeling ill. He was diagnosed with stage 4 Adenocarcinoma of the lower right lobe. The next day. he found out that it had spread to his brain.

Born September 28, 1951 in Oakland, California, he earned perhaps his greatest success as a member of the Steve Miller Band, a position he held for over two decades beginning in the mid-1970s; as a session player, Buffalo also lent his harmonica skills to records from performers including the Doobie Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash and Elvin Bishop. He issued his solo debut, Lovin’ in the Valley of the Moon, on Capitol in 1977, followed a year later by Desert Horizon.

After spending the 1980s primarily as a sideman, Buffalo teamed with blues slide guitarist Roy Rogers in 1991 for R&B, which earned a Grammy nomination for the track “Song for Jessica”; the duo’s follow-up, Travellin’ Tracks, appeared a year later. Additionally, Buffalo led his own band, the Knockouts.