PF: Do you mainly just play a 'C' chromatic harmonica?

LT: Well, I've got harmonicas in all keys.

PF: With each particular chromatic do you only play it in the key it's tuned to or…

LT: Right

PF: So if you want to play something in the key of F you'll use an F chromatic.

LT: Right.

PF: Is there any reason why you'd use this approach as opposed to learning to play in each key on the one chromatic?

LT: No, I just never learned. I started playing in the key of C and stuck to it till they came out with some harmonicas in all the other different keys.

PF: Do you have any training in musical theory or do you just play everything by ear?

LT: Everything by ear. I have no idea what I'm doing musically. Technically I just play by ear.

PF: Do you read music at all?

LT: No.

PF: What are your favorite keys, and why?

LT: G and Ab. I don't know, I just like the sound.

PF: Do you use both blow C's in holes 4 and 5?

LT: I have no idea what I'm doing on that thing. I just play by ear and what I hear in my head and that's it.

PF: Do you use a pucker embouchure or a tongue-block embouchure where you put your tongue on the instrument and blow out of thecorner of your mouth?

LT: That's kind of what I do

PF: When you play double and triple tonguing do you change your embouchure or do you still have your tongue on the harmonica?

LT: I still have my tongue on the harmonica./ I use the front of my mouth and my tongue (???) (closes his mouth down so he can do the tucka-tucka)

PF: Do you ever use your hand to obtain a vibrato?

LT: No.

PF: So it all comes from within your mouth and throat?

LT: Right.

PF: Do you ever use an Adler-like tongue vibrato?

LT: No

PF: I would get the impression it's coming from your throat.

LT: I would say so.

PF: Have you got any particular approach to obtaining your tone?

LT: Mine is a sort of a breath thing that I use. I don't know how to explain it but I got that from Ben Webster, the great saxophone player.

PF: What was Ben Webster's approach?

LT: He was a breath player. He played tenor saxophone, one of the greatest in the world, and he had a different sound, a distinctive sound from anybody else. You could always tell when it was Ben.

PF: Did you just emulate what you heard him do on records or did you get to meet him?

LT: I met him. He came out to some sessions I did and I went to play with him with Benny Carter and some of the old jazz greats.

PF: Can you recall what he did with his breath technique?

LT: No I can't, I just listened to what he was doing and I loved it. He had a kind of breath thing going out of the side of his mouth while he was playing into his horn. It gave him a distinctive sound and that's kind of what I do.

PF: Did you ever have an approach to practicing in your earlier days?

LT: I'll tell you something, I never really practiced. I just played. I didn't know how to practice.

PF: Were there any other musicians that you listened to that you tried to emulate?

LT: I never did that. Only Ben Webster, and I didn't really try to copy his style. I just liked the way he played, and he and I were really good friends.

PF: If someone came to you and said that they wanted to learn to play jazz chromatic is there any advice you'd give?

LT: Just keep playing, playing what you feel, what's in your head and what's in your heart. That's it.

PF: When you started playing were there any other harmonica players you heard who influenced your playing?

LT: No. I've been playing since I was 5 years old and I'm 77.

PF: Whose harmonica playing do you admire?

LT: Toots Thielemans is absolutely great. He's the best harmonica player I've ever heard, he can really play.