Harmonica veteran Li'l Arthur Duncan hospitalized

Li’l Arthur Duncan, veteran harpist and a Delmark records artist, was hospitalized last week for brain surgery. Doctors at the University of Illinois medical center reportedly removed a tumor from his brain, which one member of his band described as “the size of a golfball”. Duncan is in intensive care and has reportedly not moved beyond blinking his eyes, and his condition is not yet stable.
Duncan is a beloved member of the Chicago blues scene, and recently his career was on the upswing with a new Delmark CD/DVD release, “Live at Rosa’s Lounge”, recorded last August. He was proprietor of several West Side blues lounges over the years, but in recent years lived on Chicago’s South Side has spent more time playing with his band, the Backscratchers.