Hi all, I got to know Adam over the weekend, and he is a nice guy, so my review might not be unbiased, but here it is.
Adam played a 50 minute set in Manhattan, KS on Sept 24th to about 150 people packed into a bar. He used his a Shure PE5H high impedance mic, a digital delay, split into a small Kay tube amp and a Harpgear. His foot drum set up is described elsewhere on this forum.
He came out with the high energy title track of his new CD, Kick and Stomp and immediately grabbed everyone's attention. He proceeded to do the majority of the material from that recording. Adam had his audience in the palm of his hands through the entire set. There was no dance floor but people were dancing in their seats. He did Good Morning Little School Girl and really played with the tempo. Some of the other songs sped up as he played and it seemed to add an edge to them the propelled the songs forward.
The stage of the bar has it's back to the street and is clear plate glass windows. By the time Adam had finished his encore, Crossroads, there were about 30 people on the sidewalk outside dancing to the music, and a banjo player and percussion street musician jamming along across the street.
I downloaded Adam's new CD a few weeks ago and was really impressed by the music. Still you never really know how many takes were used to get it on tape. Seeing Gussow play his solo set was like the first time I saw Leo Kotke. intellectually I knew it was one guy on the recordings making the music, but until you see it in front of your face, you still don't quite believe it. Youtube just does not convey the artistry. People repeatedly asked me how he got the fantastic tone. It is because he has a very nice set up and his tone is huge with no amplification.
Adam called himself a "journeyman" in his autobiography. To graduate from a "journeyman" to a "master" the requirement is to produce a unique work that is judged by others to show a level of artistry. This CD and his subsequent performance of it suggests to me that Gussow clearly is a master harmonica player now. Few people can sit down with just a harmonica and foot drum and keep a bar full of drinking college students at such close attention. On this Friday night, Adam demonstrated he is a showman, a mature and highly technical player at the peak of his powers, and the meaning of the phrase "modern blues harmonica".
If you ever get a chance to see Adam perform this material live, jump at it... you will be kicking and stomping for sure.
Last Edited by on Sep 27, 2010 12:05 PM
Someday I will enjoy this for myself. Nothing like watching somebody pour out everything they have for you. Hopefully Adam grading papers won't get in the way being famous.
It didn't happen until we see some vids(Please.) ---------- Harmonicas: Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb Hohner Special 20 in Bb Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E,F
If anybody wants to buy a mic similar to Adams PE5H a friend of mine is selling a PE9H it is a excellent Hi Z mic for vocals & harp . it is on ebay UK only has 3 hours left & no bids 130434249758
I'd still love to see some vids from this show. Sounds like it was pretty cool. ---------- Harmonicas: Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb Hohner Special 20 in Bb Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E,F
I love listening to Adam play, it just makes ya' smile. I actually think I'm starting to pick out his style too so that I'd be able to tell him from another harp player. I can already do that with guitar players, it's cool that I'm learning to do it with harp players too. Man, I hope he can make it to Nashville for a show. ---------- Harmonicas: Hohner Big River in Low F,G,A,Bb Hohner Special 20 in Bb Suzuki HarpMaster in C Suzuki FolkMaster in D,E,F
Thanks for the nice write-up, Walter! I appreciate it.
There actually IS some video from that night. A player named Keith Burditt, who was sitting at my table and had driven 250 miles for the show, posted some to Facebook. It's on his profile, and he's posted it on mine:
I'm surprised by how closely the harp sound live resembles the sound I got on the album. On the album I used the Kay and the Premier; on the gig I used the Kay and the HarpGear. That HG2 is a smokin' little amp.
Last Edited by on Sep 28, 2010 2:53 PM
Here is a video of the guitar player who was up with us that night, Wayne Goins only playing with a slightly better band in this vid :-) He did tear it up with Adam on some songs last Friday night though.
Gotta hand it to you, my man. You were 'blowing the family jewels' in that piece of action. That contraption you got to kick on like a drum sells the deal...a very clever idea. Excellent bit of work...somebody got to go a long way to cut that show. Regards, Me
