I was thinking about harmonica-driven contemporary blues songs and this one by Guy Forsyth came to mind. The first version is captioned, which may help clarify the lyrics; the second is a professionally shot clip and Guy does the song a little differently, different drummer too. Does this qualify as modern blues harmonica?
I forget the math, but 105 Fahrenheit is very, very hot weather. The song can be found on Guy's LOVE SONGS: FOR AND AGAINST album.
It sounds like excellent harp playing in the country, old style tradition. Modern Blues, I am not crazy about that tag. Buddy Guy, Jr Wells and the generation that went electric are the modern blues guys. Adam's music is seeped in that tradition too, but just because you do OB's, doesn't make it Modern Blues. I mean, Robert Cray's original blues tunes are modern to me, not Adam's one man band stuff. No knock on him, just my take on the Modern Blues tag.
Last Edited by on Jan 19, 2011 6:16 AM
+1 on what 6SN7 says. "Modern" is a question of perspective, jazz has been "modern" for decades, since '52 at least if you are Milt Jackson, the "Modernists" ran riot around UK seaside towns in the 60's, overblowing has been around since the late 60's officially (it is much mooted that players stumbled on it prior to that, I did my first one by accident), which makes it no more, or less, modern than reggae. Not that I am suggesting that OBs are the defining point of "modern harp".
I'd say the fact that Guy's performance was captured on a camera phone then uploaded to Youtube gives it it's "modern" provenance.
Son of Dave is modern in the sense that modern technology allows his performance to take place. A harp is still the same harp it was (more or less) 150yrs ago, you still suck & blow...now build me an andriod to play harp...that's "modern"! I want my harp playin' metal man/woman & I want it now...if it can play harp, it can surely mow the lawn & get my groceries too! :-)
Last Edited by on Jan 19, 2011 7:02 AM
