In a wide-ranging interview conducted by Ross Garren for https://www.tradebit.com in January 2015, Adam Gussow talks about his nearly three decades of experience as a blues-playing overblower. Along with Carlos del Junco, Gussow is one of the first players to make overblows, a technique brilliantly elaborated by jazzman Howard Levy in the mid-1980s, into a central stylistic element of an amplified blues harmonica sound. (Earlier overblow investigators include Paul Oscher, Will Scarlett, and Mike Turk.)

This zip file contains thirteen separate videos saved in the mp4 format. Total running time is approximately 71 minutes. The preview above is a ringtone excerpted from Gussow's 1991 composition "Thunky Fing," which features overblows on a D harp played in third position.


1. Discovery of overblows and early uses, Part 1 (8:22)

2. Discovery of overblows and early uses, Part 2 (7:56)

3. Setting up harps for overblows (4:21)

4. How to overblow (10:34)

5. Favorite overblow tunes (6:49)

6. Effect and range of sound (3:05)

7. Experimenting with overblows (2:51)

8. Overblows in rock-blues contexts (5:54)

9. Contemporary blues players who overblow (2:07)

10. Exercises for beginning overblowers (6:25)

11. Exercises for advanced overblowers (4:09)

12. Overblowing in first position (4:17)

13. Closing comments (4:25)


Offered by https://www.tradebit.com in cooperation with David Barrett and https://www.tradebit.com