Clarksdale to Chicago
Adam Gussow and Alan Gross, a.k.a. The Blues Doctors, are Mississippi-based blues veterans who play a mix of down-home Delta standards and urban grooves from the Clarksdale-to-Chicago axis with some New Orleans funk thrown in. They’re a two-man band with a big, bold sound: Gussow on harmonica and drumset, Gross on guitar, with both men switching off on vocals.
Adam Gussow needs no introduction to blues harp fans. “One of the world’s finest blues harmonica players” according to Philadelphia blues DJ Jonny Meister, Gussow is best known for his twenty-five year partnership with Mississippi-born guitarist and one-man-band Sterling “Mr. Satan” Magee as the duo Satan and Adam. Their releases include the W. C. Handy-nominated Harlem Blues (1991), Mother Mojo (1993), Living on the River (1996), Word On the Street: Harlem Recordings, 1989 (2008), and Back in the Game (2011). Gussow has performed and recorded with many guitar-men during his career, including Wild Jimmy Spruill, Larry Johnson, Charlie Hilbert, Robert Ross, Andrew “Shine” Turner, Bill Sims, Jr., Irving Louis Lattin, and Brian Kramer. Gussow’s debut solo album, Kick and Stomp (2010), spent many weeks at #1 in the “Hot New Releases in Acoustic Blues” chart at Amazon mp3’s and rose to the #2 position in the “picks to click” category on Bluesville (SiriusXM), America’s premier satellite radio blues show. His second solo album, Southbound (2011), spent most of March and April 2012 at the #1 position on the Mississippi Roots Rado Airplay Chart. An author as well as musician, Gussow has written three award-winning books about blues literature and culture, including Mister Satan’s Apprentice (1998), a memoir about his time as a Harlem street musician. His newest book, Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil and the Blues Tradition, will be published by University of North Carolina Press in October 2017.
Alan Gross is best-known for his long association with Mississippi bluesman Terry “Harmonica” Bean–he’s played guitar in his band for a decade–and work with hill country performers Kinneyy Kimbrough, Lightning Malcolm, and Eric Deaton. He’s also gigged with R. L. Boyce, a mainstay of Otha Turner’s Rising Star Fife and Drum ensemble, and played numerous festivals across the state of Mississippi. His guitar influences include Muddy Waters, Duke Robillard, Jimmie Vaughan, and Warren Haynes.
A more electrifying blues duo you will not find.
Promoter’s Note: Adam Gussow used to be part of Satan and Adam. They played several times in the Lizard Lounge at Chameleon Club back in the early 90’s.
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