PT Gazell on Harmonica Half Valving – Interview Snippet from BluesHarmonica.com

Join me for a small portion of my interview with PT Gazell where he covers how half valving works on a standard major diatonic harmonica. To see the rest of this interview (~90m) visit www.bluesharmonica.com and become a subscribed member. First picking up the instrument in his late teens, the Wisconsin-born, self-taught player PT Gazell honed his craft by taking on all manner of musical styles including bluegrass, folk and pop. PT found his way to Lexington, Kentucky in the mid-seventies. At the time Lexington was a hotbed of young bluegrass musicians and PT fell right in with the likes of Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck and others. While in Lexington, PT recorded his first album for Sugar Hill Records titled Pace Yourself. PT was the first harmonica player, and the second artist, to be honored with a recording contract with famed Sugar Hill Records. PT soon became a sought after side man and session player for some of Nashville’s biggest stars and spent the next part of his career playing and recording all over the world along side the stars of the day. As exciting and fun as that period was, I also began to get somewhat frustrated. Tired by the road and frustrated by the musical limitations presented by the standard diatonic harmonica, Gazell put his instrument down and disappeared for a while. When he finally reemerged it was with a newfound enthusiasm in part created by his introduction to valved harmonicas. Using self-valved harps, Gazell’s music literally …