[Harp-L] A bit of an introduction

[Jóhannes Jónsson <johjons@xxxxxx>]

Dear Harp-l-ers

I asked questions on the list awhile back with very good results. Thanks again for that. Now I would like to introduce myself a bit and ask a few more.
As I told you I´m coming back to serious practising after a long pause. I play with a Blues band in Reykjavík and practise jazz with a guitarist friend of mine.
Now I´m about to order a few harmonicas on the net and am trying to decide which ones  to choose, from the many possibilities. There have never been but a few brands sold here in Iceland and there are many types I have never tried, only Hohner and Lee Oskar which I never liked. In my playing I´m pursinug two very different roads:

1.  I started out as a pucker blues player but learned later to tongue-block and nowadays I mostly play with mixed embochure when playing blues. I would say I play the blues rather classically and don´t use overblows much.  
2. On the other hand I have been trying to play everything, no matter what it is, on a Bb harmonica which is the harp I like the best and is generally the best keyed harp for playing jazz. Then I pucker exept for occasional octaves and other intervals. I can play a clean chromatic scale though, from blow 2 to blow 7, (both ways) on my best G.M. but only slowly and I don´t think it will be practical to take that technique further. By the way; Is anyone doing that, playing chromatically tongue-blocked or otherwise mixing the two techniques? It seems to me that it´s impossible to play for example an overblow with a tongue slap. 

Anyway, there are two separate things I´m about to order on the net: 
1. A set of 6 or 7 harps that I will use with the blues band I´m in.
2. One or two very good customized harmonicas in Bb to play jazz on

For nr 1 I´m thinking about Fire Breath or Dannecker Custom Special 20´s How do these differ from standard Hohner harps or compared to each other?
For nr 2. the possibilities are more; The Turboharp, Danneckers Blues Harp (it´s said to have an overblow setup but how is it made airtight and how´s the tone?) If I go all the way and buy a Filisko Method harp from James Gordon my question is this: As I´ve mostly used Golden Melodys when playing jazz (but also like very much the tone of the Marine band), I´d like to ask if Gordon´s Overblow Setup Marine Band with composite comb has the same playing ease and overblowing respond as the best G.M. he or others customize. It´s considerably more expensive than the G.M mentioned on the Filisko Method site, (that G.M. is actually said to have a "Blues Setup". And by the way; I tried to send an e-mail to Gordon but it popped back. I used the e-mail given on the site. He is still in business, isn´t he?
Well that´s about it.

Since I´m writing anyway I´d like to mention that the three real harmonica eye-openers for me were, each in it´s own way, Richard Hunter´s "Jazz Harp", Steve Baker´s "Harp Handbook" and Howard Levy´s video, "New Directions for the Harmonica". However, the very first harp-book I got was"How to Play the Pocket Harmonica" by Peter Pickow and Jason A. Shulman, a very fine book I think for absolute beginners. Thanks to those people in case they´re on the list, I know that Richard Hunter is.

P.S. I don´t expect any single person to answer all my questions, just a thought on any of them and bits of information will be well appreciated.

P.P.S. As the harp is so interwoven with ones whole life there are moments one never forgets, so two last questions, just for fun: Where were you when first bent a note, I was in the bath tube. 
What was the first song you figured out, mine was the wedding march (!) or a part of it and I´m still unmarried.
Best regards and happy harping to all of you,

JJBecher