George Adams (musician)

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George Adams (1988)

George Rufus Adams (born April 29, 1940 in Covington , Georgia , † November 14, 1992 in New York City ) was an American jazz musician (tenor saxophone, flute, vocals, composition) and representative of the Modern Creative style.

Live and act

Adams began playing the piano at the age of eleven and was soon accompanying the church choir. The saxophone was added to school at school, where he performed with high school bands and played rhythm 'n' blues and funk in a nightclub that also played blues musicians like Howlin 'Wolf and Lightnin' Hopkins . He completed a scholarship in music from Clark College . In 1961 he was on tour with the blues singer Sam Cooke . Two years later he moved to Ohio , where he worked with organ bands . In 1966 he toured Europe with the band of the organist Hank Marr , which also included James Blood Ulmer . From 1968 he worked in New York with Roy Haynes , Gil Evans ( There Comes a Time ) and Art Blakey . Between 1973 and 1976 he was part of the quintet of Charles Mingus , with whom he recorded the albums Mingus at Carnegie Hall , Changes One / Two and Cumbia & Jazz Fusion . He then worked again with the Gil Evans Orchestra , but also with McCoy Tyner . In 1978 he performed at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival together with Archie Shepp and Heinz Sauer . From 1979 he played regularly with his former Mingus colleagues Don Pullen and Dannie Richmond as well as bassist Cameron Brown in an extraordinary quartet that played at all the well-known festivals in Europe and the USA. Occasionally he also appeared with Blood Ulmer and the free funk band Phalanx as well as with the Mingus Dynasty . In 1990, at the (posthumous) premiere of Mingus' grand orchestral work Epitaph , Adams was one of the leading soloists. His health deteriorated noticeably in 1991 due to cancer; Despite shortness of breath, he continued to perform with his own band until 1992, but also with the Mingus Dynasty .

The game of Adams excelled, despite the harmonic and linear freedom of a post- Coltrane - tenor by the vocal modulation and power of blues and gospel from. As a singer, he concentrated on a blues repertoire of a few, but excellently interpreted pieces with his own ironic lyrics.

Discography

  • 1975: Jazz a confronto ( Horo )
  • 1975: Suite for Swingers (Horo)
  • 1979: Sound Suggestions ( ECM )
  • 1979: Don't Lose Control ( Soul Note )
  • 1979: Paradise Space Shuttle ( Timeless )
  • 1980: Hand to Hand ( Soul Note )
  • 1981: Life Line (Timeless)
  • 1982: Melodic Excursions (Timeless)
  • 1983: Gentleman's Agreement (Soul Note)
  • 1983: City Gates (Timeless)
  • 1983: Live at the Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 (Soul Note)
  • 1984: Decisions (Timelesse)
  • 1984: More Sightings (live), ( Enja )
  • 1985: Live at Montmarte (Timeless)
  • 1986: Breakthrough ( Blue Note )
  • 1988: Nightingale (Blue Note)
  • 1989: Forever Lovers (Alfa)
  • 1989: America (Blue Note)
  • 1991: Old Feeling (Blue Note)

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Commons : George Adams (musician)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Adams, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adams, George Rufus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (saxophonist, singer, flutist and composer)
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Covington (Georgia) , Georgia
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1992
Place of death New York City