Adam Smith

Adam Smith – Multi-Instrumentalist/Composer/Improviser



Adam Smith’s musical journey is one of many different destinations and directions. Playing and performing professionally as a session musician since the age of 16. Adam has thrust himself into almost every musical situation imaginable. His perpetual passion as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger lies in his quest to elevate the essence of the moment. To use styles of music as only a foundation to project a further concurrence between the music and listener. His passion for fusing his Film and TV music experience, jazz idioms, art installations and free-improvised directions creates an extremely unique landscape for the adventurous musician and listener.



After spending many years developing his skills with musique concrete and modular synthesizers, his awareness of how psycho-acoustics affect a listener became an important module in his definitive sound-vision. The intensity and dynamics of live performance is also of equal polarity. Adam is well known for his long-standing association with the highly-regarded progressive metal trio Deadsea. Other projects include a duo with German avant-garde pianist Simone Wei�enfels . Jazz-Fusion group Descendre with Bassist/Keyboardist Jim Tussing & Drummer Justin Campbell. A quartet with futuristic jazz keyboardist/composer Scott Steelman & Reedman Dr. Michael Cox. Touring with master Saxophonist and Poet Elliot Levin. Recently, he has also performed with Christian Howes' Dangerous quartet w/ Drummer Reggie Jackson and Organist Bobby Floyd. Also he been performing live stereo and quadraphonic solo performances for prepared 8-track tapes & synthesizers teaming up with visual installation artists Kevin VanScoder & Stacie Sells.



He expresses his duties in a musical scenario as more of a shape-shifter. Not only within the music happening, but with what is happening in the environment the music is made in. Adam’s passion it is to project a musical experience that pulls everyone into the creative energy of the moment.



"Life is a gift and music is the changing skyline of that celebration" -Adam Smith



Available through analogsoul.de
Simone Wei�enfels & Adam Smith - ARRIVAL
The debut recording by German/Amercian Avant-Garde power duo. Live in studio Improvistaion performances of Acoustic Piano, Drum Set, and ARP 2600. Beautifully captured recording by Jon Fintel of Relay Recording Studio.



Review Of: Simone Wei�enfels & Adam Smith - ARRIVAL



It's not often the stars align themselves in a way that they allow for such a unique musical collaboration as the one between German pianist Simone Weissenfels and American multi-instrumentalist Adam Smith. Yet this is exactly what transpired when these two kindred spirits got together this past fall to weave their magic during a small performance tour of select US cities. In addition to these performances, where they were joined onstage by special guest musicians in each locale, they also managed to capture their flood of creativity over the course of four days together in the studio. The results of some of these live-in the studio improvisations can be heard on this splendid new four song offering entitled Arrival.
The performances on Arrival reveal not only the obvious, which is two musicians who are extremely adept on their respective instruments, but also more importantly these compositions highlight the magical possibilities that can be conjured up when two like-minded individuals, who are as well versed and epitomize the art of musical dialogue, get together. Weissenfels (acoustic piano) and Smith (drums & electronics) converse and feed off each other with a remarkable amount of fluidity, pouring their heart and soul into almost sixty minutes of intensely demanding & intriguing, improvised music.
The music on Arrival proves to be an almost equally challenging experience for the listener, yet the duo's "composing on the spot" method is extremely effective and powerful, yielding one epiphany after another. While Simone and Adam do venture off into some pretty fierce passages that are very Free-Jazz like in nature, its Simone's Classical music background that is really the springboard here for the majority of this music. Also unlike some of the more extreme avant-garde stylings of Free-Jazz, where it may sound to the untrained ear that all of the musicians are playing at the same time and fighting for space within the music, these two musicians share such an exceptional understanding, which in turn allows them to give each other the necessary space, so that even in their wildest flights, it never sounds like they're stepping on each other's toes so to speak. The immediacy of opening track "Majestic" or the continuous, beautiful ebb and flow of "Absacker" and "Arrival" are perfect examples which highlight just how well these two distinctly different musical personalities are able to seamlessly blend themselves together into one.
The musical centerpiece on Arrival is definitely the muti-faceted epic "Essex", which at twenty seven minutes in length comprises almost half the album. This dynamic composition which is unlike the other three, features a prepared tape backdrop of Smith on the ARP 2600 synthesizer laying down an abstract foundation for the duo to expand upon and gradually open up. The first half of this track focuses primarily on creating an eerie sense of foreboding, as the tension increases slowly via the odd drum flourish and carefully selected piano notes. The song opens up around the fifteen minute mark before retreating back into more minimalist, atmospheric textures. However it's the final seven minutes that yield the most interesting results, because just as the listener is lured into a rare sense of security and calm, out of nowhere comes the ghostly sound of what appears to be voices from the other side that explode forth with a chilling impact that will make the hair on your arms stand up. The song concludes with a furious coda that sees both Simone and Adam turning in an extended improvisation that finds them takimg both their individual and collective performances to a new level.
Arrival is an extremely rewarding and enriching listening experience and one of musical discovery, not only for the musicians but for the listener as well. This music is about the magic that can occur when two musicians of this caliber come together to converse and create within the moment.
RYAN SPARKS
www.seaoftranquility.org