ADAM SMALE
"What emerges are distinctive yet subtle nuances, a piano-like quality creating an Illusion, luring the ears into hearing two guitars--two hands in counterpoint under the shadow of one fedora."
Adam is happy to announce that he has just recently graduated with a Masters degree in Jazz at Western Michigan University. He now lives in New York.
You could say Adam grew up inside of a cornfield—on 3 acres of property his parents bought in an existing cornfield of which 3 sides was surrounded by rows, and rows of corn. Bar River (35min east of Sault Ste. Marie), a very small working-class community in Northern Ontario, Canada, is the place that provided the young guitarist with his deep roots in Country and Bluegrass music. He was raised on Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Chet Atkins, and Flatt & Scruggs, with a dash of the surfer guitar group, The Ventures, thrown into the mix. Initially, at 7 years old, he had wanted to the play 5-string banjo, but when told by a local teacher he was too small to play it, he then tried his hand at the guitar. His bond with the instrument was immediate. By the tender age of 12 he became a member of the musician's union and burst onto the local music scene performing at various community events. By 14, was on the road gaining valuable experience such as playing night clubs and weddings around Northern Ontario.
It was during these formative years a personal quest was cemented and impassioned seeds were sowed which were allowed to flourish over time. Logically so, an organic blend of musical influences, fostered by extremely open-minded parents, was given fertile ground to grow its own solid, dynamic, ever-probing roots. After eight years of performing, Adam's talent and creative drive had exceeded the limitations of small-town exposure.
The young guitarist made the move to Toronto enrolling in the excellent music program at Humber College. Humber initiated Adam to jazz and the introduction to its lineage and he never looked back. “Jazz felt completely natural. I was always improvising, being somewhat naive, thought everyone improvised all the time. Jazz was the perfect vehicle to implement this natural propensity.” Also exposed to other genres of music, and tipping his hat to his roots in country, Adam was making a natural progression to his own brand of Jazz. However, it was not until years later, after graduating, that Adam found another monumental influence, a guitar master who also raised out of the country tradition, and furthermore, also touted Chet Atkins a mentor as a young “picker”— continue.
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Click here to check out Adam's CD, Fun City
Band Member Bios (please scroll down):
JOEL HAYNES
Joel Haynes is an emerging, dynamic drummer on the Canadian jazz scene. Since the age of 7, he has been playing and studying the drums with absolute dedication and determination. Joel has grown from his early community musical experiences in his hometowns of Hamilton and Burlington, Ontario, and has progressed to playing with some of the finest jazz artists in Canada. Highlights include being nominated for a National Jazz Award in 2003, and being invited to perform with Oscar Peterson and Dave Young for the Toronto Tsunami Relief Benefit in January, 2005.
Joel has performed at many major jazz festivals in North America, South America, The Caribbean, and Europe. While in Ontario, he has played with many outstanding jazz artists, such as: Ray Anderson, Rob McConnell, Sam Noto, Dave Young, P.J. Perry, Cornelius Dupr, Don Thompson, Neil Swainson, Jim Vivian, Bernie Senensky, David Braid, Steve Koven, Andrew Scott, Billy Robinson, and Verve recording artist, Denzal Sinclaire.
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ARTIE ROTH
Born and raised in Toronto, Jazz musician Artie Roth began playing the acoustic bass, at the age of twenty, following training at the Royal Conservatory of Music in piano and euphonium. A student of York Universitys Jazz Performance program, Artie graduated in 1992, receiving both the prestigious Oscar Peterson Scholarship and the CJRT Jazz Award. Arties musical education was further enriched with private lessons in classical bass with the T.S.O. bassist John Gowen (1993-1996) as well as with two Canada Council study grants (1993 and 1997). These generous grants facilitated Arties temporary relocation to New York City in pursuit of private lessons with Jazz legends such as Dave Holland and John Pattituci. Coming full circle in 2003, Artie returned to York University in the capacity of jazz bass instructor.
Artie is also steadily developing an international reputation. He has toured extensively throughout Canada and the U.S. with the Sean Bray Trio (1994), The Greg Runions Septet (1996), The Rez Abassi Quartet (2000), The Melissa Stylianou Quintet (2002,2003, and 2005), as well as in Europe with The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band (1996), and with The Steve Koven Trio in Mexico (2003). Recording highlights featuring Artie's work as a side-person include: Rich Underhills 2003 JUNO award winning Tales From The Blue Lounge, jazz vocalist Melissa Stylianous It Never Entered My Mind and Bachelorette, Bob Broughs A Decade of Favourites and Greg Runions But Not Forgotten, which included legendary Kenny Wheeler on fluegelhorn. He has just celebrated the 2005 spring release of The Artie Roth Quintet's debut CD Parallels.
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JEFF KING
In just a few years on the Toronto jazz scene, Jeff King has risen to become one of Canada's truly formidable young talents. After high school he was accepted to study classical music at the University of Western Ontario.
He began playing and recording jazz with local artists while still in university. One such musician was the great clarinetist and jazz educator Phil Nimmons, who recommended Jeff move to Toronto to study furtherJeff did just that. In Toronto, Jeff began studies under the tutelage of the great jazz saxophonist Kirk MacDonald. Over the years of study, Kirk became Jeffs mentor and friend, and taught Jeff about both the playing and the composing of jazz music.
Since then, Jeff has been active in the Canadian jazz scene; having played or recorded with such great musicians as Terry Clarke, Kieran Overs, Nancy Walker, Steve Wallace, Hilario Duran, Brian Dickenson, Neil Swainson, David Braid, Bob McLaren, Roy Patterson, Lorne Lofsky, Kevin Turcotte, Reg Schwager, John MacLeod among many.
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