Rob Adams Journalist

Rob Adams Music Touring

this page has now moved to https://robadamsmusictouring.wordpress.com/

Representing

Tommy Smith solo saxophone - top flight tenor, warm, self-effacing presentation, familiar tunes chosen spontaneously, works particularly well in a church or cathedral where the natural acoustic can inspire and become part of the music. 

Tommy Smith Quartet: Embodying the Light - the saxophonist's John Coltrane dedication, still picking up rave press reviews and ecstatic promoter responses, all acoustic. No PA required, just a first class grand piano.

Tommy Smith & Brian Kellock - "world class" (Jazz Journal) saxophone and piano partnership playing familiar tunes with passion and tenderness and bouncing off each other with humour and bonhomie. No PA required, just a first class piano.

Fergus McCreadie Trio - outstanding young pianist leading a superbly accomplished, dynamic, sensitive trio in music that reflects his Scottish homeland and folk traditions while honouring the jazz masters from McCoy to Svensson. Grand piano preferred but can work with (and provide) digital keyboard. 

Guitar Journey - the four hands of Giorgio Serci (as with Denys Baptiste, Jason Yarde, Kenny Wheeler and Ivan Lins) and Jonny Phillips (of Oriole) making twelve strings sing with soulfully melodic music from sunny climes.

New Focus - saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski and pianist Euan Stevenson's elastic band, available in duo, trio, quartet and nonet (jazz quartet with strings), playing original music with classical and folk influences. Duo now also offers the Classical Connection, joining the dots between Chopin and Corea, Satie and Ellington and more with humour and mastery.

Brian Molley Quartet pays tribute to Bobby Wellins - classy Scottish saxophonist pays homage to Scotland's first great tenor, from Dreams Are Free to CUCB via Starless and Culloden and Bobby's beloved Monk with his own take on the Wellins trademark vulnerability and unhurried wit.

The Don Paterson Situation - serial award-winning poet and guitarist previously with Celtic-jazz group Lammas presents potently melodic music with a first class band that one delighted customer described (not unfairly) as "just like a Scottish Pat Metheny Group".

Tommy Smith & Brian Kellock – Scotland’s leading jazz musicians, recently described by Jazz Journal magazine as a “world class” partnership. Long years of friendship, a natural rapport and a special kind of creativity based on saxophonist Smith’s total confidence in pianist Kellock’s qualities as his own personal orchestra allow these masters to spin classic songs into spontaneous jazz gold. Performing acoustically – with no mics, no PA – they make a jazz concert a very personal experience shared by everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fsrVwBP31I

Konrad Wiszniewski & Euan Stevenson’s New Focus – originally conceived as a fiftieth anniversary tribute to saxophone giant Stan Getz’s classic orchestral album, Focus, this group has become one of the true gems of the Scottish jazz scene. The music, now all original compositions, is beautifully realised with a cinematic quality and following enthusiastic responses to their first album, simply titled New Focus, the saxophonist and pianist are working on a follow-up that maintains and outstrips the quality of their debut. They perform in a choice of three formats: saxophone and piano duo, jazz quartet and nonet – jazz quartet with superbly integrated string quartet and flute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsTQx2tG-g8

An Evening with Nigel Clark – one of the UK’s foremost acoustic guitarists, Clark has worked with chart toppers Hue & Cry, the voice of Clannad, Moya Brennan, top jazz singer Carol Kidd, soul star Gloria Gaynor and Belgian guitar legend Philip Catherine and for the past ten years has toured and recorded with Dutch swing violinist Tim Kliphuis. His first album of solo arrangements for nylon strung acoustic guitar, Under the Stars, released in 2012, confirmed him as a major talent and with a wealth of anecdotes to match his varied musical experiences, an evening with Nigel Clark is likely to pass all too quickly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwVk40T-EFI

Guitar Journey: Giorgio Serci & Jonny Phillips

Two of Europe’s leading acoustic players take you on a musical journey following the development of the guitar from its origins in Spain and North Africa along a path across Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Sardinian-born Giorgio Serci is an award-winning guitarist, composer, and arranger. He has recorded and shared stages with Jools Holland, Shirley Bassey, Julian Lloyd Webber, Dr John, Martin Taylor, Nigel Kennedy, Andy Sheppard, Bill Bruford, Kenny Wheeler and the CBS, BBC Concert and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras.