About
Born in 1976 in Cheshire, Adam studied classical piano throughout his younger years whilst performing with local big bands in the Greater Manchester area. In 1994, Adam was one of twelve composers selected nationwide by Steve Martland for a scholarship on his Strikeout Summer School, the resulting piece from which won Adam the regional Daily Telegraph Young Jazz Musician Award for Composition in 1995 and a workshop at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Later that year Adam began studying at Leeds College of Music with pianist-educators Nikki Iles and Pete Churchill, performing in numerous jazz ensembles including a sextet under the direction of renowned drummer Tony Faulkner and working within a variety of settings from duo to gospel choirs and jazz orchestras. Following graduation with the BA Honours Degree in Jazz Studies, Adam continued his studies at Salford University with John Ellis on the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance in 1998-2000.
Over the last ten years Adam has enjoyed festival performances including Buxton 4/4 Time, Newark Jazz Festival and Nantwich Jazz and Blues Festival. Venues have included: Ronnie Scott’s (Birmingham) & Smollensky’s on the Strand, London Palladium, Manchester Palace, Sheffield Lyceum & Lichfield Royal Theatres, Manchester United Football Club, the Hilton and the Grand Hotels. Adam also performed with his swing quartet “Quintessential” for the Duke of Westminster at the Eaton Hall Estate near Chester in December 2007.
Visiting tutor posts are currently Fallibroome High School in Macclesfield (Cheshire), Vernon School in Poynton (Cheshire) and the Music Studio in New Mills (Derbyshire). Project work has included Stockport School’s big band “Stagesound” at the Royal Northern College of Music, Cheadle Hulme School’s jazz quintet at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and composition workshops at the Royal Schools for the Deaf, Cheadle. Adam also has the jazz band agency www.swingbands.co.uk and regularly supplies professional musicians to perform at prestigious venues such as Ascot Racecourse and House of Fraser.
Adam currently uses the Nord Stage piano & Hammond xk3c organ on gigs with amplification by Electro Voice, Trace Elliot & Leslie plus microphones by Neumann & Shure.
Current influences in no particular order: Georgie Fame, Jimmy Smith, Oscar Peterson, Steve Winwood, Booker T, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Eva Cassidy, Claire Martin, David Newton, Jimmy McGriff, Bob Marley, Mose Allison, Eric Burdon, Joe Zawinul, James Booker, Shirley Horn, John Cleary, Matt Schofield…
Please feel free to get in touch with any new project enquiries whether performance, writing or educationally based.