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| Patricia Adams: Keeping her own time on itunes From ‘Oh, Holy Night’ in her sixth grade recital, to standing room only at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts a half decade later, Patricia Adams takes the road less traveled. Her latest CD, Live @ Ryles Jazz Club captures her rapture with American Songbook standards. Five Irving Berlin tunes from his lighthearted ‘Be Careful, It’s My Heart’ to the unfolding of a lynching in ‘Suppertime’, Adams showcases her passion for jazz and blues standards from Tin Pan Alley and the Harlem renaissance. The 2-disc CD introduced by Al Davis, host of public radio’s Jazz Gallery can be heard on Boston-based WGBH, and globally on-line. Along with her earlier CD’s, Live @Ryles receives airplay around the world. Albums are available at retail outlets and on-line, and individual tracks are sold on Apple iTunes and MSN Music. “Young people in a recent audience cheered and became immediately more attentive when I announced my music is on iTunes. "Technology is the hook to showcase jazz to new generations”, predicts Adams. She sings those not-so-standard standards from the 1920’s, ‘30’s and ‘40s - - tunes like ‘Frim Fram Sauce’ and ‘Blackberry Winter’ but also the more familiar ‘How Deep Is The Ocean’ and ‘Orange Colored Sky’. Catch her every first Sunday at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. “This is a jazz brunch where you hear the music of Duke Ellington and Harold Arlen, even dance if you want to”. Adams attracts neighborhood locals and has become a venue for the tourist trade. “The explosion in on-line services couldn’t come at a better time. Now, when you song-search ‘Do Nothin’ Til You Hear From Me’ on Apple iTunes, my name comes up alongside Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald! Over 60% of my digital sales are in Europe and the South American basin and otherwise sluggish album sales are enjoying an upward surge, apparently as a result. The industry has returned to selling single tunes customers can afford.”, she observes. Adams is no stranger to technology. Self-producing and promotion are a major part of her workload. Corporate management and computer technology, her editorial and business exposure in her family’s newspaper and printing businesses combine for a unique set of skills supporting her transition to jazz singer. She’s expanded her mailing lists from Manhattan, Westchester, Hartford and Boston into the thousands. “All I ever wanted to do was sing a song. I didn’t have the remotest clue starting out fifteen years ago what that meant. It takes time to build credibility and trust among bookers, venues, other musicians and support resources; I’m peddling a total package, not just the music and I am blessed with a second career I love.” About Us: Adams initially set her sights on a career in human resources, earning her BS in personnel management and industrial relations with a minor in labor economics at New York University’s School of Commerce, Accounts & Finance (now, The Stern School) in 1963, and her MBA from Atlanta University in 1969. She rose through the professional and managerial ranks of three Fortune 500 companies (IBM, First National Bank of Boston, Digital Equipment Corporation), eventually taking early retirement in the summer of 1998 from what is now Hewlett Packard. While colleagues retired to consulting, their own entrepreneurial endeavors and teaching, Adams developed a deeper curiosity about and interest in jazz. “I enrolled at the Performing Arts School of Worcester and the New England Conservatory, Department of Contemporary Improvisation - - jazz master, Ran Blake, chair. I sat for hours every Tuesday night at an open mic waiting to sing one song to learn how with a live trio and was at my full-time day gig the next morning, early! Then came volunteering at nursing homes and eventually paid gigs at clubs, restaurants and galleries.” write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |