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| Andy Adamson Quintet, A Coincidence of Cats - Andros Records  A Coincidence of Cats is the new album from the Andy Adamson Quintet. Keyboardist Andy Adamson has once again drawn on inspiration from travel and the natural world to deliver a diverse mix of jazz and fusion compositions. Adamson visualizes stories to his songs. Cats gathering is a coincidence! Lots of waves on a walk by the sea in Sagres, Portugal. The cannas in his yard, tall stalks with scarlet blooms waving in the wind – then hummingbirds swoop in to visit the flowers. The long ago, far away star in the early morning.Combined with the powerful charge of positive energy from his talented band mates Dan Bennet (saxophone), Ross Huff (trumpet), Brennan Andes (bass) and Jonathan Taylor (drums), the quintet delivers an emotional, precise, and driving sound to Adamson's compositions.Andy Adamson is a self-taught composer and musician native to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since beginning his musical journey, Andy has composed original music for all of his independent bands, culminating in a vast catalog of innovative modern jazz compositions, along with many R&B, funk and popular vocal tunes. Andy has played keyboards continuously for over 50 years now, and aside from being with his family, Andy is happiest when he's playing the keys. Andy graduated with a BS in Biology from the University of Michigan in 1975, and a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Michigan in 1991. Andy remained very active in music throughout his entire scholastic and subsequent computer career, continuously performing, practicing and writing compositions. Over the years, Andy played a wide range of musical styles, including jazz standards in solo and trio settings, cuban folk music with Melodioso, rockabilly swing with Dick Siegel's Ministers of Melody, funk and Motown with Norma Jean Bell and the All Stars, disco and rock with multiple Detroit based club bands, rhythm and blues with the Ann Arbor band F.U.B.A.R. and Rock & Roll with the Ann Arbor band Medicine Men and the Westside Girls. Andy Adamson's latest original jazz band has been together as a quartet since 2014 and as a quintet since 2017. They released A Cry For Peace as a quartet in 2015, First Light as a quintet in 2017 and Live at Cliff Bell's in 2019. Andy truly values the friendship and musicianship of his band mates Brennan Andes, Dan Bennett, Johnathan Taylor and Ross Huff. Together they have created a common vision that drives the arrangement and production of Andy's compositions. Bassist, Brennan Duncan Andes, has been a force within the Midwest music scene for over two decades now. Native to Ann Arbor, Brennan is the founding member of The Macpodz. Over the years, he's also had the pleasure of playing and creating music with a plethora of different artists, spanning a very wide variety of musical genres. Years of touring both nationally and internationally have made him aware of the importance of community and connection, especially through music. Dan Bennett is a saxophonist and composer who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He plays Tenor, Baritone, Alto, and Soprano saxophones. In 2004, Dan received BFA in saxophone performance/jazz studies from the University of Michigan. Long term collaborators include the bands Nomo and the Paxton/Spangler Septet. Recent releases include IGQOZI (Paxton/Spangler Septet), Sorrow (Colin Stetson), and Open Water as a Child (Tim Haldeman). He plays extensively in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area and internationally with the aforementioned groups. Jonathan Barahal Taylor is a Percussionist, Composer, and Improviser based in Detroit. An avid collaborator, He co-leads a number of diverse projects, Including the art-rock quartet saajtak, the electro-acoustic duo Says Things, Teiku, which reimagines aurally transmitted ancestral Jewish melodies in a Creative Music context, and his own band Mover, which performs a constantly shifting modular suite of Taylor's compositions and graphic scores. Taylor has played with some of the most revered names in Jazz and Creative Music, Including Wadada Leo Smith, John Lindberg, Tomeka Reid, Angelica Sanchez, Dave Liebman, Michael Formanek, Karl Berger, and Jaribu Shahid, and has performed at the DC Jazz Festival, EdgeFest, The Jazz Gallery In New York, the Detroit Jazz Festival, The Toronto Jazz Festival, The International Association of Schools of Jazz Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, and in 2019 toured Japan with the art-rock band Throwaway. He attended the Banff Centre's International Workshop for Jazz and Creative music under the direction of Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey in 2013 and 2018 and maintains studies in Tabla and Hindustani Music with Sri Souma Kanti Mukerjee, disciple of the late master of the Benares Gharana, Pt. Chhote Lal Mishra. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan where he earned a BFA in Jazz and Contemplative Studies, studying with Geri Allen, Andrew Bishop, Ellen Rowe, Evan Chambers, Mark Kirschenmann, Michael Gould, Stephen Rush, and Sean Dobbins. Trumpeter and flugelhornist Ross Huff performs with a half-dozen diverse ensembles and maintains a docket of horn section collaborations in every style of contemporary music, as well as several antiquated ones. Ross is a recording artist, arranger, and music instructor as well as an experienced composer, producer and bandleader. He has previously worked as an essayist and editor. Huff has given up keeping score at baseball games and is in search of a new pastime. Ross is a 2004 BFA graduate with Honors from the University of Michigan School of Music Jazz and Contemplative Studies. Tracks, Times: 1. A Coincidence of Cats 7:22 2. Sagres by the Sea 6:59 3. Hummingbird 7:15 4. Lament 7:08 5. Morning Star 7:35 6. Triplet 6:34 *All Compositions credit Andy Adamson Player, Instrument: Andy Adamson: piano Ross Huff: trumpet, flugelhorn Dan Bennett: saxophone Brennan Andes: bass Jonathan Taylor: drums write your comments about the article :: © 2022 Jazz News :: home page |