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Adam Rudolph
For the past four decades composer, improviser and percussionist Adam Rudolph has performed extensively in concert throughout North & South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Rudolph has been hailed as "a pioneer in world music" by the NY Times and "a master percussionist" by Musician magazine. He has released over 25 recordings under his own name, featuring his compositions and percussion work. Rudolph composes for his ensembles Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures, Hu: Vibrational percussion group, and Go: Organic Orchestra, an 18 to 54 piece group for which he has developed an original music notation and conducting system. He has taught and conducted hundreds of musicians worldwide in the Go: Organic Orchestra concept. In 1995 Rudolph premiered his opera The Dreamer, based on the text of Friedreich Nietzsche's "The Birth of Tragedy".
Rudolph has performed with Don Cherry, Jon Hassell, Sam Rivers, Pharaoh Sanders, L. Shankar, A.A.C.M co-founders Fred Anderson and Muhal Richard Abrams, Wadada Leo Smith, and Omar Sosa. He has toured extensively and recorded 15 albums with Yusef Lateef including duets and their large ensemble compositional collaborations.
Born in 1955, Rudolph grew up in the Hyde Park area of the Southside of Chicago. From an early age he was exposed to the live music performances of the great blues and improvising artists who lived nearby. As a teenager, Rudolph started playing hand drums in local streets and parks and soon apprenticed with elders of African American improvised music. He performed regularly in Chicago with Fred Anderson and in Detroit with the Contemporary Jazz Quintet. In 1973 Rudolph played on his first record date with Maulawi Nururdin and with the CJQ at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz festival.
In 1977 he lived and studied in Ghana, where he experienced trance ceremonies. In his travels throughout West Africa he saw how music can come from a cosmological grounding beyond music itself and can also be about something beyond music itself. In 1978 he lived in Don Cherry’s house in the Swedish countryside. Cherry inspired him to start composing and showed him about Ornette Coleman’s concept and the connection of music to nature.
Rudolph is known as one the early innovators of what is now called “World Music”. In 1978 he and Gambian Kora player Jali Foday Musa Suso co-founded The Mandingo Griot Society, one of the first groups to combine African and American music. In 1988, he recorded the first fusion of American and Gnawa music with Sintir player and singer Hassan Hakmoun. Rudolph intensely studied North Indian Tabla for over 15 years with Pandit Taranath Rao. He learned hundreds of drum compositions and about how music is a form of Yoga – the unity of mind, body and spirit. In 1988 Rudolph began his association with Yusef Lateef, with whom he has recorded over 15 albums including several of their large ensemble collaborations. Lateef introduced Rudolph to the inspirational practice of Autophysiopsychic Music – “that which comes from one’s spiritual, physical and emotional self”. Rudolph still performs worldwide with Dr. Lateef. Their performances have ranged from their acclaimed duet concerts to appearances as guest soloists with the Koln, Atlanta and Detroit symphony orchestras.
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Adam Rudolph: Conjuring Music’s Global Essence
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, the Spotlight shines On composer, improviser, and master percussionist Adam Rudolph. A global performer--and global citizen--Adam has been called a pioneer in world music" by the New York Times. With dozens of recordings to his credit, he joined us upon the release of Timeless (Meta Records) from his percussion group, Hu: Vibrational. Adam has worked with artists including Don Cherry, Jon Hassell, Sam Rivers, Pharoah Sanders, and many others but had a particularly extensive collaboration ...
read moreHu Vibrational: Timeless
by Geno Thackara
An Adam Rudolph recording is less a collection of musical pieces than of sound paintings. The elements he works with are musical ones--any instrument known to mankind might be used, and often even used to play notes--but traditions of form and melody tend to be tossed out the window from the start. The tones are treated as daubs of paint on a palette, splashed here and there whenever they will add something to whichever imaginary landscape he is evoking at ...
read moreBennie Maupin & Adam Rudolph: Symphonic Tone Poem For Brother Yusef
by Chris May
Had the multi-reed player Yusef Lateef still been alive in 2020, he would have been celebrating his 100th birthday. Sadly, Lateef passed seven years earlier. But 93 years is a good span for a jazz musician, especially one of Lateef's generation, who came of age in time to cut his professional teeth in swing bands. Lateef went on contribute to bop--he was a member of Dizzy Gillespie's band in 1949--and then to hard bop. In the mid 1950s, ...
read moreKaruna Trio: Imaginary Archipelago
by Mark Sullivan
Percussionists Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake, and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Ralph Miles Jones play together as the Karuna Trio. These spontaneous compositions were built on a deep foundation of shared experience, dating back to their teen years, for Rudolph and Drake; Rudolph and Jones later played together in the Eternal Wind quintet. The concept here is that the music they were making is from a fantastical place: an imaginary archipelago. Each of the eleven tracks is named for an island in the ...
read moreGo: Organic Orchestra & Brooklyn Raga Massive: Ragmala: A Garland of Ragas
by Angelo Leonardi
Questo magistrale doppio album di Adam Rudolph nasce dalla collaborazione tra la sua Go: Organic Orchestra e il collettivo Brooklyn Raga Massive. Venti appassionanti brani che realizzano il monumento finale (ma certo non conclusivo) della quarantennale attività del percussionista dedita all'incontro tra musiche afro-americane, africane e asiatiche. Anche se Rudolph è considerato uno dei maestri della cosiddetta World Music non vorrei usare questo termine perché fuorviante e inadeguato a esprimere l'originalità della sua produzione in generale e di quest'opera in ...
read moreAdam Rudolph / Ralph M. Jones / Hamid Drake: Imaginary Archipelago
by Mark Corroto
Often the music of Adam Rudolph can be a bit intimidating. An authority in Afro-Cuban, Indian, West Africa musics and jazz, Rudolph's performances remind budding ethnomusicologists and jazz critics their knowledge inhabits a very provincial realm. Luckily that intimidation is reserved to academics and writers. The remaining listening audience is free to enjoy these sounds associated with world music. The second release from Rudolph's Karuna Trio with percussionist Hamid Drake and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Ralph M. Jones, Imaginary Archipelago, might ...
read moreMusical Travelogues: May 2020
by Geno Thackara
Gregoire Maret and Romain Collin w. Bill Frisell Americana ACT Music 2020 The sound lives up to the title; this is a thoughtful, airy yet soulful outing that sounds just the way a wide-open prairie landscape looks. If it seems a bit odd that Americana comes from a European duo, wonder notRomain Collin's exceptional versatility at the piano channels the spirit of folk and gospel most faithfully, while Gregoire Maret's harmonica makes a perfectly wistful ...
read moreComposer / Percussionist / Author Adam Rudolph Publishes 'Sonic Elements' For Instrumentalists And Composers
Source:
Adam Rudolph
With Sonic Elements, composer and percussionist Adam Rudolph presents exciting and innovative ideas about intervals, harmony, and rhythms. He also expands upon his rhythm concept of “Cyclic Verticalism”, which he first presented in his 2006 book Pure Rhythm. Written for performers, students, educators, and composers, as well as anyone interested in music, Sonic Elements is a unique and profound contribution to books on music pedagogy and philosophy. In the introduction to Sonic Elements Rudolph writes: “The purpose of this ...
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WMI And SummerStage Present Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra And Guests on Saturday, September 10
Source:
Kate Winn
With a 37-year curatorial presence in NYC, World Music Institute is mainly known for presenting traditional and contemporary music from around the world. However, in the early years, WMI's programming included the 'Improvisations'series, rooted at the intersection of NYC's jazz and improvised music scene and the music of our immigrant communities. The series brought together musicians from various backgrounds and cultures, including such visionary artists as Don Cherry, Yusef Lateef, Randy Weston, Hassan Hakmoun, Glen Velez, Foday Musa Suso, and ...
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M.O.D. Technologies To Release Hu Vibrational's The Epic Botanical Beat Suite - With Special Guests Eivind Aarset, Bill Laswell And More!
Source:
hubtone PR
Hu Vibrational's new album mixes deep percussive African rhythms and Afro-jazz with elements of hip-hop and electronica. Recorded and mixed at Bill Laswell’s state of the art studio, this is the fourth album by Hu Vibrational and for those who bought the previous 3 releases this will not disappoint! Produced and mixed by Adam Rudolph together with longtime Laswell engineer James Dellatacoma, the album features 7 world music percussionists along several special guests including Bill Laswell hitting the deep pockets ...
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Adam Rudolph: Both/And
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
If you're looking for where jazz is heading, I urge you to take a listen to Adam Rudolph's Both/And (Meta), which is out today. The CD features Adam's Moving Pictures ensemble along with his Organic Orchestra Strings. What makes this album special are the textures Adam whips up with Western and Eastern instruments and improvised motifs. Not content to feature traditional jazz lines and eager to channel music and rhythms of many cultures, Adam has created a hypnotic and spiritual ...
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Adam Rudolph and Ralph Jones - Ya Ya- (Meta)
Source:
Master of a Small House
Subtitled A Psalm of Prototypical Vibrations", Adam Rudolph's latest project for percussion and partner is firmly ensconced in the guiding spiritual philosophy that has long informed his playing. Under his conception, rhythms are a conduit and connective tissue for life. Percussive instruments, referred to here as membranophones and idiophones, are but one family of vessels through which these healing and sustaining vibrations travel. Rudolph's partner Ralph Jones handles a variety of reed and wind instruments, referred to collectively as aerophones, ...
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Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures Tours East Coast; Yeyi Duo Tours Midwest
Source:
Fully Altered Media
Composer & Master Percussionist Adam Rudolph Tours in March & April With Moving Pictures Quintet and Octet (Boston, New Haven, Teaneck, Philadelphia, New York City)
Yeyi Duet With Multi-Instrumentalist Ralph Jones Tours Midwest (Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Oberlin)
This March and April, master percussionist Adam Rudolph will tour the East Coast with a brand new edition of his Moving Pictures Quintet and Octet. Rudolph originally founded the group ...
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Go: Organic Orchestra Concert and Download
Source:
All About Jazz
GO: ORGANIC ORCHESTRA will be performing a new series of concerts @ Roulette, New York city
MONDAYS May 11, 18, 25, 2009 8:30pm
It will be our 3rd year developing this prototypical concept at our triannual series @ Roulette and 8th year of the existence of the Go: Organic Orchestra concept. 42 musicians will be participating in performing new music.
Details: Roulette 20 Greene St. (between Canal and Grand) 2 blocks west ...
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Leni Stern to Play with Morley, Salif Keita, Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra
Source:
Seth Cohen PR
Leni Stern Joins Morley, Adam Rudolph's Organic Orchestra and Salif Keita for Upcoming 'Special Guest' Appearances Stern to Appear in Documentary on Hermeto Pascal Recent Television Appearance Features Two Live Performances New Leni Stern CD in the Works; Headlining Shows Set for NYC Acclaimed singer/songwriter/guitarist Leni Stern will make a series of 'Special Guest' appearances in the weeks and months ahead. On October 23rd, she will join her friend Morley at Joe's Pub in New York City, for the CD ...
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New Omar Sosa CD Release 'Pictures Of Soul' Duo Recording with Percussionist Adam Rudolph
Source:
All About Jazz
Pictures of Soul is an improvised music collaboration between Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and Los Angeles-based percussionist Adam Rudolph. These two creative musicians have enjoyed each other's work at a distance for several years. Both share an appreciation of ritual trance music - music that leads us into altered states of consciousness. In April of 2002, when Sosa and his Septet arrived in Los Angeles for a run at the Jazz Bakery, it was possible for these kindred spirits to ...
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"Double Concerto proved a masterful blending of jazz styling and instrumental prowess." - Variety
"A Percussion wizard" - Down Beat
"An intriguing, and, to these ears, utterly unique aural experience." - Option Magazine
Photos
Music
Serpentine
From: TimelessBy Adam Rudolph
Parallax
From: Resonant BodiesBy Adam Rudolph
Okomibo
From: Imaginary ArchipelagoBy Adam Rudolph