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Kurtis Adams

Award-winning jazz composer and saxophonist Kurtis Adams found his passion for music at an early age while raiding his parents’ eclectic music collection. As a member of the jazz scenes in Denver, Atlanta, and points in between, he has been privileged to share the stage with great musicians including Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, Joe Lovano, Conrad Herwig, Bob Mintzer, Tom Harrell, Greg Gisbert, Pat Bianchi, Brad Goode, John Gunther, and Chip Stephens. His compositions have received high praise including an award for Best Original Composition from Downbeat Magazine. He can be heard on Seabreeze Records as a member of the Mike Pagan Big Band as well as on various small group recordings including his first release as a leader, Two Weeks From Tuesday, and newest release, Collage. As an educator, Dr. Adams has served on the faculties of Gordon College and Boise State University and is currently Director of Jazz Studies at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, WV. For more information, visit www.kurtisadams.com.

Awards

Downbeat Magazine Student Music Award - Best Original Composition - 2005


Tags

4
Album Review

Kurtis Adams: Collage

Read "Collage" reviewed by Victor Verney


Saxophonist Kurtis Adams could scarcely have chosen a more apt title for this release, an eclectic-minded assemblage drawn from a wide variety of musical genres, including classical.The opening “Blue Fox," has a distinctly West Coast “Cool School" feel, a style to which Adams has rendered homage elsewhere. Here, Adams gives a sense of what Gerry Mulligan might have sounded like had he played tenor.The following “The Ocean" immediately makes a dramatic shift to Chopin, indicative of ...

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"Kurtis Adams plays tenor and soprano sax like a wild man." - Edward Blanco, eJazz News
Primary Instrument

Saxophone

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Dr. Adams is currently the Director of Jazz Studies at Shepherd University in the beautiful Eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He has also served on the faculties of Boise State University and Gordon College. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Studies and a Master of Music in Saxophone Performance from the University of Colorado as well as a Bachelor of Music Education from Tennessee Technological University.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Jazz clinics on topics including theory/improvisation, style, section playing, and history. Saxophone clinics on any topic you like!

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Collage

Self Produced
2013

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Blue Fox

From: Collage
By Kurtis Adams

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