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Adam Smale
Candadian Jazz Guitarist, Composer
“Modern Jazz rooted and steeped in the Jazz traditions, deliberately and unconsciously tinged by other styles of music for a fun, fresh, focus.” This would best describe the music Adam Smale crafts. Adam is an open-minded creative musician who has a constant flow of musical ideas. It pours out in his playing and his compositions. The evidence came to fruition with his debut CD, FUN CITY, in fall of 2000. The album immediately climbed to No.9 in Canadian radio nationwide (Canadian National Jazz Chart) within a month of being released. Adam was realizing what he always knew deep within since the age of eleven. “At a very early age I knew music was my life. I’d even skip school to come home and play guitar!” Adam emphasizes, as he sheepishly shrugs, then grins. “What can I say? That’s all I wanted to do. I would even play guitar in the backseat of the car while my mother would drive into town. You couldn't get it out of my hands!"
Bar River (35min east of Sault Ste. Marie), a very small working-class community in Northern Ontario is the place that provided the young guitarist with his deep roots in Country and Bluegrass music. Initially, at seven years old, he had wanted to the play the banjo, but when told by a local teacher he was too small to play it, he tried his hand at the guitar. His bond with the instrument was immediate. By the age of twelve, he burst on to the local scene performing at various community events. He became a member of the musician's union at the tender age of twelve, and by fourteen, was on the road playing bars and weddings around Northern Ontario.
Like many kids with a passion to play, Adam's attention quickly turned to guitar-driven rock, the master of whom was a man named Eddie Van Halen. Upon reading that Alan Holdsworth influenced EVH, Adam quickly bought Holdsworth's album, "Metal Fatigue." The fusion of rock and jazz blew Adam away and soon added it to his record collection along with the likes of Chet Atkins, Flatt and Scruggs, the Ventures, ZZ Top, and the Beatles. A need to grow and expand musically was paramount. It was here a personal quest was cemented and impassioned seeds were planted and allowed to flourish over time; logically so, this organic blend of musical genres was given fertile ground to grow its own solid, dynamic, ever-probing roots.
After eight years of performing, Adam's talent and creative drive had exceeded the limitations of smalll-town exposure. He made the move to Toronto, enrolling in the excellent music program at Humber College. As well as providing a wealth of performance opportunities, Humber introduced Adam to the music of jazz greats such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, exposed to R&B, funk, and reggae, and recognizing his roots in country, Adam was making a natural progression to his own brand of Jazz. However, it was not until years later, after graduating, that Adam found another monumental influence. It was a guitar master who also touted Chet Atkins a mentor as young "picker"--none other than Lenny Breau.
Breau's guitar work inspired Smale to take yet another new direction in Jazz Guitar playing. After serious contemplation, Adam discarded his flatpick to wield a thumbick once again, a return to his youth. "It seems strange; I’m kind of steppin’ back and moving forward at the same time. But I can coax more nuances from the guitar with a fingerstyle technique." Smale asserts. "Lenny's thing was to sound more like a piano player. You're playing chords for yourself while you play melodies or solo." This challenging technique, demonstrates Adam's constant endeavour for improvement with a fearless approach to musical growth and discovery. This expansion in Adam’s musical evolution in fact, also caused him to expand his guitar, literally! He has designed a seven-string guitar and had a local luthier build it for him. Adam clarifies, "Six strings wasn't enough to do what I wanted to do on the guitar. I now have more flexibility with an extra string."
Adam performs in the Toronto area still drawing on his early influences to land gigs, other than just the local Jazz "hot spots" to keep him busy. One side-project is experimental band Camarillo. A melting pot of genres, including World Music, Electronic, with free-improv elements. He has made an extended appearance at a resort in the Middle East and performed in India for the Millennial celebrations. Sensing that his enthusiasm for guitar would be contagious, Adam began teaching between his travels. He currently holds down a teaching position at the prestigious Merriam School of Music in Oakville, Ontario, and conducts classes in Canada & the USA, for the National Guitar Workshop, as well as some juggling select private students in the Toronto area. Most recently, the Adam Smale Quartet placed 2nd in the renowned Grand Prix de Jazz contest, during the 2002 Montreal Jazz Festival.
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| Lively, fast-paced, energetic, and busy. Just like a city! Only an element of fun worked in there somehow as well. |
CD: Fun City
Label: Space Buddy Music
Credits: Written and arranged by Adam Smale: Adam Smale-Guitar, Kenji Omae-Sax, Rich Brown-Bass, Rich Greenspoon-Drums. |
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| Train-like. |
CD: Fun City
Label: Space Buddy Music
Credits: Written and arranged by Adam Smale: Adam Smale-Guitar, Kenji Omae-Sax, John Spiro-Bass, Rich Greenspoon-Drums. |
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| Minor Blues! |
CD: Fun City
Label: Space Buddy Music
Credits: Written and arranged by Adam Smale: Adam Smale-Guitar, Kenji Omae-Sax, Rich Brown-Bass, Rich Greenspoon-Drums. |
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