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"I found that within my playing that I could play notes, not at first, because at first I couldn't hear these notes, so I wouldn't play them. But as I play more and more I hear more notes to play against the more common chord progressions. And a lot of people say they're wrong. Well, I can't say they're right, and I can't say they're wrong. To my hearing, they're exactly correct". - Eric Dolphy |
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 Wednesday, 07 January 2009 |
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Urban Educator, Trumpet Master Gene Adams, 1937-2005 |
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Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor
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Saturday, 16 April 2005 |
 Twin Cities musicians and jazz patrons mourn the loss of one of the
true legends of our urban jazz scene, trumpeter Gene Adams. Adams died
of lung failure on April 11th following complications from diabetes; he
was 68.
A native Texan, Adams gained experience in Army bands with Eddie Harris
and Don Ellis. Moving to the Twin Cities in 1970, Adams became the
assistant band director at the old Lincoln Junior High in Minneapolis
and taught inner city youth at the Metropolitan Cultural Arts Center.
He became a juvenile probation officer for Hennepin County, a job he
held til his retirement in 2000. But in his “free time,” and after
retirement, Adams remained a musician and music educator. With five
other musicians, he formed Red Beans and Rice in 1992, a band dedicated
to traditional jazz, a counterpoint to his long-standing bop style. In
2004, Red Beans and Rice presented a series of instructional programs
in Minneapolis and Stillwater elementary schools through a project
supported by the Lincoln Center Jazz program and Wynton Marsalis.
 Adams was also a fixture at the annual Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz
Festival, and festival producer Steve Heckler was Executive Producer of
Adams’ first records, A Lifetime of Jazz. On that recording, Adams
performed his own compositions in the company of such local artists as
Bobby Peterson, John Penny, Jay Epstein, Andre Broadax, and Ron
Evaniuk. Over his career, he also recorded and/or appeared with local
songbirds Shirley Witherspoon and Connie Evingson, and was a member of
Dick and Jane’s Brass Band. Many remember his performance as Louis
Armstrong on the Dakota stage in 1994.
Adams is survived by his wife of 40+ years, Pat Adams, and children
Carl, Sarah, and Jean Marie.
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