Greg Adams – Trumpet Interview
Welcome to the show notes for Episode #70 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Greg Adams.
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About Greg Adams
The sound of Grammy and Emmy nominated trumpeter, arranger Greg Adams is one of the world’s best-known musical signatures. As a founding member of Tower of Power, legendary for his arrangements that made the TOP horn section a sought out entity all its own. With countless collaborations in the studio and live on stage, Adams has made his mark on a broad stretch of today’s musical landscape that includes jazz, pop, rock, R&B, soul, and funk.
It has been nearly a quarter century since the genre chameleon trumpeter and arranger became a leader in his own right with his ground breaking 1995 debut Hidden Agenda went. all the way to #1 on Billboard and stayed there for 5 weeks. He hasn’t looked back since. With Greg Adams’ approach that music is a language… the CONVERSATION continues. You will sense a direct connection with the live feel of the music, the open breath of each note and the collaboration of each player.
East Bay Soul celebrating their 10th Anniversay this year is the next creative step forward in a career filled with magic moments spanning over four decades, including an International Broadcasting Award from The Hollywood Radio and Television Society. An enduring recording artist and performer, the charismatic trumpeter has earned the respect of his peers and fans alike worldwide.
Greg has lent his sound to Elton John, Rod Stewart, Santana, Phish, Celine Dion, Luther Vandross, Madonna, The Rolling Stones. Bonnie Raitt, Paul Shaffer, Little Feat, Billy Preston, Peter Frampton, Chicago, The Eurhythmics, Lyle Lovett, Heart, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, The Brothers Johnson, Wilson Pickett, Huey Lewis and the News, Raphael Saadiq, Al Green, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Terrence Trent Darby, Dionne Warrick and Josh Groban to name a very few.
Greg has played on over 900 hundred recordings. Beginning early with Elton John’s “The Bitch Is Back” Chaka Kahn’s “Fool’s Paradise” Little Feat’s “High Roller” and Heart’s “Tell It like It Is”. You’ve heard Greg’s collaboration with Paul Shaffer on the opening theme of Late Show With David Letterman and on score arrangements in films as, Duets, Mask, Top Gun, Saving Silverman, and Austin Powers In Goldmember with Smashmouth. Teaming up with Stanley Clarke on Little Big League and on Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band with the illustrious George Martin.
Underneath the Mistletoe marks Greg Adams and East Bay Soul’s 5th studio album and their first Christmas CD as they celebrate their 10thAnniversary. Here, East Bay Soul performs classic Christmas Songs with a mix of Funk Jazz, R&B and Soul. Greg Adams, Grammy and Emmy nominated trumpeter’s gorgeous arrangements herald in the season and the soulful R&B vocal by Darryl Walker caress the timeless lyrics of your favorite holiday music.
Greg Adams Links
Podcast Credits
- “A Room with a View“ – composed and performed by Howie Shear
- Audio Engineer – Preston Shepard at SC Sound Labs
- Cover Art – Phil Jordan
- Podcast Host – John Snell
Dontae Winslow is one of the most versatile in-demand trumpeter/arranger/composers on the Hollywood music scene. His trumpet/arranging/songwriting can be heard on classics such as Kanye West’s grammy winning “We Major” from the multi-platinum Late Registration, Jayz’s “I Made it”, Dr. Dre’s Compton Movie Soundtrack (where Dontae composed the iconic fanfare intro and played solos throughout the album). The Final track “Talking to My Diary” uses a 2minute jazz trumpet solo after Dre’s verse over a hiphop song which was Dontae’s 1st take. He also plays on Kendrick Lamar’s “County Building Blues”, Snoop Dog’s Ego Trippin, Aloe Blacc’s smash song “I’m the Man”, and Beyonce’s Huge Ego among countless other hits. He has toured in the band of Justin Timberlake since 2013 where he performs in the Netflix Movie “JT & The Tennessee Kids. Dontae has performed in front of millions in the 2020 Experience World tour, Legends of Summer World Tour, and Man of The Woods World Tour. He has alo been on the bands of Lady Antebellum (You Look Good), D’angelo (Vodoo), Kamasi Washington, Raphael Saadiq, Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, and most recently has been the arranger, orchestrator, and Music director for Queen Latifah.
After touring with JT Dontae released a summer party anthem sure to get you moving entitled “Shit Yeah” with him producing the TNkids live band along with analog synths and sing rapping the verse/choruses.
His first private lessons were with Jari Villanueva, then continued trumpet and learned to read music from Carolyn Foulkes in high school. At The New School Dontae studied with Roy Hargrove who would become a life musical mentor until his passing. In college at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University Dontae studied with Wayne Cameron for undergrad, and Langston Fitzgerald III for graduate in classical trumpet performance. He has always had great jazz lessons from Maryland based jazz giant trumpeter Tom Williams and has been mentored by Jon Faddis and Wallace Roney. As a recipient of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Fellowship at USC Dontae studied jazz trumpet, composition, and film scoring with jazz legend trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard. Also at USC he studied with jazz legend Bobby Shew, string arranger Jeremy Lubbock, Studio trumpet legend Gary Grant, and Gospel Composer Margaret Douroux.
Dontae has produced songs for platinum artists Snoop, Dr. Dre, Avant, Mary Mary, and Keyshia Cole. As an arranger he has orchestrated/arranged and played trumpet in the show for Queen Latifah’s debut concert with the Boston Pops, and recently their 2019 Fourth of July Summer Holiday Concert series. Dontae is influenced by all styles of music especially European classical composers Shostakovich, Mahler, Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff and Chopin. In his playing you can hear his love for the soul and swag of Lee Morgan, the harmony of Woody Shaw, the pathos of Roy Hargrove, and the elegance of Miles Davis.
Internationally acclaimed cross-genre trumpeter Niall O’Sullivan has performed all over the world, from orchestral playing to his solo theatre show. Niall has performed in some of the world’s most stunning venues throughout Ireland, Europe, Asia and the USA.
When the trumpet world got word of his growing profile as a performer and recording artist, Niall became a performing artist for Schilke Trumpets, Chicago exclusively. This relationship has seen Niall represent Schilke across the globe, from Dublin to Los Angeles.
John Hutchinson is a trumpeter, arranger, composer, teacher and blogger. Graduating from the Royal College of Music, London in 1999, he began his freelance career working with many of the UK’s major orchestras as well as recording and performing with major international pop acts such as Joss Stone and Bjork.
These days, John concentrates mainly on his media composition and production, brass and jazz arranging, and his trumpet teaching at some of the UK’s top schools. Having worked alongside numerous trumpet manufacturers over the years he also now engages with over 50,000 trumpeters around the world each month through his specialist trumpet website, MouthpieceOnline.com.
Hub van Laar founded his company in 1990 in Margraten, near Maastricht, on the border triangle to the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. Beginning as a workshop for brass wind instruments, the company expanded rapidly under the direction of Hub van Laar and Heidrun Jöchner to become an enterprise of world repute.
A new trumpet or flugelhorn is certainly not something one buys every day, and musicians develop a special relationship with their instrument. This is why Hub van Laar attaches great importance to individual and intensive contact with his customers. Over the years Van Laar has built up a wide range of trumpets and flugelhorns with all the technical requirements needed for all kinds of musicians and for every kind of music. These instruments were created in close cooperation with a number of musicians and have been continually improved, ensuring that the majority of customers will find “their” perfect trumpet or flugelhorn among them.
A native of New Orleans, Robert Karon received his Bachelor of Arts cum laude in Music from UCLA and Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York City. He was the recipient of the Longy Award for achievement in Solfege. His teachers include Robert DiVall, Irving Bush, William Vacchiano, and Arnold Jacobs. Proficient in three languages, Karon toured South America, the Far East, and Europe during his two years with the Mexico City Philharmonic and played first trumpet with the Maracaibo Symphony Orchestra in Venezuela.
Bob Karon’s latest endeavor is his educational website 
Peter Bond has been a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1992. Raised in Rockford Illinois, his path to the “Met” was atypical; while his future orchestra colleagues were attending professional training programs like Interlochen and Tanglewood, Mr. Bond spent summers on the road with a drum and bugle corps and the rest of his time focused on big band jazz. This pattern continued through college at Western Illinois University, where he received a degree in Music Education. It was only in graduate school at Georgia State University that he turned his attention to orchestral trumpet, studying with John Head, Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He has also studied on an “outpatient” basis with Vincent Cichowicz, Adolph Herseth, Arnold Jacobs, Robert Nagle, and James Pandolfi.
Toru “Tiger” Okoshi was born in the Year of the Tiger on March 21 1950, just outside of Osaka (Ashiya city, Hyogo) As a child he was, in fact, devoted to painting as he loves today. At 13, he had an enlightening experience to see Louis Armstrong Perform live in Osaka, Japan, only 6 months after he begun to play the trumpet. ”He was painting the air with his trumpet” recalls Okoshi. Today, Okoshi often describes the relationship with his horn: “When I play, I want to paint the air with my colorful tone. Choices between long or short strokes, quick or slow, high in the canvas or low, brighter color or darker, with a fat brush or a pen. Paint the air one note at a time.”
Tiger, who loves sports, was invited to perform “The Star Spangled Banner” at the opening game of the 2007 season between Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees at Fenway Park, as well as the playoff games in 2007 and 2008. Tiger’s trumpet was surrounded by 20 trumpets, 10 trombones and 7 Japanese Taiko drummers playing his original arrangement. In 1997, Tiger recorded a CD entitled “Hustle Tigers” for Japanese major league baseball team Hanshin Tigers.
Markus Stockhausen is one of the most versatile musicians of our time. He is as much at home in jazz as in contemporary and classical music. For about 25 years he collaborated closely with his father, the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, who composed many beautiful works for him. With his brother Simon he realized several internationally acclaimed musical projects.
Freddie Jones is a popular jazz trumpet player and composer in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. With an amazing musical gift, Freddie Jones kicks up the energy of a room a notch or two and thrills a jazz-lover’s soul! Audiences are in awe of the sound this Freddie Jones can coax from his horns. Freddie has taken his trumpet and his group on the road throughout the southwest, performing in hot spots from Austin’s’ The Elephant Room to Little Rock’s Riverfront Auditorium to numerous festivals in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex, Oklahoma City, and everywhere in between. He has also performed in Paris, The Hague and Rotterdam. He has several cds to his credit. His band, the Freddie Jones Jazz Group, never fails to pull in the audience and deliver an exciting sound.
Students are required to practice and perform for other kids so that they may inspire each other and create a platform for dialogue about their goals and achievements. Having kids perform music, such as classical or jazz, at a skill level that shows great musicianship at an early age, can allow children to create and realize their own dreams and activities. Having quartets perform for kids who are homeless, ill, or in other at-risk situations brings a new dimension by which each child may begin to see beyond his or her present situation. Whether the child is the musician or listener, the idea is to create opportunities for each group to see other situations or to be inspired by their peer group.
Philip Smith joined the New York Philharmonic as Co-Principal Trumpet in October 1978, and assumed the position of Principal Trumpet in June 1988. His father, Derek Smith, a renowned English cornet soloist, provided his early training. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, having studied with Edward Treutel and William Vacchiano, former Principal Trumpet of the New York Philharmonic. In January 1975, while still at Juilliard, Sir Georg Solti appointed Mr. Smith to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Smith has also appeared with many symphonic wind ensembles, including the US “President’s Own” Marine Band, the West Point Academy Band, the US Army TRADOC Band, the US Coast Guard Band, La Philharmonie des Vents des Quebec and many major university wind ensembles. He appeared at The College Band Directors National Association Convention in Austin, Texas, for the world premiere of Turrin’s Chronicles (1999) with the University of New Mexico Wind Ensemble. A subsequent recording of Chronicles was produced which included the world premiere of Stephen Gryc’s Evensong (2000) and Turrin’s Fandango (2000). Alfred Cohen’s “curls of motion” was premiered in 2008 with the Columbus State University Wind Ensemble. Aaron Kernis’ a Voice, a Messenger was premiered in 2013 with the University of Illinois Wind Ensemble.
In 2005, Mr. Smith was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM). In 2006, Mr. Smith was given the International Trumpet Guild Honorary Award.As a member of the Principal Brass Quintet, Mr. Smith has toured Japan four times, as well as Brazil and Germany. He has also performed and recorded with the Canadian Brass, Empire Brass, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bargemusic, and New York Virtuosi Chamber Symphony. His solo recordings include Contest Solos produced by the International Trumpet Guild; Fandango, featuring New York Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Joseph Alessi and the University of New Mexico Wind Symphony (Summit); My Song of Songs with the New York Staff Band of The Salvation Army (Triumphonic); Copland’s Quiet City (Deutsche Grammophone); New York Legends (CALA); Orchestral Excerpts for Trumpet (Summit); Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Concerto for Trumpet and Five Instruments (New World); Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (Koch); Walton’s Facade (Arabesque); and The Trump Shall Resound and Repeat the Sounding Joy(Heritage).