Adam Simmons's High 5

Historical article recovered from a Wayback capture dated 2018-02-24.

Adam Simmons - saxophones, flutes, clarinets, shakuhachi, fujara & toys

Adam is a composer and sought after woodwind multi-instrumentalist, involved across many different scenes within Melbourne and beyond, performing contemporary jazz, punk, afro-beat, new music, traditional Japanese honkyo-ku, funk and free noise/improv. In 2004, Adam received a Special Award from the Freedman Foundation, facilitating a period of work and study in New York, Germany and Poland. As part of the 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival, a special Retrospective of Adam’s work was held - featuring over 200 musicians in 40 configurations over three weeks.

Current ensembles include: Adam Simmons Toy Band, Adam Simmons Quartet, New Blood, Nick Tsiavos Ensemble, BOLT Ensemble, Embers, Steve Purcell’s Pearly Shells, Big Fela, Collider and his latest project, Origami.

Other artists that Adam has worked with include: Ernest Ranglin, Nigel Kennedy, Peter Brotzmann, Odean Pope, Denis Colin, The Mavis’s, You Am I, KK Null, Ursel Schlicht, John Hollenbeck, Ned Rothenberg, Jacek Kochan, CW Stoneking and Spontaneous Human Combustion.

Since 2009 Adam has also been working as a visual art, creating music box assemblages and is represented by Catherine Asquith Gallery, Collingwood. In Oct 2010 he exhibited at the National Museum in Szczecin, Poland and has been a selected finalist for several art prizes, including the 2011 Hutchins Art Prize.

As a musical director, Adam has been leading bands for over 20 years, including his larger ensembles, the Toy Band and Adam Simmons Creative Music Ensemble. In addition Adam has had directorial roles with projects as diverse as Ernest Ranglin (Jamaica), Gulsen Ozer/Dani-Ela Kayser (dance), Mabel Dawn Davis (USA - cabaret) and the Kingfisher Festival (Ceres - community music-making). Adam has won two Green Room Awards for Best Musical Direction and in 2007 he was invited to be Guest Curator at the Art Omi International Artist Residency in upstate New York, acting as a mentor to a select group of artists from around the world.

Adam’s most recent release is with his trio, Origami called “The Blues of Joy” - featuring the unique spiral packaging of an actual origami design, the CD has been critically acclaimed so far, with accolades in The Australian and The Age, as well as having been an ABC Jazz Feature Album. The CD is available in physical and digital formats from

www.listenhearcollective.com

“Bloody wonderful!”

Owen McKern, Delivery, 3RRR FM

“Simmons is a monster”

Robert Spencer, Cadence Magazine (USA)

“Adam Simmons – a player with an astonishing dynamic and tonal range at his disposal”

Jessica Nicholas, The Age

“He created a massive, unremitting volume of sound on the threshold of pain which quickly drove one audience member from the hall. I loved it.”

Geoffrey Gartner, Australian Music Centre

“I can think of few players I know of who are as gifted and as receptive to collaborating and working with other musicians.”

Rick Moody (author of The Ice Storm), The Rumpus (USA)

1. MILES DAVIS – Melbourne Concert Hall, 1988

This was a very important gig and I now look back and see how lucky I was to have seen such an icon of modern music, performing at such a high level. The presentation, the persona, the freedom, the adventure, the control, the precision and rigour - it was exciting stuff indeed! I forget now which concert I saw, whether it was the first or second - but because the ABC recorded and broadcast the other performance I actually got to hear both. And I still have the tapes made from recording directly from the radio broadcast, that still work surprisingly after the hours I did playing along to Foley and Kenny Garret!

2. BILLY MINTZ – Oakland, California, 2003

I was staying with Phillip Greenlief in Oakland/San Francisco and he had organised a concert for Billy and himself, to both play solo and then together, and as it happened, I ended up being invited to play a solo set also. But All I remember is the solo set of Billy’s - wow!! I don’t claim to know much about him, other than from what I’ve read and he’s played with the likes of Lee Konitz, Charles Lloyd and numerous others. But it was just sublime. He drove all the way directly from LA (approx the distance from Melbourne to Sydney). When he sat down to play, he waited for a moment and another… picked up a stick… waited… waited… and then put it down. He then selected another drumstick… waited… and then commenced to play the most sublimely beautiful improvised set of music. And to only an audience of three - Phillip, myself and one paying punter, a bassist friend of Phillip’s!! And then at the end of the night, he graciously accepted a token offering as payment, and hopped in his car to drive directly back to LA. The absolute commitment to the music shown by Billy that night - and to playing the right music, not just doing the gig! - has long been an inspiration.

3. CECIL TAYLOR/MASADA – Jazz at the Lincoln, New York 2007

Its bloody hard trying to whittle it down to only five gigs, so maybe I can get away with at least mentioning a few others in a similar vein to place this choice in context… over the past few years, I’ve seen a number of amazing artists all in their 70’s or older, including Ornette Coleman, Ernest Ranglin, Marshall Allen, David Tolley, Ted Vining, Ahmad Jamal, Tony Gould (some only just hitting the mark…) - there is something particularly special about jazz and these musicians in that they all continue to be inspired by the music they perform and are pushing themselves with new challenges and presenting new and interesting music to their audiences - and there is something to admire and respect about an artist who has maybe 50 or more years of experience!!

But I’m going to pick the gig where I saw Cecil for my High 5 - the contrast between Masada and Cecil was quite marked, especially in John Zorn’s attitude towards an audience comment. Now I will preface this by saying Zorn has been a large influence on me and I know he has done a huge amount for contemporary music worldwide, but after a particularly rousing finish to a Masada tune, there was a cry from a member of the audience “We love it, John!!,” - to which Zorn replied, “Well that’s not why we’re doing it!” This made me cringe as the poor guy was just expressing the feeling of the crowd as elicited by the vibe and the playing of Masada - this was challenging music, but eminently accessible due to its high energy, familiar and entertaining genre jumping cuts, groovy rhythms, etc. The crowd was right into it, so why chew someone out for enjoying it?

But then Cecil came out with Henry Grimes and Pheeroan Aklaff and it was a different story. First he read some poetry, which was not actually so audible, at least to me, and then they started to play. The music was so strong, and so unique. People started leaving - this was flabbergasting to me! Here was a man of almost 80, creating heavy, heavy music - and each piece was very different in sound and concept. There was nothing compromising about this music - it was from the heart and mind, absolutely personal and from musicians that have researched and explored this music for many years. The fact that even after so many years of playing, that people still were not hip and open to this music is incredulous to me… especially when I feel anyone with an interest in someone like Zorn should appreciate that he comes from the foundations laid by the likes of Cecil. So for staying true to his musical vision and for just the sheer endurance and strength at the age of about 78, I have to take my hat off to Cecil for this gig!

4. STEVE YOUNG – The Troubadour 1988 (and every time since)

Steve Young is one of my favourite performers - a fantastic bluegrass guitar picker, lovely balladeer and with a stunning voice. His records have him performing with ensembles, but I have only ever seen him play solo, and I must admit I think I prefer it that way. The first time I saw Steve Young, I went down to Melbourne in a car with a bunch of my Dad’s friends, without really knowing much about him, other than they liked him. The first song he did had me breathless with the strength and technique of his playing - and then a string broke, which felt like it was broken by the strength of the music itself, rather than because of any physical action. And so, since then he has returned 3 times, I think, and I’ve seen him every time and its always been worth it!

5. TONY GOULD – Camp St, Ballarat 1989

This was just a small gig in a cellar in a bar/venue in Ballarat - maybe I should be mentioning my first big concert being Pat Metheny Group in 86 or 87, or maybe the small intimate experience of David Hirschfelder and David Jones, playing a raffle ticket, but I have included this as it was at this gig that Tony told me to make sure I actually went down to VCA for an audition, rather than just send a tape. He had just been my external examiner for my VCE/TOP Music course at School of Mines (Ballarat) and so having listened to my Dad’s vinyl of McJad with Tony and Keith Hounslow, I figured it would be good to check Tony out at this small gig. He was a guest with some local musicians, playing trad jazz - I think it was Roger Vincent on trumpet, Ron Rosser on drums and maybe a clarinetist, but I’m not sure. Tony just made the whole thing live! I remember thinking it was like Cecil Taylor - the strong rhythmic drive and adventurous harmonies had me enthralled all night, with a sense of joy, humour and adventure. And I must admit, I’ve never seen him play like that again. He is one of the most lyrical and harmonically interesting instrumentalists I’ve heard, but I am glad I have experienced the “good time” side as well!! And yes, during the break when I asked his advice about getting into VCA, he strongly urged me to make sure I auditioned in person and he even offered to organise a band to play with and just to call him up. I did so, and he said just to come to his office on the day. And when I got there it turned out that he was simply going to accompany me himself!! And because of having seen him perform it was both an exciting and daunting prospect. But I ended up getting in and having the honour of learning Tony (and others) for three years - but always remembering the wild night of jazz in a small bar in Ballarat!