Normally in this column I limit the reviews to prebop music, but trumpeter Bruce Adams and altoist-clarinetist Alan Barnes are such versatile musicians that I think these three often-boppish releases from the British Big Bear label will be of interest to the readers of The Syncopated Times.
Bruce Adams, who first heard jazz through a record of Django Reinhardt, began playing trumpet when he was 11, working professionally after just five months. He became a protégé of Nat Gonella’s, and was touring with his father (guitarist Bob Adams) when he was a teenager. Adams worked in his native Glasgow, Scotland, and Edinburgh regularly, appearing with many top swing artists including Dick Hyman, Bob Wilber, Benny Carter, Dave McKenna, and Milt Hinton. He has since performed all throughout Europe.
Adams made his debut as a leader with One Foot In The Gutter which was recorded during 1991-92 when he was already 40. The trumpeter had performed in a wide variety of settings during the past 20 years but had a low profile while working steadily, often outside of jazz. One Foot In The Gutter, a quartet set with pianist John Clarke, bassist Len Skeat, and drummer Bobby Orr, features him in top form, Adams displays the ability to hit powerful high notes (sometimes sounding a little like Maynard Ferguson) while performing material that ranged from Clark Terry (“One Foot In the Gutter”), and be
