Adam Philips, on Balance

Throughout his career, Adam Lambert has always been open to change. With 2019’s Velvet: Side A EP, the pop singer and LGBTQ+ icon hinted that he was heading in a funkier, rock-edged direction—far removed from the gleaming electro-pop sound of 2015’s The Original High. Now that he’s completed the second half of his fourth LP, VELVET, Lambert makes it loud and clear that he’s going to do things on his own terms. “Try to put me in a box/Make me something I’m not/Don’t give a fuck ’cause I’m gonna take back,” he sings on the swaggering anthem “Superpower” over a sensual funk-soul groove. Self-discovery is at the core of these songs, as he struggles with unrequited love (“Loverboy”), bemoans the lack of human connection (“Overglow”), and yearns for a fresh start (“Closer to You”) with his usual theatrical flair (he is the current Queen frontman, after all). On “Roses,” Lambert shakes off the drama with producer Nile Rodgers by his side, stretching his pearly falsetto to the limit over Rodgers’ signature guitar riffs.

This is a huge work, which covers just about every aspect of self-hypnosis. It’s a wonderful resource for anyone wanting to practice self-hypnosis or for any hypnotherapist wanting to increase their knowledge base.

Adam Rudolph & Hu Vibrational - Beautiful (2004) {Soul Jazz Records SJRCD88}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 167 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 116 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2004 Soul Jazz Records | SJR CD88
Jazz / Creative Music / Ethno Jazz / Avant-Garde Hip Hop / Percussion

The album features members of the West Coast left-field Hip-Hop/Electronica community such as Daedelus and Carlos Nino A/K/A Ammon Contact alongside Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake. Adam Rudolph and Hamid Drake have between them played and recorded with Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, Don Cherry and many more. With previous releases on Scott Heren’s (Prefuse 73) Eastern developments label, Hu Vibrational’s deep spiritual music draws on the links between Jazz music and avant-garde Hip-Hop.

Adam Rudolph - Morphic Resonances (2017) {Meta Digital Download, Bandcamp 16-44.1}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (bandcamp.com) -> 244 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 132 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2017 Meta Records | META 021
Classical / Modern Classical / Jazz / Progressive Jazz / Creative Music

Listeners should be advised that Adam Rudolph doesn’t play a beat on this album; it’s a gathering of recent compositions performed by various others, including members of his own New York-based Go: Organic Orchestra. The clear standouts are the first two tracks, in which the Momenta String Quartet gives incisive readings of “Morphic Resonances” and “Syntactic Adventures”—the latter piece dedicated to Rudolph’s mentor Yusef Lateef. Rudolph’s background as a percussionist manifests itself in the use of what he calls “ostinatos of circularity,” layered polyrhythms that create the effect of one part blending almost imperceptibly into another.

Wadada Leo Smith & Adam Rudolph - Compassion (2006) {Meta-Kabell 010}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (image)+CUE+LOG -> 236 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 125 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 30 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2006 Meta Records / Kabell Records | 010
Jazz / Modern Creative / Post Bop / World Fusion / Trumpet / Percussion

Long-time occasional collaborators Wadada Leo Smith and Adam Rudolph perform improvised/composed duets from a 2002 performance live at Venice's Electric Lodge on Compassion, newly released on Rudolph's Meta Records. Both are masters of their mediums: Rudolph plays a variety of percussion instruments and at least one wind instrument to sonically shade, color, and texturize; Smith uses trumpet and flugelhorn in conventional and extended ways to complement him. With improvisers of this depth, the journey takes many unexpected turns, all rewarding.

The Last Gig is a new live album from Adam Holzman & Brave New World. It was recorded live on March 12th, 2020 at Nublu 151 in New York City, one day before lockdown started. Featuring Gene Lake on drums, Freddy Cash jr. on bass, Ofer Assaf on sax, Jane Getter on guitar and Adam Holzman on keyboards, it is a live follow-up to Adam’s critically acclaimed recent release Truth Decay. The Last Gig might indeed be the last blazing jam before the pandemic silenced the night club scene. Check it out for a good dose of high energy jazz-rock in these strange times!