Tony Adamo NU JAZZ VOCAL TRIP BOP SPOKEN WORD: January 2017

Tony Adamo has done it again. In his new single "Sonic Henderson", Adamo expanded the entire track from his appreciation of the legendary jazz artist Joe Henderson, and groomed this spoken word piece-of-art to perfection. With the star backline: Mike Clark on drums, Mike LeDonne on Organ, and Jack Wilkins on Guitar supported Adamo, he was able to burst his passion, energy, rhythm and tempo into a long strand of bullets and hit you hard with his talents. Besides Henderson, Adamo also saluted some of the most celebrated jazz artists from the 50's and 60's in this track: Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, and many more. This song proves Adamo's admiration and yearnings towards the big legends during the golden age of jazz music, and his ability to lure his listeners into playing his songs over and over again, wondering what the rest of the album would sound like.

Tony Adamo is not only a soulful singer but a top-notch spoken-word artist.

SLIDESHOW

Tony Adamo is not only a soulful singer but a top-notch spoken-word artist. When he pays tribute to a musician through his talks, while he is rapping about a subject, it is not rap. Rather than concentrating on rhyming or using drum machines as a background, Adamo talks intelligently about the subject, uses his words creatively, and interacts with top musicians. He is a throwback to the beatnik “word jazz” pioneers.

Joe Henderson (1937-2001) was one of the most original tenor saxophonists to emerge during the 1960s. His inside/outside style, which found him equally comfortable playing hard bop and free-form jazz, along with his immediately distinctive sound, made him an underrated and influential jazz giant.

“Sonic Henderson” begins with a trio comprised of organist Mike LeDonne, guitarist Jack Wilkins and drummer Mike Clark cooking on an up-tempo piece. They are soon joined by Tony Adamo who talks about the greatness of Joe Henderson, praising the tenor in hip ways. Wilkins and LeDonne take heated solos and Clark has a few drum breaks before Adamo returns, singing the praises of Henderson up until the fade out.

“Sonic Henderson” works quite well and will hopefully result in more listeners discovering Joe Henderson.
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