PRESS REVIEWS BIOGRAPHY "I think for what - Subtone

BIOGRAPHY
"I think for what we´re doing – instrumental music or jazz-rock – it´s
gotta be live for it to have the exciting edge...Music that is focused on
players and soloists is always going to come across better when it has
that live feeling on it." A.H.
Adam is sim ply one of the m ost inno va tive m usicians a live . He is a pe re nnial
poll-winne r in the Fusion ca te gory for Pulse ! m a gazine 's ye ar-e nd Top Te n
listings. "Ke yboa rd" m aga zine nam e d him one of the to p 10 playe rs in the
world, "Down Be at" laude d his "k ille r groove " a nd com pare d him to Jan Ha m m e r
- and e ve n the "Ne w York Tim e s" a nd the "W ashington Post" have pra ise d
Adam 's live shows.
PRESS REVIEWS
JA ZZ Journal
International
by Mark Gilbert
THE BIG PICTURE
ADAM HOLZMAN
& BRAVE NEW WORLD
Holzman's generally
hard-hitting, metallic,
harmonically rich and
thematically ingenious brand of
fusion is well-known from his
previous dates as leader,
including Overdrive and
Manifesto, and from his tenure
as MD of the Miles Davis band,
1985-89, into which he brought
a particular and distinctive
texture and voicing.
To date his writing has been
characterised by a smooth
integration of go-go beats, rap
and so on into a credible jazz
context, where improvisation
and interaction are not
compromised.
Here he makes something of a
departure, adopting a
somewhat cooler, less dense
and marginally more abstract
approach. However, still at the
heart of his style is imaginative
and precise orchestration of an
array of electric instruments
and saxophone over rock-solid
back beats. Soloists may
generally get only a small
look-in, through the windows
for improvisation which are part
of the overall structure, but
that is the way the music is
designed to be, and on that
basis it is consistently
successful.
This is grown-up fusion, with
Born on Fe bruary 15, 1958 in Ne w York C ity, Ada m is the son of Ele k tra R e cords
founde r, Ja c Holzm an. Adam gre w up in C a lifornia a nd sta rte d cla ssica l pia no
le ssons at a ge 12, but his m ain influe nce s we re "The Doors", Le on R usse ll and
Dr. John. He sta rte d ge tting into progre ssive rock and ja zz-rock during the late
70s, which in turn le d to a growing inte re st in ja zz.
"First I was influe nce d by group lik e "Em e rson, Lak e & P alm e r" or "Ye s". W he n I
he ard C hick C ore a , the Maha vishnu O rche stra and Billy C obha m I got
com ple te ly turne d on to jazz." he sa ys toda y. "But I only starte d ge tting se rious
about jazz harm onie s whe n I wa s in m y la te 20s. Eve n to day the re a re still som e
gaps in m y jazz k nowle dge . But I do not conside r m y m usical role to be a
k e e pe r of ja zz traditions. I try to m a k e e nte rtaining m usic today, influe nce d by
rock , jazz-rock , funk and a lot of othe r style s a nd ide as."
O ne of his first big jobs wa s a ne w re cording of the ope ra "C arm ina Bura na" by
com pose r C a rl O rff, le d by R ay Manzare k of the "Doors" a nd produce d by Philipp
Glass. He the n pla ye d with various groups including the group "Fe nts", which
Adam co-founde d be fore com ing to the atte ntion of singe r R andy Ha ll.
Mile s Davis first hire d Ada m for som e k e yboa rd work fo r "Tutu" a nd the n as
se cond k e yboarde r for the live tour tha t followe d. W hile Mile s Davis hire d and
fire d m usicians at an e norm ous ra te during the se ye a rs, Adam Holzm a n a ctua lly
staye d for a lm ost 5 ye a rs. "I m ust have done som e thing right", Holzm a n sa ys
today."I was so ne rvous in the be ginning - I didn't think I would survive the first
tour." He m ust have done a lot of things right, since Mile s late r prom ote d him to
"m usical dire ctor", whe n R obe rt Irving le ft the band in 1988.
Afte r one m ore ye ar Ada m m ove d on - to work with Miche l Pe trucciani, who
ask e d him in 1989 to join him for a coope ration to which he also contribute d
se ve ral com positio ns.
"I couldn't re sist the challe nge , be ca use it gave m e a chance to e x pa nd in
se ve ral wa ys - both as a write r and a s a playe r, since the live shows we re m uch
le ss structure d tha n Mile s shows."
During the e a rly 90s, Adam a lso work e d for C hak a Khan, R obbe n Ford, the ba nd
"Ke lvynator" and m any othe rs. At this tim e he was a lso pre pa ring his solo
care e r, which sta rte d with "In A Loud W ay", whe n it was re le ase d in the USA in
the fall of 1993.
Paralle l to this he also founde d a ste ady live band, which wa s originally ca lle d
"Mona Lisa O ve rdrive " (inspire d by W illia m Gibson's nove l). Be ca use of copyright
re asons, the nam e was late r change d to it's curre nt nam e "Brave Ne w W orld".
The first line up of the band include d bassm an Ste ve Lo gan and drum m e r Van
the freneticism of its 1970s
pre-cursors cooled off and a
more sophisticated vocabulary
brought to bear. Those for
whom the jazz solo is supreme
might try The Hot Zone, where
Holzman and Heick burn at
length like Hancock and
Shorter.
R om aine .
FUSEMA G.com
by David Dorkin
ADAM HOLZMAN
The Big Picture
Keyboardist Adam Holzman's
group, Brave New World, is a
powerful downtown , fusion
band. Mitch Stein on guitar (of
the Hermanators), Freddy Cash
Jr. on bass, Juju House on
drums and Aaron Heick on sax.
The band comes out funky and
heavy on the opener "Iron
Curtain" and follow it up with
the soulful "Mad Cow Disease."
The introspective "Second
World", is an example of some
of the band's quieter moments
followed by more fusion-funk.
The overall mix is of excellent
quality as expected from
Holzrnan and all of the
members groove hard and solo
with passion (Holzman and
Stein in particular).
Read entire article in German (pdf file)
During 1994 the band cha nge d be fo re a tour of Ge rm a ny and Pola nd. It
include d Aaron He ick (Sax , e x -C ha k a Kha n Band), Fre ddy C a sh (Bass, fo rm e rly
with "Arre ste d De ve lopm e nt" a nd Ma rk Le dford) , Juju House (drum s, e x "C hak a
Khan Band" and "Arre ste d De ve lopm e nt", drum m e r on the le ge ndary re cording
"Slave To The R hythm " of Grace Jone s) a nd guitarist Mitch Ste in, who pe rform e d
for Tania Ma ria , Da vid Sanborn and C ha k a Khan (am ong othe rs).
In 1995 Adam appe a re d in the US with Brave Ne w W orld a nd continue d
occasiona lly pe rform ing with Miche l P e truccia ni - but wa s a lso a m e m be r o f
W ayne Shorte rs group, which toure d worldwide in fall of 1995. W hile W ayne
Shorte r got ve ry m ix e d re vie ws on this tour, m a ny re vie we rs la ude d Adam a s
one of the outstanding m usicians in the back ing band.
From 1997-2000, Ada m re corde d and toure d with the late , gre at sax pla ye r,
Grove r W a shington. O ve r the past se ve ral ye ars of the ne w m ille nium , he has
continue d work ing with his own ba nd, Brave Ne w W orld, re le a sing Ja zz R ock e t
Scie nce in 2005 a nd 4 live cd re cordings as part of the "Alive " se rie s. Adam ha s
also be e n producing ne w Mile s Davis proje cts for Sony a nd continue s to pla y side
gigs with Droid and the Ja ne Ge tte r ba nd.
As a hobby, Ada m a lso dra ws cartoons a nd you ca n che ck out his cool and highly
succe ssful "cre ate a custom com ic" se rvice at bigfuncom ics.com . He is m a rrie d to
guitarist Ja ne Ge tte r a nd the y have a son, R usse ll, who was born in 1994.
Adam also ha s a cool little we bsite , Ja zz-R ock .com .
ADAM HOLZMAN DISCOGRAPHY
k e yboardist, com pose r, produce r
Mile s Davis "Tutu"
W arne r Brothe rs
Mile s Davis "Live Around the W orld"
W arne r Brothe rs (also produce d)
Mile s Davis "The C om ple te Mile s in Montre ux "
(20 C D se t) (a lso wrote line r note s)
Mile s Davis "Live in Munich"
Sony/Montre ux Sounds
Pione e r DVD (also wrote line r note s)
Mile s Davis Tribute "Endle ss Mile s" N2K Encode d Music
Mile s Davis "The C e lla r Door Se ssions" (produce d w/ Bo b Be lde n) Sony
Grove r W a shington Jr. "Soulful Strut"
C olum bia
Grove r W a shington Jr. "Bre a th of He a ve n"
Grove r W a shington Jr. "Prim e C uts"
C olum bia
C olum bia
W allace R one y
"No R oom For Argum e nt"
W allace R one y
"Prototype "
Stre tch R e cords
HighNote R e cords
W allace R one y
"Mystik a l"
HighNote R e cords
Adam Holzm an & Bra ve Ne w W orld
Nage l He ye r R e cords
"Ja zz R ock e t Scie nce " (also produce d)
Adam Holzm an & Bra ve Ne w W orld
Escapade Music
"The Big Picture " (also produce d)
Adam Holzm an "In A Loud W ay"
Blue Note /Ma nha ttan
Adam Holzm an "O ve rdrive "
Lipstick R e cords
Adam Holzm an Ba nd
Lipstick R e cords
(a lso produce d)
"Manife sto" (also produce d)
Adam Holzm an & Bra ve Ne w W orld
Big Fun R e cords
Miche l Pe trucciani
"Music"
Miche l Pe trucciani
"Pla yground"
Miche l Pe trucciani
"Live "
Blue No te
(a lso a rrange d)
Blue Note
Blue No te
Ste ps Ahe ad
"Vibe "
Le nny W hite
"Pre se nt Te nse "
Anton Fig
"R e be llion" (also produce d)
(co-produce d with Mik e Manie ri) NYC R e cords
"Figm e nts"
Hip Bop R e cords
Planula R e ords
Mahavishnu Proje ct “R e turn To The Em e rald Be yond” C unie form R e cords
R ay W ilson
"C ha nge "
Inside /O ut R e cords
Jim i He ndrix Tribute "Live in Stuttga rt" DVD
"The Faculty"
soundtra ck a lbum
Sony
(produce d by Ke vin Shirle y)
Ste ve Louw "Blue s to Black " Sony/So uth Africa
(produce d by Ke vin Shirle y)
Supa Group
(produce d by Ke vin Shirle y)
Sponge
"Supa Group" Sa nctua ry R e cords
"Sponge "
Sony
(produce d by Ke vin Shirle y)
Jane Ge tte r
"Ja ne "
Jane Ge tte r
"Se e Jane R un"
Jason Mile s
Lipstick R e cords
(a lso co-produce d)
Alte rnity R e cords
"Mile s To Mile s" Na rada Ja zz / EMI
C e sare De ll’Anna
Holly C ole
Tribute
(also produce d)
“My Mile s”
11/8 R e cords
"Strawbe rry Fie lds" (produce d) Pa rt of C apitol R e cords Be atle s
Te o Mace ro Proje ct
C harle s Fa m brough
Te o R e cords
"Ke e pe r of the Spirit"
Audioque st
Bob Be lde n Ense m ble "W he n Dove s C ry - Music of Prince "
C apitol
Bob Be lde n Ense m ble "Stra ight to yo ur He art - Music of Sting"
Bob Be lde n Ense m ble
"Puccini's Turandot" Toshiba/EMI
Northsound ne w age C Ds:
"Big C ats"
Northsound
"C re ature s of the Night"
"W alk ing W ork out"
(produce d & com pose d)
Northsound (produce d & com pose d)
Northsound
Twana R hode s "Through The Night"
(produce d & com pose d)
Nage l-He ye r
(produce d)
C apitol
Kim Plainfie ld & Lincoln Goine s
Tom Browne
"R 'N'Browne "
Big Horns Be e
"BHB2"
"Night a nd Day"
Hip Bop
Sony/Japa n
Tak a Niida "Life In The Big C ity"
Jason Be ck e r Tribute
"Ne e d So m e body"
"Tim e Tra ve lle r"
R obin Ke nyatta
"Blue R obin"
R ay De Tone "Stra nge W orld"
Mark Mulle r
FM Groo ve
Soulse arch Music
Ja zzdance (also produce d)
Dance tone Music
"Am e rican Hom e C ook ing" Know Budge t R e cords
Abstract Truth
R andy Ha ll
P ony C anyon/Japa n
"W arm th in the W ilde rne ss 2" Lion Music
Francis M'Ba ppe , FM Tribe
Se ction 31
EFA / Me talim bo
"Ge t Anothe r Plan"
Stre e twave Music
"Love You Lik e A Stra nge r"
MC A
The Fe nts
"The O the r Side " (a lso produce d)
Passpo rt Jazz
The Fe nts
"First O ffe nse " Big Fun R e cords (produce d by Paul R othchild)
R ay Manza re k "C arm ina Burana " A&M R e cords
(C lassicalrock ve rsion produce d by Philip Gla ss)
Ed Maguire
"Jasm ine "
TruSpace R e cords
Bob's Book C lub "Bob's Book C lub"
W alk s Alone R e co rds
Norm an Dozie r "Norm an Dozie r" Atlantic R e cords
Adam Holzm an & Bra ve Ne w W orld "Alive " Se rie s of ‘boo tle g’ live album s:
"#1Live In Europe '96-97", #2"Live In Ge rm any 2001", #3"Live in Ne w York ",
#4"Live in Paris 2002"
Big Fun R e co rds
Authe ntic Sound Effe cts Volum e s I, II, & III Ele k tra R e cords (digital ve rsion)