Roger SpencerOnce in a while a musician comes along with impeccable technique, deep understanding of the jazz repertoire, an innate tendency to swing and the rare ability to communicate the heart and soul of a tune to listeners. That musician is Beegie Adair.
About her music Adair says, “Falling in love with jazz is like falling in love with a person, except with jazz you never get over it.” About Beegie (say B-G) Adair, what do others say?
Jazz great Helen Merrill salutes her “inventive jazz sense, her wonderful sense of time and improvised melody.”
Christopher Louden of Jazz Times magazine says Adair is “an accomplished artist with a delicate touch.”
The Los Angeles Times calls her music “Elegant.”
Entertainment News writes, “Beegie Adair is one of the finest piano players in the world.”
Intrigued? So are thousands of jazz fans, who agree with critics about Adair’s sophisticated and listenable jazz performances, and who have made her recordings among the biggest sellers in the jazz world.
Citing George Shearing, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner among her influences, Adair has recorded 24 CDs, ranging from Cole Porter standards to Frank Sinatra classics to romantic World War II ballads. Her 6-CD Centennial Composers Collection of tunes by Rodgers, Gershwin, Kern, Ellington, Carmichael and Berlin became an instant collectible classic when it was released in 2002.
Kentucky born and raised, Adair lives and records in Nashville – something of a surprise to people who associate the city solely with country music. In fact Nashville lives up to its “Music City” nickname by hosting a vibrant jazz scene, in which she has been a leading light for decades. A sought-after studio musician in her early days there, Adair accompanied such legendary performers as Chet Atkins, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash – and also worked with Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore, Mama Cass Elliott and Peggy Lee.
Her guests on Improvised Thoughts, Beegie’s radio talk/music show on the local NPR affiliate, included such greats as Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Benny Golson and Helen Merrill. She has guested on McPartland’s Piano Jazz show and has performed with Nat Adderley, Bill Watrous, Lew Tabackin, Terry Clarke, Urbie Green and Jim Ferguson, among many others.
When she’s not in the studio or appearing in clubs and concert halls around the country, Adair wears a variety of hats, from adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University to teacher and mentor at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Recently she co-wrote and scored an innovative theatrical production, Betsy, which in April 2006 premiered off-Broadway in New York.
She has recorded eight projects for Village Square Records in Nashville; her most recent CDs are Sentimental Journey, a popular collection of World War II-era songs, and a solo piano recording, Quiet Romance.
She performs solo and with the Beegie Adair Trio, whose members include drummer Chris Brown, a veteran of the Maynard Ferguson ensemble, and bassist Roger Spencer, who has played with the Les Brown Band, Ray Conniff, the Page Cavanaugh Trio and Pete Jolly. They are, she says, “my main guys. They’re so tuned into the way I visualize music that it’s effortless to play with them.”
In clubs and concert venues from Los Angeles to New York, Beegie and her “main guys” win kudos from audiences and critics alike who appreciate her unique take on classic jazz. She fell in love with the music a long time ago, and indeed she’s never gotten over it -- a love affair the jazz world is much the better for.
For a comlete discography, click here.
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Originally from Terre Haute, Indiana, Roger has had an extensive musical career. He has performed, traveled and recorded with such artists as Les Brown and His Band of Renown, Harry James, Rosemary Clooney, Sam Butera, Tony Bennett, Ray Conniff, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco and Carl Fontana just to name a few. He and his wife Lori Mechem moved to Nashville in 1988 where he records, travels performing at jazz festivals and teaches Master Classes across the south.
Roger went to Indiana University to study under David Baker in Jazz Studies and graduated from Indiana State with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. The Nashville Jazz Workshop features Roger teaching Ear Training, Beginning Improvisation, Rhythm Section Workouts, Jazz History, Composition and Arranging and a Jazz Bass Styles class.
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After arriving from New York in 1992, Chris has been the most sought after jazz drummer in the south. He has recorded and played with many great musicians while being in Nashville. The Maynard Ferguson Band was Chris's first professional big band gig. He also played with Don Grolnick. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chris graduated from North Texas State with a Bachelors of Music degree in Jazz Studies.
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Jack Jezzro has nearly 100 albums to his credit, a Grammy nomination, and four Dove award nominations. His projects have collectively sold over 5 million copies. As an internationally accomplished guitarist, his music has been featured on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT, THE OLYMPICS, and jazz radio stations around the world. Jezzro serves as producer on all but one of Beegie's recordings.
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Master of saxophones, flute, and clarinet, Denis Solee's career includes playing on hundreds of recordings, commercials, TV shows, and film scores. His long list of recording credits includes projects by major artists including Chet Atkins, Garth Brooks, Bela Fleck, Amy Grant, Michael McDonald, Roy Orbison, and many more. Denis has appeared in concert with Natalie Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Marvin Hamlisch, Bob Hope, Liza Minnelli, Mel Torme, and a vast group of others. Denis joins The Beegie Adair Trio on Sax & Swing.
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Mike Longo began playing jazz professionally at age 15, working briefly with Cannonball Adderly. During his college years at Western Kentucky University, Longo worked with Hank Garland then hit the road before relocating to New York. While touring with Jimmy McPartland, Mike met Oscar Peterson and subsequently left the Big Apple to become a private student of Oscar Peterson in Toronto for six months. Upon returning to New York, Longo formed a trio, recorded his first album, produced by Della Reese, and soon became the musical director for Dizzy Gillespie, composing and arranging most of the music he played during 1966-1975. Since then, Mike Longo continued traveling, writing, and playing with many well know jazz greats including Clark Terry, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Branford Marsalis, Slide Hampton, and Beegie Adair, whose debut CD was recorded and produced by Mike Longo on his CAP label. For more on Mike Longo, click here
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Chris Brown
Jack Jezzro
Denis Solee
Mike Longo