Adam Smale: 7-string Fingerstyle Jazz Guitarist

You could say Adam grew up inside of a cornfield—on 3 acres of property his parents bought in an existing cornfield of which 3 sides was surrounded by rows, and rows of corn. Bar River (35min east of Sault Ste. Marie), a very small working-class community in Northern Ontario, Canada, is the place that provided the young guitarist with his deep roots in Country and Bluegrass music. Initially, at 7 years old, he had wanted to the play 5-string banjo, but when told by a local teacher he was too small to play it, he then tried his hand at the guitar. His bond with the instrument was immediate. By the tender age of 12 he became a member of the musician's union and burst onto the local music scene performing at various community events. By 14, was on the road gaining valuable experience such as playing night clubs and weddings around Northern Ontario.

It was during these formative years a personal quest was cemented and impassioned seeds were sowed which were allowed to flourish over time. Logically so, an organic blend of musical influences, fostered by extremely open-minded parents, was given fertile ground to grow its own solid, dynamic, ever-probing roots. After eight years of performing, Adam's talent and creative drive had exceeded the limitations of small-town exposure.

The young guitarist made the move to Toronto enrolling in the excellent music program at Humber College. Humber initiated Adam to jazz and the introduction to its lineage and he never looked back. “Jazz felt completely natural. I was always improvising, being somewhat naive, thought everyone improvised all the time. Jazz was the perfect vehicle to implement this natural propensity.” Also exposed to other genres of music, and tipping his hat to his roots in country, Adam was making a natural progression to his own brand of Jazz. However, it was not until years later, after graduating, that Adam found another monumental influence, a guitar master who also raised out of the country tradition, and furthermore, also touted Chet Atkins a mentor as a young “picker"-- none other than Lenny Breau.

Breau's guitar work inspired Smale to take yet another new direction in Jazz Guitar. After serious contemplation, Adam discarded his flat-pick to wield a thumb-pick once again—a return to his youth. “It seems strange. I’m kind of steppin’ back and moving forward at the same time. But, I can coax more nuances from the guitar with a fingerstyle technique. It’s a softer approach at times but it’s more sexy.” Adam asserts. “Lenny's thing was to sound more like a piano player. You're playing chords for yourself while you play melodies or solo, influenced greatly from listening to Bill Evans.” This challenging technique, demonstrates Adam's constant endeavour for improvement with a fearless approach to musical growth and discovery. This expansion in Adam’s musical evolution, in fact, also caused him to expand his guitar. Literally! He designed a seven-string guitar and had a local luthier build it for him which he now uses exclusively. He in fact also designed and built a 7-string classical guitar himself. “With six strings, I felt a little boxed in. I now have more flexibility with the extra string.”

Adam's debut CD, Fun City, an independent release, charted the 9th most played CD in Canadian national radio for the whole month of September according to the Canadian National Jazz Chart in 2000. In 2002, the Adam Smale Quartet placed 2nd in the renowned Grand Prix de Jazz contest, during the Montreal Jazz Festival. His song "It Was Something She Said" made it to the "Top 20" in the 2005 Unisong International Songwriting Contest Jazz/Blues category. No small achievement considering this song is an instrumental and every song that won in each category all had lyrics.

Adam has performed in South America, India, and the Middle East, as well as performing in cross-Canada tours and in the Greater Toronto area. One side-project, is experimental band Camarillo; it is a melting pot of genres, including World Music, Electronic, with strong free-improv elements and compound metres. Adam has performed with such notable top Canadian Jazz talent as Don Thompson and Terry Clarke. When still living in Toronto, Adam held the guitar chair in the Regis Philbin Orchestra when Philbin performed in the Toronto area. Adam conducts master classes and seminars in Canada & the USA, for Guitar Workshop Plus, the National Guitar Workshop, as well as juggling select private students in the Kalamazoo, Michigan area. He is currently a candidate to graduate a Masters degree in Jazz Performance from Western Michigan University in May, 2009.