Adam Shulman

Adam Shulman – We Wish You a Funky Christmas (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 50:42 minutes | 587 MB | Genre: Jazz, Christmas
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cellar Live

Christmas is a wonderful time for music. There are so many songs in this season that are part of a shared history. We grew up listening to Christmas songs and can sing them word for word. Even if one doesn’t celebrate Christmas, the songs are a part of our culture and can be a part of who we are.

I wanted to create an album that uses these well-loved melodies as a jumping off point to explore how they would sound if they were heard through the lens of a 70s funk/fusion group. Jason Muscat, Jeff Marrs and I have played a ton through the years and I knew they would be perfect for this project. Jason and Jeff are musical brothers and create a feeling that is solid and grooving but also open and not risk-averse. Jesse Levit fit right in with his passionate and adventurous playing and deep groove. I am very grateful to Jason, Jeff and Jesse for their inspired and supportive playing on this record.

I was very lucky to get to record this album at Hyde Street Studios in SF in the same room as Herbie Hancock’s seminal album “Headhunters”. Joe Bagale is the engineer for the room and keeps it faithful to its history. We could feel the energy as soon as we walked in and hopefully some of that vibe rubbed off on us.

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Adam Shulman – We Wish You a Funky Christmas (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 00:50:42 minutes | 586 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover

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Adam Shulman – Just the Contrafacts (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 43:21 minutes | 984 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Cellar Live

From the liner notes, written by the leader: Just The Contrafacts was a project borne of the 2020 lockdown. I was stuck at home and unable to play with other human beings. As the months dragged on, I needed some kind of musical outlet. I started giving myself the exercise of writing contrafacts; that is writing new melodies over the chord structure of standard tunes from the Great American Songbook. It was something to keep my mind occupied and my creativity active in the absence of gigs. After writing a fair number of melodies, I thought it would be fun to write sextet arrangements and as I started doing this, I thought why not make this into an album? Being a mental escape of sorts from the tedium and anxiety of the early lockdown period, I gravitated towards humor and whimsy in these pieces. The world for me was heavy enough and I was using music as a way to sooth myself by playing around and having fun. A lot of the titles of the tunes reflect this attitude. The title and cover also point to escapism to a different time and a tongue-in-cheek nod to film-noir. I hope, dear listener, that some of this fun and light-hearted-ness comes through and can serve as a balm for your soul in these strange times
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