Justin Alexander Adams (born 22 July 1961) is an English guitarist and composer who works in

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and African styles.

Biography

Born in London, the son of a

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, Adams spent some of his early childhood growing up in Egypt, before returning with his family to England.Pegg, Warren
"Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara, Pavilion Theatre, Brighton, 19 June"
'' The Argus'', 19 June 2008; retrieved 28 June 2015. He began his career in music in the 1980s with the band the Impossible Dreamers. He then joined Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart.Gutierrez, Evan C.
Justin Adams Biography
, Allmusic.com; retrieved 29 June 2015. His first solo album was ''Desert Road'' in 2001, and he also wrote the score for Elaine Proctor's 2000 film '' Kin''. Adams co-wrote the 2005

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin from its founding in 1968 until their breakup in 1980. Since then, he has had a successful solo ca ...

album '' Mighty ReArranger'', and is a producer. He has worked with Saharan desert blues group

Tinariwen Tinariwen (Tamasheq language, Tamasheq: ; with vowels ; plural of ténéré meaning "desert") is a collective of Tuareg people, Tuareg musicians from the Sahara region of southern Algeria and of northern Mali, in the region of Azawad. Considered ...

, whose first and third albums he produced, Robert Plant's Strange Sensation band, and has collaborated with

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

, Lo'Jo and musicians from African, Arabic and Irish traditions.Perry, Andrew (2008)
Tinariwen: homesick blues for the desert
, ''

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

'', 28 August 2008; retrieved 29 May 2011. From 2007, he collaborated with

Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

griot A griot (; ; Manding languages, Manding: or (in N'Ko script, N'Ko: , or in French spelling); also spelt Djali; or / ; ) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. Griots are masters of communicatin ...

Juldeh Camara (sometimes under the name 'JUJU'), resulting in the albums ''Soul Science'', ''Tell No Lies'' (which won a ''

Songlines A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia. They mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dr ...

'' 'Cross-Cultural Collaboration' award), ''The Trance Sessions'', and ''In Trance''. He also recorded with Ben Mandelson and

Lu Edmonds Robert David "Lu" Edmonds (born 9 September 1957) is an English rock and folk musician. He is currently, as of 2018, a vocalist and saz and cümbüş player in the Mekons and the guitarist for Public Image Ltd. Edmonds reportedly plays elect ...

as Les Triaboliques, releasing the album ''rivermudtwilight'' (2009). He produced the 2013 '' Zoom'' album of

Rachid Taha Rachid Taha (, Latn, ar, Rashīd Ṭāhā, ; 18 September 1958 – 12 September 2018) was an Algerian people, Algerian singer and activist based in France described as "sonically adventurous". His music was influenced by many different styles in ...

. In 2014, he performed with

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

Personal life

Adams and his wife have two children.

Discography

*''Desert Road'' (2001), Wayward *''Kin: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' (2001), Wayward *''Soul Science'' (2007), Wayward - Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara *''Tell No Lies'' (2009), Real World - Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara *''rivermudtwilight'' (2009), World Village - Les Triaboliques *''The Trance Sessions'' (2010), Real World - Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara *''In Trance'' (2011), Real World - JUJU *''Ribbons'' (2017), Wayward/DJA Records - Justin Adams & Anneli Drecker *''Still Moving'' (2021), Rough Trade - Justin Adams & Mauro Durante *''Sweet Release'' (2024), Ponderosa Music & Art - Justin Adams & Mauro Durante

References

External links

*
Justin Adams
statistics and tagging at Last.FM {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Justin Living people 1961 births People from Westminster English male guitarists Musicians from the City of Westminster