Placide Adams (August 30, 1929 – March 29, 2003) was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
ist, who worked prolifically with a wide circle of
BB King
Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...
,
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined a ...
,
Ruth Brown
Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for At ...
,
Clyde McPhatter
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and
Big Joe Turner
Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due t ...
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a New Orleans jazz band founded in New Orleans by tuba player Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s. The band derives its name from Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. In 2005, the Hall's doors were closed for a ...
, with trumpeter Oscar
Papa Celestin
Oscar Phillip Celestin (January 1, 1884 – December 15, 1954) better known by stage name Papa Celestin was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader.
Life and career
Celestin was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, to a Creole family, son of a ...
, clarinetist Louis Cottrell at Heritage Hall and at the long-running Commander's Palace Jazz Brunch with the Alvin Alcorn band He also gigged with such New Orleans mainstays as trumpeter
Al Hirt
Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album '' Honey in the Horn'' (1963), and for the them ...
Louis Barbarin
Louis Barbarin (nickname Lil Barb; October 24, 1902 – May 12, 1997) was a New Orleans jazz drummer.
Early life
Barbarin was born in New Orleans on October 24, 1902. His father was Isidore Barbarin, and his brothers Paul, Lucien, and William al ...
, trombonist Louis Nelson, pianist Joe Robichaux, banjoist Emanuel 'Manny' Sayles and pianist Walter Lewis.
Historical appearances with George Lewis and Louis Cottrell
In 1964, Adams toured Japan with the band of clarinetist
George Lewis George Lewis may refer to:
Entertainment and art
* George B. W. Lewis (1818–1906), circus rider and theatre manager in Australia
* George E. Lewis (born 1952), American composer and free jazz trombonist
* George J. Lewis (1903–1995), Mexican ...
, and he made 2 recording sessions with Lewis while there. The last of these sessions, recorded in the early morning hours of June 15, 1964, would prove to be Lewis's last recording session but arguably his finest. Although made by exhausted band members who had performed a concert the evening before and had made a string of additional concert appearances on two consecutive days prior to that, the well-recorded session reveals some of the cleanest and most creative lines Lewis ever performed and Adams is heard in solo on one notable track. Although an historical session of superb quality, the recording was not released until 1976, eight years after Lewis's death.
In 1974, Adams performed at Carnegie Hall with Louis Cottrell and The Heritage Hall Jazz Band.
The Onward Brass Band
Adams also played the bass drum with the
Onward Brass Band
The Onward Brass Band was either of two brass bands active in New Orleans for extended periods of time.
Onward Brass Band (c. 1886–1930)
This incarnation of the Onward Brass Band played often in its early history at picnics, festivals, parades, ...
, that performed for street funerals and in
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "F ...
parades. He assumed the leadership of the band after the death of Louis Cottrell in 1978.
Adams continued performing right up to his death, which occurred three weeks before he was scheduled to appear at the 2003
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of vi ...
.
Personal life
Adams was Catholic.
Selected discography
With Louis Cottrell and The Heritage Hall Jazz Band
* ''Live At Carnegie Hall'' (1974)
With George Lewis
* ''George Lewis and His New Orleans All-Stars'' (Recorded 1964, released 1976)
With The Onward Brass Band
* ''Last Journey Of A Jazzman: Funeral of Lester Santiago, Paul Barbarin and the Onward Brass Band, Nobility'', recorded 1965, released 2004.
Bibliography
*Al Rose and Edmund Souchon, ''New Orleans Jazz: A Family Album''. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: The LSU Press, 1967.
*Jazz House. ''The Last Post'': Placide Adams