With unrivalled feel and virtuosity for the music he plays jazz clarinetist Adrian Cox is internationally acclaimed, and currently right at the top of his game. Unrivalled feel and virtuosity for the music he plays has led to performances with some of the biggest names in jazz. A leading exponent of the New Orleans’ clarinet with a huge wealth of knowledge of the music and the players of the era, Adrian spends the majority of his life on tour around the world. He’s touring Aotearoa in April, first with ska legends Bad Manners then with his own Adrian Cox Trio, which will perform a show called Makin’ Runs, celebrating New Orleans’ music in its earliest form. Jazz fanciers should absolutely not miss this opportunity. 

April 18 – The Undercurrent, Wellington – Info here
April 19 – 62nd National Jazz Festival, Tauranga – Tickets here
April 20/21 – Waiheke Jazz & Blues Festival, Auckland – Tickets here
April 22 – The Piano, Christchurch – Tickets here
April 23 – Creative Jazz Club, Auckland – Tickets here

NZM: Did you learn the clarinet to play jazz or did jazz find you sometime later?

Adrian: Clarinet was my first love from the age of six. My dad is a jazz banjo player, and from an early age we would go out to concerts and local pub gigs. I received a clarinet for Christmas as a 6-year old and fell in love with playing!

You left school at 15 to play professionally! Were you a child prodigy or was school really not for you?

School was definitely not for me, ha ha ha! I always knew that I wanted to play jazz and be a touring musician. I had taken to playing very quickly and was playing shows 2/3 times a week from the age of 13 or so. At 15 I was offered a full time job with a New Orleans revivalist band. I took the job and in the first year we played 326 shows! It was life on the road and exactly how I imagined it. I had to move away from home and I thank my parents for letting me live my dream.

When did you first develop a fascination with musical period history? 

My teacher had always told me to go back to the very source of the music you want to play, so it was very early on that I started to explore the early forms of jazz, especially the clarinetists! I feel so lucky that these musicians were recorded.
For me just the idea that these players were inventing this music fascinates me to this day, I am both excited and curious about how it all came about. I have spent time researching the works of Edmond Hall, Barney Bigard, Johnny Dodds, George Lewis, Sidney Bechet… to be honest, it’s a life-long passion.

In 2017, I put together a project called Profoundly Blue that celebrated my favourite clarinetist, Edmond Hall. It was a concert that delved into his history, his life and very much my love for this man and why I loved his playing. We toured worldwide with the project, including Dizzy’s club in New York.

Makin’ Runs, the show you’re performing in NZ celebrates New Orleans’ music in its earliest form. The title itself clearly carries musical meaning.

The project title comes from a phrase attributed to the father of jazz ‘Buddy Bolden’ the cornet player who was unfortunately never recorded but was held in the highest esteem by his peers. According to legend, makin’ runs is a tune attributed to Buddy Bolden, heard by Bunk Johnson in New Orleans. The phrase symbolises Bolden’s vision for inventive improvisations whilst never repeating himself.

Is the show in part a verbal history lesson?

Yes it is, every tune has a tale, a story about the composer, the character behind the musician. I love this music so much and so with research I keep finding more little bits to add. We are going through music from 1890 through to 1940s, the influence New Orleans has had on music throughout.

As a melting pot culture the music of New Orleans must have been breaking out in all manner of directions at once?

Yes, 100%. There are so many different elements to the music from the start. Jelly Roll Morton speaks about this in the Library of Congress, about how the music was influenced. He talks of the “spanish tinge”, an element of jazz that runs through the  soul of the music.

Who were the artists of the day that we will hear you play and talk about?

Jelly Roll as a key figure is highly featured, but also Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, Bechet, King Oliver, Alphonse Picou, and of course Buddy Bolden. The show moves about, we have some wonderful exciting pieces, but also some beautiful melodies and vocals. The wonderful thing with the trio is the dynamic range – many people comment on how they hear the instruments, being able to hear the nuances that they don’t get to hear in other settings. As a trio we play so closely together, always listening and supporting each other.

You’re touring NZ first with Bad Manners. How much can you cut through that brass section with clarinet?

With Bad Manners I play tenor sax – never a clarinet in Bad Manners! However, we are recording this year and Buster did show and interest in a bit of clarinet, so watch this space. 
I am actually the sax player and the manager of the band. I have been the manager of 15 years (for my sins) but how can you not love Bad Manners? Making people dance and party hard. As the manager, it means I can set things up like this, they fly home and I stay out on tour and fly out my trio, a perfect situation. 

Can you name some of the diversity of artists that you’ve toured with previously?

As well as Bad Manners I have recently produced the latest music for Out Of Control Army, a crazy band from Mexico playing shows to 70k+ on a very regular basis! I have worked with pop act Paloma Faith in the UK and I was very lucky enough to play with Dr John some years back. In 2018 I had the huge honour of playing with Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, both in London and in New York.

What is the Makin’ Runs tour about for you?

My whole reason for taking up music was the music of New Orleans. I love this music so much. What we play is not a copyist piece but a respectful concert making sure this early art form is celebrated. It breaks my heart that often in college they do not teach anything before 1940. The music sounds so current and is so inclusive, it’s party music, it is meant to make you smile and touch your emotions in other spots. The same as Bad Manners, it is so accessible and to be enjoyed.

How long have Honey Boulton (guitar) and Alex Gilson (double bass) been your trio bandmates?

Honey, Alex and I have worked like crazy together since the start of the year (with lots of time spent rehearsing previously). We have a special connection not just on stage but in all the time that we spend together. Each of us goes to the stage with 200% energy and commitment to what we are doing, something that is so important to me. I am writing this in March and we have performed over 35 shows already this year. We are so excited for New Zealand.

What’s the ideal venue setting for an Adrian Cox clarinet trio performance?

The trio has a special energy that can draw people in from the start. At all our shows I say, “If we can get across just 1% of how much we love this music, then that is a win to us.” We love the theatre, concert hall shows and also the intimate audience-on-top-of-you shows too. We always have a wonderful time playing and feel so privileged to be making music, we just hope  that anyone who comes along can join us on the journey.

And to close, can you tell us a bit about the Sunday Service shows you’ve done on Facebook?

The Sunday Service was how I kept going throughout the Covid pandemic. I would take a New Orleans jazz musician and study an album or a period of their career and present a one hour concert live on Facebook weekly. It really grew into a lovely community with often 250+ tuning in to watch me play. People’s kindness with donations was amazing and it is lovely to now meet everyone around the world whilst on tour! Hopefully some here in NZ who were staying up late to tune in will be able to join us at our shows. 

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