Adam Shulman has been a staple

of the San Francisco Jazz scene since he moved to the city in 2002. Before the move, Adam was a student at UC Santa Cruz where he studied with the great Smith Dobson and the trumpeter/arranger Ray Brown. He received his degree in classical performance under the tutelage of the Russian pianist Maria Ezerova. Currently, Adam plays regularly with Marcus Shelby in large and small group contexts and with Anton Schwartz mostly in a trio setting. He can also be seen as a sideman with countless bay area musicians and vocalists such as John Wittala, Vince Lateano, Kitty Margolis, Andrew Speight, Dayna Stephens, Ian Cary, and Mike Zilber.

 

Adam has played as a sideman with internationally renowned artists Stefon Harris, Willie Jones III, Paula West and Bobby Hutcherson and with the Glen Miller Orchestra.

 

    Though his roots are in be-bop, Adam is a very versatile player and has a lot of post-bop and modern influence apparent in his playing. His main influences include Barry Harris, Sonny Clark, Tommy Flanagan, Wynton Kelly, Hank Jones and more modern players such as Herbie Hancock and Fred Hersch. Bill Evans has always been a huge influence on Adam’s playing, particularly in the intensity of his treatment of melody.  His own compositions are rooted firmly in traditional harmony and borrow from classical and popular forms.