Brian Adler- Drummer, Composer, Teacher

Photo by Daniel Sheehan

Projects

Prana Trio:

Brian Adler- drums, percussion

Sunny Kim - voice
Stomu Takeishi - trumpet

Frank Carlberg - bass

Ben Monder- guitar
Carmen Staaf - tenor sax

Robert Lanzetti - tenor sax
Nathan Goheen - guitar

Matt Aronoff - bass
Evan Halloin - saxes

Ran Blake- piano

Led by Brian Adler, Prana Trio, and recently Quartet, has been dedicated to exploring original compositions, and free improvisations based on the ancient texts of Rumi, Hafiz, Lao Tzu, Shankarcarya, Kabir, Issa and others since 2003. This ensemble has been recognized by reviewers across the globe as being one of the few truly unique and original groups on the music scene today. Described as “beautiful… magical…” by pianist Marilyn Crispell, the trio has produced three albums: The Singing Image of Fire (2010), Pranam (2006) and After Dark (2004) and has performed throughout the United States and Germany.

Helium:

Brian Adler- drums
Ben Monder- guitar

Sunny Kim - voice
Josh Deutsch- trumpet

Alper Yilmaz- bass
Petr Cancura- tenor sax

Rodrigo Dominguez- tenor sax
Juan Pablo Arredondo- guitar

Jeronimo Carmona- bass
Pablo Ledesma- saxes

Pepe Angelillo- piano
Martin De Lassaletta- bass

Helium is one of the lightest and most plentiful elements in the observable universe; it has a high binding energy and can take any physical form. In this same way, this project gathers many perspectives, and questions the boundaries of jazz in a setting where the music is played and communicated through improvisation and the exchange of helium energy. Based on my compositions and set in a context that encourages the interchange of creativity, Helium includes a large number of musical and non-musical collaborators. It is a non-commercial venture, gathering specific musicians at a variety of venues to share a similar love for creative music. A prototype is set to take place in July of 2010 where we will return to South America and take one of the first steps in realize this dream with local musicians in five major cities.

Four Across:

Josh Deutsch- trumpet

Carmen Staaf- piano

Matt Aronoff- bass

Brian Adler- drums

"Beautiful playing and compositions" is the way bassist Henry Grimes describes Four Across; a jazz quartet made up of trumpet player Josh Deutsch, pianist Carmen Staaf, drummer Brian Adler and bassist Matt Aronoff. This group of long time friends draws inspiration from middle eastern tea, dogs, bicycle percussion, tannins of broccoli and Danish cinema while maintaining strong musical connections to artists ranging from Danilo Perez and Thelonious Monk to Hanne Hukkelberg and Egberto Gismonti. In the spring of 2008 they released, "Four Across" their self titled debut album (8bells/Circavision Productions) which has received constant praise. Members of Four Across have performed at festivals and jazz venues all across Europe, North and South America and Asia. They have recently returned from their fifth tour where they played in the South West and kicked off The Outpost Performance Space's summer festival.