Bio:
Guitarist Adam Moezinia is from Los Angeles, where he honed his craft at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA), guided by mentors like Jason Goldman, Walter Smith III, and Kenny Dennis. Early in his tenure at LACHSA, Adam distinguished himself as a standout talent, earning a spot as a representative for the Thelonius Monk Institute’s nationwide peer-to-peer tours. Collaborating with established jazz luminaries such as Bobby Watson, Antonio Hart, and Lisa Henry, he not only performed but also shared his expertise on four tours.
In 2008, Adam showcased his skills at the prestigious former Kodak Theatre, now the Dolby Theatre, during the Thelonius Monk Saxophone Competition with the "Thelonious Monk High School All-Star Jazz Septet," featuring Antonio Hart. Seeking further artistic growth, he made the pivotal decision to relocate to New York City in 2010, securing a full tuition scholarship to study at The Juilliard School.
Since then, Adam has graced stages alongside renowned artists such as Freddy Cole, Mike LeDonne, Cecile Mclorin Salvant, George Coleman, and Kenny Washington, enchanting audiences at esteemed venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, Birdland, Smoke, Scullers, and Bird’s Basement. Alongside these collaborations, Adam has nurtured his own creative vision, regularly performing with his ensemble, the "Folk Element" trio, since 2017.
Rooted in the jazz tradition yet drawing inspiration from folk traditions spanning West Africa, South Africa, the Caribbean, the UK, and Appalachia, the trio embarks on a musical journey that transcends boundaries. Their debut album, "Folk Element Trio," officially released in April 2021, marks a significant milestone in their artistic evolution. With a commitment to exploring the symbiotic relationship between jazz and folk music, Adam and his ensemble are poised to share their discoveries with audiences worldwide, forging connections and fostering cultural exchange through their music.
Recommend Adam Moezinia in order to appear here. Click on the grey crosses visible when logged in. Your photo will appear, with a link back to your page:
"Dear Sparrow: I am thrilled to receive your email! Thank you for including me in this wonderful matrix."
—Susan Rogers (BOSTON): Director of the Berklee Music Perception and Cognition Laboratory ... Former personal recording engineer for Prince; recorded "Purple Rain", "Sign o' the Times", "Around the World in a Day"
Conceived under a Spiritus Mundi ranging from the quilombos and senzalas of Cachoeira and Santo Amaro to Havana and the provinces of Cuba to the wards of New Orleans to the South Side of Chicago to the sidewalks of Harlem to the townships of South Africa to the villages of Ireland to the Roma camps of France and Belgium to the Vienna of Beethoven to the shtetls of Eastern Europe...*
*...in conversation with Raymundo Sodré, who summed up the irony in this sequence by opining for the ages: "Where there's misery, there's music!" Thus A Massa, anthem for the trod-upon folk of Brazil, which blasted from every radio between the Amazon and Brazil's industrial south until Sodré was silenced, threatened with death and forced into exile...
And thus a platform whereupon all creators tend to accessible proximity to all other creators, irrespective of degree of fame, location, or the censor.
Matrix Ground Zero is the Recôncavo, bewitching and bewitched, contouring the resplendent Bay of All Saints (end of clip below, before credits), absolute center of terrestrial gravity for the disembarkation of enslaved human beings (and for the sublimity these people created), the bay presided over by Brazil's ineffable Black Rome (seat of the Integrated Global Creative Economy* and where Bule Bule is seated below, around the corner from where we built this matrix as an extension of our record shop).
("Black Rome" is an appellation per Caetano, via Mãe Aninha of Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá.)
*Darius Mans holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT, and lives between Washington D.C. and Salvador da Bahia.
Between 2000 and 2004 he served as the World Bank’s Country Director for Mozambique and Angola. In that capacity, Darius led a team which generated $150 million in annual lending to Mozambique, including support for public private partnerships in infrastructure which catalyzed over $1 billion in private investment.
Darius was an economist with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where he worked closely with the U.S. Treasury and the IMF to establish a framework to avoid debt repudiation and to restructure private commercial debt in Brazil and Chile.
He taught Economics at the University of Maryland and was a consultant to KPMG on infrastructure projects in Latin America.
I'm Pardal here in Brazil (that's "Sparrow" in English). The deep roots of this project are in Manhattan, where Allen Klein (managed the Beatles and The Rolling Stones) called me about royalties for the estate of Sam Cooke... where Jerry Ragovoy (co-wrote Time is On My Side, sung by the Stones; Piece of My Heart, Janis Joplin of course; and Pata Pata, sung by the great Miriam Makeba) called me looking for unpaid royalties... where I did contract and licensing for Carlinhos Brown's participation on Bahia Black with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock...
...where I rescued unpaid royalties for Aretha Franklin (from Atlantic Records), Barbra Streisand (from CBS Records), Led Zeppelin, Mongo Santamaria, Gilberto Gil, Astrud Gilberto, Airto Moreira, Jim Hall, Wah Wah Watson (Melvin Ragin), Ray Barretto, Philip Glass, Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd for his interest in Bob Marley compositions, Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam and others...
...where I worked with Earl "Speedo" Carroll of the Cadillacs (who went from doo-wopping as a kid on Harlem streetcorners to top of the charts to working as a janitor at P.S. 87 in Manhattan without ever losing what it was that made him special in the first place), and with Jake and Zeke Carey of The Flamingos (I Only Have Eyes for You)... stuff like that.
Yeah this is Bob's first record contract, made with Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd of Studio One and co-signed by his aunt because he was under 21. I took it to Black Rock to argue with CBS' lawyers about the royalties they didn't want to pay (they paid).
EX TERRA BRASILIS
The Small World Phenomenon
Susan Rogers
Alicia Svigals
Julian Lloyd Webber
Clarice Assad
Sodré
Betão Aguiar
Bule Bule
Caetano Veloso
Darius Mans
Sparrow/Pardal Roberts
RÁDIO MATRIX