Multi-Instrumentalist Paul Adams Explores Flutes With His New Release ‘Heavens’

American multi-instrumentalist Paul Adams has a new flute release titled Heavens. “I was able to incorporate more exotic instruments such as the Chinese Hulusi. It’s perhaps more unified in mood.” Adams strays from the purely traditional and integrates various exotic scales with his array of flutes.

Adams has built instruments for some very well known musicians, he’s a writer and poet, he plays a vast array of exotic instruments, composed music for major corporations, and has eight critically acclaimed albums out in about 5 different genres of music.

“I’m no genius,” says Adams. “I’m just fascinated with everything. It’s difficult being musically varietal in life as it can confuse an audience. But, I guess it’s my path. This is a revolutionary time for musicians. Technology allows us to make our own musical decisions. Like a painter, we have freedom of choice. Management can’t tell us what to compose or produce, and we even do our own cover art. This is a very green or organic way of creating music.”Adams study of Ethnomusicology birthed a love of unique musical instruments. “I have a fair collection of anything that makes noise. My array of flutes inspired me into releasing my

Flute Meditations For Dreaming Clouds album, and it was very successful. The Satellite networks picked up on it, and I met a lot of new fans”.

Years ago Adams had a tragic accident resulting in the loss of fingers from his fretting hand. The ends were rebuilt with grafts from his leg and he says, “It made me re approach my guitar playing in a different way. Having this limitation caused me to phrase more uniquely. A popular syndicated radio program once called me about my music. They said they really felt I had a way of being unique, and placed my album

Various Waves in the Top 5 of the year. My injury was largely responsible for my odd way of approaching music. Limitation has a way of propelling one beyond preconceived barriers.” The results can also be seen on Adams’ finger style Guitar album A View From The Plain.

Then again, Adams will jump into a completely different groove as he did with a sideline band The Neurons he started with Ray Charles arranger David Hoffman. “This was a chance to utilize my instruments in a jazzier way, blending world music, and looped grooves.”  This approach also led to an album Adams and Hoffman did while Hoffman was touring up the west coast in The Ray Charles Tour Bus. “Dave would assemble and play into the laptop, send files to me in Illinois, and I would send back.”

Throughout his career, his albums have gathered international acclaim in many different areas such as World Fusion, New Age, Ambient, Jazz, Native American, and music utilizing his poetic readings. His most important inspiration has come from working many years with the mentally ill, and utilizing his music with this population. “Working with them has been the most artistically rich environment I could have imagined. Where else could I have seen such a deep and vast display of the human condition? The dynamic is extremely difficult at times, but this is where one finds that deep well of the human experience. They are the real people, forced to deal with the nucleus of their own sanity on a daily basis. They are heroes.”

Buy Heavens. Other titles available: Flute Meditations For Dreaming Clouds, Various Waves, A View From The Plain