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Bucky Adams

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Bucky Adams
Birth nameCharles Richmond Adams
Born(1937-04-25)April 25, 1937
Halifax, Nova Scotia
DiedJuly 13, 2012(2012-07-13) (aged 75)
Halifax, Nova Scotia
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentSaxophone

Charles Richmond Adams (April 25, 1937 – July 13, 2012), known as "Bucky" Adams, was a Canadian jazz and blues tenor saxophonist with a musical career spanning over 60 years. Throughout his long career, Adams shared the stage with or performed for notables like Queen Elizabeth II, B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Oscar Peterson, and Rosa Parks.[1] At the time of his death in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Adams was a longtime fixture of the jazz scene in eastern Canada.

Early life

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Charles Richmond "Bucky" Adams was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on April 25, 1937. He was the son of the late Charles Augustus Adams and Susie Bertha Adams.[2] His uncle was Barbadian politician Grantley Adams. He and Wayne Adams were cousins.[3]

When he was a young boy, Adams, who was nurtured in a musical family on Maynard Street in Halifax, started playing the trumpet to accompany his father, who played the saxophone.[3]

At just 9 years old, Bucky played trumpet in a Barnum and Bailey Circus parade on the Halifax Common—his first job.[4][5] He gave a performance for Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Canada in 1948 when he was just 11 years old.[6]

During one of his regular performances at the Gerrish Street Hall in his hometown of Halifax, a young Bucky Adams played his trumpet so passionately that it physically broke. Bucky sprinted home to retrieve his father's saxophone and came back in time to take the stage once more. He fell in love with the tenor saxophone as a result, which he continued to play throughout his career.[3]

Career

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Adams started leading his own bands while playing saxophone in the 1950s and continued to do so until the 1980s, rising to the position of respected bandleader. Rockin' Rebels, The Unusuals, Generations, and Basin Street Trio are just a few of the successful bands he established.[7]

By 1970, he joined Joe Sealy and Chuck Cornish in The Unusuals, a group that launched its own afterhours club.[8]

Basin Street Trio, a band that was established in 1975, performed at the Privateers Warehouse on Halifax Harbour's waterfront.[9] Their first record, Bucky Adams & Basin Street: At Privateers' Warehouse, which was recorded at Solar Audio in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, would be released in 1976.

Adams led a group called East Coast Jazz in 1984. The five-member ensemble played twice a week at Dieppe's Junction Club. By that time, Adams had released two albums. He had also met greats like Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, and Lionel Hampton, and performed with B. B. King, Moe Koffman, and Vera Lynn.[10]

Bucky Adams began volunteering at the Harbourview Lounge in Halifax's Northwood Centre in the early 1990s, and in 1993 he started working with the Nova Scotia Mass Choir. Bucky also established himself as a regular performer at the annual Halifax Jazz Festival.[3]

With the exception of one song, Bucky created or co-wrote all the tracks on his 1996 album, "In a Lovin' Way." The album received two award nominations upon its 1997 release.[11] Adams was nominated for the 1998 East Coast Music Awards in both Jazz and Blues-Gospel categories.[12]

On September 16, 1998, he opened the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival at The Playhouse in Fredericton.[13]

During Dr. Rosa Parks' visit to Halifax in 1998 to receive an honorary doctorate from Mount Saint Vincent University, he gave a performance for her.[14]

Death

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Charles "Bucky" Adams died on July 13, 2012, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada at the age of 75 years old. [3]

Honors and awards

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References

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  1. ^ "ECMA Announces The Bucky Adams Memorial Award - East Coast Music Association". Ecma.com. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  2. ^ "Charles Adams Obituary - Halifax, NS". Dignitymemorial.com. 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  3. ^ a b c d e "N.S. jazz legend 'Bucky' Adams, 75, has died". cbc.ca. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  4. ^ Barnard, Elissa (14 July 2012). "Offered a job by B.B. King, Adams chose to stay home". The Chronicle Herald. pp. C9, C10. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Bucky Adams (2)". Discogs. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  6. ^ "» Died On This Date (July 13, 2012) Bucky Adams / Canadian Jazz Legend The Music's Over". Themusicsover.com. 2012-07-13. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  7. ^ Cooke, Stephen (25 July 2012). "Celebration of life and song". The Chronicle Herald. pp. A1, A2. Retrieved October 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "S.A.C. Black History Songwriters Series: Joe Sealy". songwriters.ca. 2020. Retrieved 2025-05-03.
  9. ^ "Adams, Bucky & Basin Street - At Privateers' Warehouse". Citizenfreak.com. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  10. ^ "Area club promotes local jazz talent". The Times-Transcript. March 10, 1984. p. 57.
  11. ^ "Adams, Bucky & Basin Street". Citizenfreak.com. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  12. ^ "Artists named for the East Coast Music Awards". North Bay Nugget. December 11, 1997. p. 17.
  13. ^ "1998 Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival". The Times-Transcript. September 10, 1998. p. 53.
  14. ^ "Adams, Bucky & Basin Street".
  15. ^ "Canada Lost Prominent Citizens - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. 28 December 2012. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  16. ^ "Charles (Bucky) Adams | The Governor General of Canada". Gg.ca. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  17. ^ "Nova Scotia Folk Singer Rose Cousins Wins Three East Coast Music Awards - Newspapers.com™". newspapers.com. 11 March 2013. p. 14. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
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