In Yusef's Shadow: Adam Rudolph's HU Vibrational

Adam Rudolph has led an incredibly rich life in creative music. The 71 year old percussionist has had deep relationships with some of the leading lights of African diasporic music: Don Cherry, Hamid Drake, Pharaoh Sanders, Okay Temiz, Foday Musa Suso, Hassan Hakmoun, Dave Liebman and especially Yusef Lateef. Rudolph spent three days in western Massachusetts, culminating in an October 23 performance by his ensemble, HU Vibrational, at The Workroom in Northampton.

The day before the concert, Rudolph and keyboardist Alexis Marcelo visited Jason Robinson’s class on rhythm, and with Avery Sharpe, participated in a salon at Amherst College about Dr. Lateef, moderated by Robinson. Marcelo studied at UMass with Brother Yusef from 1995-2000 before becoming a collaborator, and Rudolph performed and recorded extensively with Lateef over the last 25 years of his life. The morning of the concert, Rudolph, Marcelo and about 25 friends, neighbors and former students of Lateef gathered at the New England Peace Pagoda in Leverett to pay tribute to this towering figure of 20th century music. This transcendent event, spearheaded by Jazz Shares board member Batya Sobel, featured prayers from Sister Clare, a circumambulation of the pagoda, and a re-creation of Yusef’s Monday morning Hampshire College class, where participants would gather in a circle and rotate solos over a theme provided by their teacher.

All that activity put us in a most receptive state for the Jazz Shares concert at 33 Hawley St. Borrowing elements from the sound worlds of Codona, electric Miles, Jon Hassell, and traditional music from North and West Africa, Adam Ruldoph’s HU Vibrational created an expanse of organic sounds that helped us reorganize. The four musicians: Jerome Harris (bass guitar, voice), Tim Keiper (percussion, dusu n’goni), Alex Marcelo (keyboards) and Rudolph (percussion, electronics), performed on a carpet in a circle. They were encircled by an audience of 80, some of whom brought yoga mats, pillows and their dancing selves. Lights were low, and hundreds of flickering “candles” around the space made it easy to slip into another world. (Thanks to young August for placing the “candles” in just the right places.)

Before the music began, Rudolph told us what was about to transpire. The music was not linear, but circular, moving in a spiral, actually. The ensemble would be creating sonic mandalas to focus attention and aid in meditation. The musicians didn’t solo, and the notion of song form and conventional jazz constructs were nowhere to be found. Instead, the quartet spent the evening contributing to an evolving musical fabric that grooved and breathed.

Although I spent half the time on my yoga mat, I saw Keiper moving between multiple metallophones, percussion and dusu n’goni, a West African string harp. Early on, he played a simple rattle with such swing and precision that I knew I was in good hands . Now in his mid-40s, Keiper is a Wesleyan grad who has spent the last 20 years touring the world with David Byrne, Imogen Heap, Cyro Baptista, Salif Keita, Matisyahu, Vieux Farka Touré, John Zorn, Dirty Projectors, Hazmat Modine, and Skeleton Key. He was a part of Byrne’s last two productions, American Utopia and Who is the Sky? His flow on dusu n’goni provided slowly changing repetitions of gorgeous melody lines. His assemblage of a dozen bells produced streams of irresistible, clarion rhythms.

Although I have presented Jerome Harris with Mike Baggetta, Ricky Ford and multiple Marty Ehrlich projects, I never heard the veteran bassist sing. His wordless vocals added a human and harmonious layer to the soundscape. His bass guitar playing, which has graced the bands of Sonny Rollins, Ned Rothenberg, Jack DeJohnette, David Krakauer, Oliver Lake and many others, provided a supple backbone that blended seamlessly with the whole. Harris belongs alongside Jaco Pastorius, Steve Swallow and John Patitucci, as among the most accomplished modern electric bass guitar players in jazz. His 1995 tribute to Eric Dolphy, Hidden in Plain View (New World Records) remains one of my all-time favorite records.

Everybody likes Alexis Marcelo. He is not only a rising star in creative music, but his easy laugh and open-hearted approach to life is authentic and endearing. At the Amherst College salon and at the Peace Pagoda, he welled up with joy and appreciation. He was in his 20s when Lateef hired him in 2001 to perform in his band alongside Von Freeman in a special Magic Triangle concert at Bowker Auditorium; his 2024 solo concert at A World of Piano remains a cherished memory. After seeing him throw down with James Brandon Lewis at the Vision Festival last June, I’m laying the groundwork to bring the project to Western Mass.

Over many years, I have presented Rudolph in settings ranging from duos with Joseph Bowie and Yusef Lateef, to his 30-piece GO: Organic Orchestra. He always arrives with a concept, a (loose) plan, and compelling music. Rudolph has studied various world music systems in depth, and arrived at a personal synthesis that he has shared in books, recordings, lectures and performances. On Saturday, he spent a good amount of time painting with electronics, adding endless currents of vibration. Some of the themes we heard live are found on Hu Vibe Ride, his recent release on META Records.

When Rudolph was a youngster growing up in Hyde Park, Chicago, he was mentored by people like Fred Anderson and Charles Moore. He said he always thought of himself as the young guy, but five decades later he’s acknowledging his role as an elder and a transmitter of information. We are happy to be along for the vibe ride.