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Frank "Doc" Adams (Craig Legg's ARM 157)
Painting ofDoc: The Story of a Birmingham Jazz Man(Frank "Doc" Adams and Burgin Mathews) book cover by Craig Legg, 2023. #157 in Craig Legg's Alabama Roots Music Trading Card Series. Courtesy Craig Legg.
Dr. Frank E. Adams, Sr. (1928-2014)
Funeral program for jazz musician and educator Frank E. Adams, Sr. ("Doc," 1928-2014), Birmingham, Alabama.
Frank Adams on Becoming a Teacher
In 1950, Frank Adams had recently graduated from Howard University and was working as a supplier (subbing for a regular player) in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. When Ellington took his band to Europe that year, Adams returned to Birmingham and began…
Frank Adams Describes the Culture of Sun Ra's Birmingham Band
Frank Adams elaborates on his early experiences with Sun Ra. Adams joined Sonny Blount’s band as a teenager in the 1940s, before Blount left Birmingham for Chicago and became famous as Sun Ra. When this interview was recorded in 2012, Adams was the…
Frank Adams on Trumpeter Joe Guy
In this excerpt, Frank Adams shares memories of trumpeter Joe Guy. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Birmingham-born Guy performed in the bands of Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder, Coleman Hawkins, Cootie Williams, and others—as well as in the…
Frank Adams on Ingenuity
In this short excerpt, Frank Adams recalls, from his years as a school band director, one parent’s resourceful innovation in the face of limited resources. Recorded by Burgin Mathews on September 9, 2009, in Frank Adams’s office at the Alabama Jazz…
Frank Adams on Returning Home to Birmingham
In 1949, Frank Adams graduated from Howard University. A founding member of the Howard Swingmasters, Adams was active in Washington, D. C.’s music scene and found regular work subbing in a variety of bands, including that of Duke Ellington. In this…
Frank Adams on Music Education in Birmingham's Black Schools (1)
In this excerpt, Adams reflects on his early training in music, including his first informal lessons from his older brother Oscar and his experience in the elementary and high school bands of William Wise Handy and John T. “Fess” Whatley.…
Frank Adams on Music Education in Birmingham's Black Schools (2)
Frank Adams describes the musical culture of Birmingham’s segregated Black schools. In the opening portion of this excerpt, Adams reads from a lecture he was preparing for the University of Alabama at Birmingham, exploring the history of jazz and…
Frank Adams Compares the Bands of Fess Whatley and Sun Ra
As a high school student in the 1940s, Frank Adams played in both the bands of Fess Whatley, Birmingham's celebrated "Maker of Musicians," and Herman "Sonny" Blount, later famous as Sun Ra. In this interview excerpt, Adams compares the experience of…
Frank Adams on his Early Life: Family and First Musical Experiences
In the first of more than 100 interviews with Burgin Mathews, Frank Adams shares some of his earliest memories. Topics include the influence of his father, Oscar W. Adams, Sr., and of his maternal grandmother, Ella Eaton; his first public…
Frank Adams on his Father, Oscar Adams, Sr.
Frank Adams shares memories of his father, Oscar Adams, Sr. An influential and sometimes controversial figure in Birmingham's Black community, the senior Adams was editor and publisher of the Birmingham Reporter newspaper (1906 - 1934); Grand…
Frank Adams on Banjo Bill and Sammy Mayo
Frank Adams recalls early gigs performing in elementary and high school with the guitarist Banjo Bill Reese. Adams was introduced to Banjo Bill by a high school student and singer named Sammy Mayo, who also performed with the older musician. In these…
Dee Clarke & Frank Adams, Eutaw, Alabama
Frank Adams performs with the Dee Clarke band at a Eutaw, Alabama, juke joint, 1970s.
“She doesn’t have to be Lena HorneShe can be from Eutaw, Alabama, and even country born.” -- Dee Clarke in Eutaw, 1970s
“What was it called? The Eutaw club,…
Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, First Inductees, 1978
Inaugural inductees to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, Birmingham, Alabama, 1978. From left to right: Sammy Lowe (trumpeter, arranger), Erskine Hawkins (trumpeter, bandleader), Frank Adams (reeds, educator), Amos Gordon (reeds, educator), Haywood…
Frank "Mr. Sax" Adams Promo Card
Frank "Mr. Sax" Adams Promo Card, 1960s
Lincoln School Band, 1930s
Lincoln School Band, 1930s. Band director William Wise Handy, nephew of W. C. Handy, is at far left, in black. Frank Adams is in the front row, third student from left, with clarinet.
Frank Adams and Female Impersonator
Frank Adams, saxophone, backs a female impersonator at Birmingham’s 2728 Club, 1950s.
Frank Adams and Band, Undated Recording
This undated reel-to-reel recording from the Frank Adams collection includes Adams on clarinet and alto saxophone, drummer Herbie Bryant, bassist Ivory “Pops” Williams, and other unidentified performers. Performances include two upbeat instrumentals,…
Dot Adams, "Stars Fell On Alabama"
“Stars Fell On Alabama”: Dot Adams with the Frank Adams band at the Woodland Club, 1960s. For fourteen years in the 1950s and ’60s, the Frank Adams band performed nearly every weekend at the Woodland Club, a “honkytonk” on the edge of Birmingham, in…