Adam Rafferty

Early Life

Rafferty was born January 26, 1969 and raised in Harlem.

Musical style

Adam Rafferty's musical style is called fingerstyle guitar – a type of playing in which bass lines, melodies and accompanying harmonies are all performed simultaneously on a solo guitar. Fingerstyle guitar became popular through the recordings of Merle Travis, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed, and currently Tommy Emmanuel.

Originally fingerstyle guitar was rooted in the Nashville "country music" sound. Rafferty brings different musical influences to the genre, based on his childhood musical life in New York City. He uses sounds from the 1970s and 80s in his music – primarily the sounds of disco, hip-hop, funk, jazz and R&B into the fingerstyle method of playing guitar.

One of Rafferty's innovations is the addition of hip hop "human beat box" (mouth percussion) to fingerstyle guitar. He learned the human beat box technique from Run dmc records in the 1980s in New York City and from his time as a rapper.

His main stage guitar is a Maton EBG808-C "Michael Fix" Model guitar. Rafferty travels with 2 guitars, a main and a backup (identical models).

Musical development

Adam's first inspiration was his father strumming a Martin D-28 for him, and from then on, he showed an interest in the guitar.

By the age of 6, he was studying with local legend Woody Mann and exploring blues and country music. A few years later, Rafferty was introduced to the classical guitar with formal instruction from Dennis Cinelli and Pat O'Brien.

In 1986, Rafferty enrolled at the State University of New York at Purchase, majoring in classical guitar. At the same time, he continued a fruitful collaboration with childhood friend and drummer, John-Christian Urich (Tortured Soul). Rafferty and Urich had already played together in a variety of contexts: from hard rock to R+B.

By the time Rafferty had finished at Purchase, he had switched to electric guitar as his primary instrument, citing the dogma and conservatism of classical pedagogy as the primary reason.

By the mid to late 1980s, Rafferty and Urich had put their attention on hip-hop music. They formed a formed a duo ( Raf and Cooly C) backed by a live band, with Adam rapping and playing guitar, and Urich adding drums and beatbox. The two created a local stir and were picked to perform on an album called BRING ME EDELWEISS for the Austrian band Edelweiss for Atlantic Records. The album went "Gold"in Europe, though Rafferty and Urich never made any money, despite its international success.

Jazz guitar career

In 1989, Rafferty quit Raf and Cooly C and began to explore jazz music. After seeing pianist Mike Longo (Dizzy Gillespie) perform at Birdland, he began to study privately with the jazz veteran. Upon graduating from college, Adam continued his tutelage with Longo, quickly applying new skills at jam sessions and gigs throughout New York City and beyond.

As word of Rafferty 's talents began to spread, he soon appeared on the bandstand with many established stars of the jazz world, including: Lou Donaldson, Buster Williams, Frank Wess, Virgil Jones, Gloria Lynn, Bob Cranshaw and The Dizzy Gillespie Big Band ( directed by Jimmy Owens). Rafferty also crossed paths with talents from his own generation such as Eric Person, Norah Jones and Chris Potter.

Gravitating towards the Harlem jazz scene, Rafferty worked for nearly a year with organist Jimmy "Preacher" Robbins, at Showmans Lounge on 125th street in Harlem, and did a stint with The Tippy Larkin Quintet at The Apollo Theater, Lenox Lounge and The Metro Jazz Lounge in Harlem.

In 1993, Rafferty recorded his debut CD "First Impressions". The album featured mentor Mike Longo on piano, Paul West (bass) and Ray Mosca on the drums. "First Impressions" garnered favorable reviews in Just Jazz Guitar magazine.

In 1998 at age 29, he was selected for inclusion in the book "The Jazz Guitar: Its Evolution, Players and personalities Since 1900" by Maurice J. Summerfield.

Rafferty performed at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City in 1996 in a tribute concert for Tal Farlow. Included on the bill were over a dozen jazz guitarists including: Jimmy Bruno, Howard Alden, Jack Wilkins, Johnny Smith, Remo Palmieri, John Abercrombie, Herb Ellis, Ron Affif, Al Gafa, Joe Diorio, Mark Elf, Gene Bertoncini and Vic Juris.

From the mid-90s on, Adam headed his own trio, often taking them on regular yearly tours of Europe, particularly in Austria and Germany. By the late 90s, he settled on a configuration featuring bassist Danton Boller (Seamus Blake, Roy Hargrove) and Tomas Fujiwara (Anthony Braxton). The same group appeared on his third album as a leader "Three Souls.”

Rafferty also had a collaborative experimental jazz trio called "The New York Trio Project" with bassist John Menegon (Dewey Redman) and drummer Jeff Siegel (Stevens, Siegel Ferguson).

Eventually, longtime bassist Danton Boller introduced Adam to tenor saxophonist Bennie Wallace and subsequent tours followed. Through Wallace, Rafferty met Alvin Queen (drummer for Oscar Peterson, Horace Silver) who also used Rafferty as a sideman in his quintet featuring alto saxpohonist Jesse Davis and trumpeter Joe Magnarelli. In 2006, Rafferty was asked to sub on gigs for Dr. Lonnie Smith's famed organ trio. Performances at various Jazz Festivals, the Jazz Standard and Smoke in New York City followed.

The switch to fingerstyle guitar

In 2007, after an emotionally exhausting tour of Europe, Rafferty again began to reassess his musical identity. As fate would have it, a friend showed him a video of fingerstyle guitarist, Tommy Emmanuel. Inspired by what he saw, Adam picked up his acoustic and began to experiment with arranging pop songs, taking a unique technical approach that enabled him to play bass lines, melody and middle voicings simultaneously, eventually adding human beat box.

Adam's first album as a solo acoustic guitarist (Gratitude) was recorded on his own at his home in Jackson Heights NY. At the same time, Rafferty began using YouTube as a means of distributing music directly to his fans through his home-recorded, live performances. His cover versions Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" were early video efforts, each earning more than one million views.

Association with Tommy Emmanuel

At the suggestion of a YouTube fan, Adam Rafferty went to the Chet Atkins Appreciation Society in 2008 to play and connect with like-minded guitarists within the fingerstyle community. That same year, Adam was asked to be appear as a guest at a Tommy Emmanuel concert at B.B. Kings club in New York. Follow up performances with Emmanuel occurred at the Bangkok Guitar Festival, in Helsinki, Finland in 2009 and again BB King's stage in 2010. The association with Emmanuel allowed him to meet and play with other established acoustic artists, among them, Michael Fix and Joe Robinson.

Awards

In 2011, Adam's tribute to Michael Jackson, entitled "I Remember Michael" won Jazziz magazine's critic's choice award as a top 10 CD of 2011. "I Remember Michael" is Rafferty's fourth album as an acoustic artist.

As leader

As sideman

Educational materials

Rafferty is an active music educator as well as performer. He has produced several books and instructional videos for jazz and fingerstyle guitar, published through his own company Crescent Ridge Publishing, LLC.

Guitar video DVD / downloads

Instructional books