Adam Glasser

About Adam Glasser

Adam Glasser
South African harmonica player, pianist and educator Adam Glasser has an international reputation as an exponent of township jazz on the chromatic harmonica and piano.
One of the UK’s top session harmonica players Adam has performed with Sting, Eurythmics, Incognito, Joe Zawinul and recorded for many film composers from Debbie Wiseman to Howard Shore.

Live Orchestral performances include WNO (Kurtag’s ‘Quasi Una Fantasia’ ), London Symphony Orchestra ( under Vladimir Jurowski) Royal Northern Sinfonia (John Barry film music). Theatre productions include Midsummer Night’s Dream( Shakespeare’s Globe ) and His Girl Friday, Scenes from the Big Picture (National Theatre).
He has performed at the Cape Town, Grahamstown and Johannesburg International Jazz Festivals and released two critically acclaimed albums - 'Free at First' (2010 South African Musica Award Best Modern Jazz Album) and 'Mzansi' (nominated 2012 SAMA Best Jazz Album).
Work during the summer 2018/2019 includes harmonica for an orchestral tour of live screenings of the ‘Italian Job’, workshop and head line performance of his SA Jazz Sextet at the Brecon Jazz Festival and at Ronnie Scott’s in London.
Adam performed with Hugh Masekela at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and at York University & recorded harmonica on the title track of for Abdullah Ibrahim’s latest album The Balance due out in June 2019 & was for 16 years musical director of legendary SA vocal group The Manhattan Brothers and produced their album ‘Inyembezi’ for EMI South Africa
Educator: Adam has led numerous harmonica classes for the National Harmonica League, in SA townships from Gugulethu to Tembisa, at schools round the UK and performed and led workshops at the World Harmonica Festival in Trossingen in 2017. In the Summer of 2018 Adam taught for 4 days on the Aldeburgh Young Musicians Course at Snape Maltings. Adam teaches jazz piano & leads ensembles at Kingsdale Secondary School in South London.

Adam Glasser Quintet has just completed UK 2019 Yorkshire with concerts at Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield, Marsden and Cambridge Jazz Clubs and musically directed several recent performances at the South African High Commission.