Adam Pultz Melbye

Adam Pultz Melbye

Double bass/electronics/composition
Born in Ribe, Denmark in 1981. Currently living in Berlin.

Dimploma studies in jazz double bass at the Conservatory of Music in Esbjerg, Denmark. Soloist Studies at the Jazz Conservatory of Copenhagen 2013-2015.
Living in Berlin since 2013, Adam is an active performer as a solo artist and with numerous international constellations centered around improvisation and sound.
As a composer, Adam has written music for smaller and larger ensembles as well as theater and performance and has had compositions commissioned by The Danish National Museum of Art in Copenhagen and Kunsten in Ålborg. Furthermore, he is involved with the artist collective MAP, resulting in the creation of sound and video installations for museums in Denmark, Germany and Holland.
Since 2007 instrumental in the rise of Barefoot Records, a musical collective, concert organizer and record label that has released several important albums. Co-founder of Klub Kaktus (improvised music sessions in Copenhagen from 2009) and Understrøm (concerts with experimental music in 2012).
Teaching credentials include lessons in double bass at the Jazz Conservatory in Copenhagen, as well as improvisation workshops in Denmark, Finland and Estonia.
Current projects include bands with dancer Akemi Nagao, Lotte Anker, Marks Sanders, Pat Thomas, Yasuhiro Yoshigaki, Kasper Tranberg, Chris Heenan, Harri Sjöström, Sture Ericson and Anders Lindsjö (St. Andby), with Håkon Berre and Stephan Sieben (Angel) and playing electronics in a duo with Mads Emil Nielsen.
Additional notable collaborations: Peter Brötzmann, Rudi Mahall, Sofia Jernberg, Frank Gratkowski, Magda Mayas, Jack Wright, Johannes Bauer, Tony Buck, Axel Dörner, Gerald Cleaver, Tobias Delius, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Paul Lovens, Peter Ole Jørgensen, Mikolaj Trzaska, London Improviser’s Orchestra, Pierre Dørges New Jungle Orchestra a.o.

Press reviews:

“Melbye, gifted with masterful and highly creative command of the double bass, uncovers the insides of this massive instrument in a series of nine concise improvisations.” (…) “That” is a wise and playful improvisation that employs the resonating wooden characteristics of the bass and on “Zossener” it sounds as if the bow is the main instrument and the double bass is employing various extended techniques on the bow. “Knee Left” returns to the opening improvisation, applying similar methods and reaching a satisfying closure in this arresting journey. Highly impressive.” (Eyal Hareuveni, allaboutjazz.com)

“The music is carefully constructed, sensitive and precise, with an adventurous search for sound, be it pizzi or arco or hammered.” (…) “Even if at moments the album sounds like an exercise in style, the authenticity of the artist’s search stands beyond a doubt, as he tries to carve true meaning and sentiment out of sound, (…)” (www.freejazzblog.org)