Barry Adamson

THE WEEGEE OF THE BASS

What music are you currently grooving to?

A rich mixture of old and new. Sault, Dry Cleaning, Adrian Crowley, Sarah Tandy. Then there’s Muddy Waters, Mississippi Fred McDowell. Lots of reggae too. King Tubby and Scientist in particular.

What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?

It changes depending on who’s doing the pushing but I’ll go with Tubby Hayes’ Late Spot At Scott’s. A live jazz album of incredible force and musical dexterity, and one I’ve gone back to again and again since I was a kid listening to my dad’s records.

What was the first record you ever bought? And where did you buy it?

It was possibly Wet Dream by Max Romeo aged around 11 from Paul Marsh’s record shop in Moss Side. We kids used to go from school every Friday to buy a single with our pocket money.

Which musician, other than yourself, have you ever wanted to be? David Bowie probably. I was offered the chance to meet him while playing bass with Iggy Pop but I declined. I still listen to him for inspiration and musicianship and arrangement skills.

What do you sing in the shower? Usually, something I’m working on to see if I’m going along the right lines and getting somewhere.

What is your favourite Saturday night record?

Has to be Windowlicker by Aphex

Twin. I’m ‘there’, as it were, straight away. The whole song is a phenomenal piece of work that gets under the skin and transforms every sense.

And your Sunday morning record? A new one, The Hunt, by drummer and bandleader Makaya McCraven. Pure music to scramble eggs to, whilst still coming around. The whole album, Universal Beings, is just a simply beautiful collection of bold new jazz directions.

Barry Adamson’s memoir Up Above The City, Down Beneath The Stars is published by Omnibus on September 30.