Album Notes

"...mature self-assurance..." "...it is unimaginable that such talent resides in one not yet able to get his driver's licence." "Stubblefield performs and composes at a level that compares favorably to seasoned vets twice his age."
-- RAPID RIVER MAGAZINE

"TRIED AS AN ADULT packs definite charms: Nick's piano playing is fluid and seemingly effortless throughout. His willingness to tweak jazz standards with modern keyboard splashes adds a distinct level of fun." "...the rhythm tracks...further spotlight Nick's knack for composition..."
-- MOUNTAIN Xpress

The biggest mistake you could make about Nick Stubblefield is to assume that at age 14 he was too young to create a truly professional, truly amazing and genuinely entertaining jazz recording. Twenty-one now, Nick has performed hundreds of shows dating back over fifteen years, has scored a professional documentary video and a horror/comedy movie produced in England, written music for South African choreographer Cherice Mangiagalli's stunning dance piece "The Orphan Girl -- Nenneh," and has performed his original work before thousands of appreciative music lovers at the gala re-opening of Aycock Auditorium, a major performance hall in at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.

He has frequently been referred to in the media as "sensation," "prodigy," "amazing," and on and on. Beyond his piano pyrotechnics, Nick is known for his uncanny talent at recreating nuanced phrasings for synthesized jazz instruments, notably sax, bass and vibes.

Put away the notion that a studio recording cannot sound spontaneous, that it can't be juicy and rare but has to be cooked dry. With TRIED AS AN ADULT, Nick Stubblefield has taken the phenomenon of home studio multitracking a step completely off the trail and into the wooly bushes, articulating both covers and original pieces in tasty, groovy, highly personal and jazzily figured renderings that glow with young life.

Nick's immediate predecessors grew up hearing synthesized violins and saxophones as often as they heard acoustic ones, though they may have been frustrated along the way as the technology struggled for maturity. Times, and technology, change! Composing on the Roland RD 700, Nick utilizes electronic potentials that might be neglected or ruled out by musicians more biased by early experience. Synthesized sounds and acoustic ones are equally important colors on Nick's palette. Listen to "Asheville 10 '02" and note the use of the jazz vocal chip with velocity-triggered levels of expression. Unabashed, and effective!

Nick uses his sister Phoebe's vocal on "Smooth Sailing," and Jerry (Lightnin') Stubblefield's electric guitar on "Smooth Sailing" and the "Hannah" remix. "Bonang Smoothie" features a sampled bit of Ella Fitzgerald's classic version of "Smooth Sailing." The percussion on that cut is purely synthetic even though it resembles the sound of the Detroit Bonang, an acoustic instrument invented in the early '80s by Paul Epstein and Billy Kleinsmith.

An accomplished percussionist, Nick plays the drum tracks on this album "live," using several of the available drum kits on the RD 700. Much of the accessibility, the spontaneity, the humanity and fun that blasts through in this music, would have been lost if quantized and/or prepackaged drum tracks and fills had been used. You will feel the difference!

Turn on the answering machine, relax and get between the speakers or use the headphones. Forget that Nick recorded everything before he turned fifteen -- try him as an adult!