Adam Klipple, who has been described as "a standout pianist who has gone to school on McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor and earned his degree," plays piano, Hammond organ, sampler and a variety of vintage keyboards. He leads two of his own groups. His piano quartet, the AK4, not only plays derangements of traditional standards, but also forays into Brazilian, latin, West African, funk and pop.


Drive-By Leslie, his Hammond organ quartet, explores many styles of electric jazz from the organ trio to the present.

In addition to his personal endeavors, Adam is involved in stage and recording projects with Craig Harris, Graham Haynes, Sekou Sundiata, Joseph Bowie and Defunkt, Ron Affif, Vinny Valentino, Jason Marshall, and Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe. His credits also include performances with the Sun Ra Arkestra, Marc Ribot, John Medeski, Kurt Rosenwinkle, Carla Cook, Dave Fiuczynski, David Gilmore, Josh Roseman, Vincent Gardner, Peter Apfelbaum, Joel Harrison, Jay Rodriguez, Groove Collective, and Smokey Robinson.

Also a composer and arranger, Adam recently arranged two pieces for the Black Rock Coalition's tribute to Ray Charles. He was awarded touring and composing grants in 2004 from Arts International and Meet the Composer, to travel to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to collaborate with local folk musicians. His Quartet toured as a Jazz Ambassador in 2003, and was sponsored by the Kennedy Center and the U.S. Department of State on a six-week tour of concerts and master classes in Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.

He has appeared at such renowned venues as the Blue Note, Iridium, the Jazz Standard, Blues Alley and the Knitting Factory, and at international jazz festivals ranging from the Umbria Jazz Festival, to the JVC Jazz Festival, the Moers Jazz Festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Free Jazz Festival in Rio de Janeiro, the JazzNOJazz Festival in Zurich, the Akbank Jazz Festival in Turkey, and the Poretta Soul Festival in Italy.



"Adam Klipple is simply frighteningly good, the kind of young talent who makes you dizzy when you think of the years ahead."