Mark Lipson Music

Trumpet

One blast from his trumpet, and it’s clear as day – Dwight Adams is the real deal. For more than two decades he’s been playing stages worldwide with Motown legend Stevie Wonder, but for even longer than that he’s been igniting audiences in the more intimate settings of Detroit’s greatest clubs.

Dwight is a soul-inspired jazz trumpeter and one of the brightest stars on the Detroit jazz scene. And although he was, by his own account, a late-comer to his instrument – he didn’t pick up the trumpet until he was a junior in high school – hard work, natural talent and an unshakable dedication to being the best musician he could be helped him land his first gig at the age of 16, playing in Teddy Harris’ New Breed BeBop Society Orchestra.

In addition to his countless tours with Stevie Wonder, Dwight has also played and recorded with world-renowned jazz artists including Marcus Belgrave, Rodney Whitaker, James Carter, Shawn Wallace and Donald Walden. He’s also been a member of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Byron Stripling, since 2003.

In 2015, he joined the Detroit Bop Quintet for a special reenactment session at Detroit’s legendary United Sound Studio. The group came together to recreate the acoustic footprint of four historic tracks. The tunes were recorded at the studio nearly seventy years earlier by Charlie Parker and his quintet for the Savoy label. The resulting tracks by the Detroit Bop Quintet prove if there’s anyone in Detroit that can invoke the spirit of Miles, it’s Dwight Adams.

In addition to being a highly accomplished musician, Dwight is also a respected educator. He has taught in the jazz studies programs at Michigan State University and Ohio State University, and is currently part of the Wayne State University faculty.