Nikya Hightower
Adrian Crutchfield still plays for Prince.
Crutchfield, who returns to Charlotte Aug. 8 play saxophone alongside five-time Grammy winner CeeLo Green at the Carolina Theatre, is one of the city’s most accomplished musicians. Crutchfield has played jazz, hip hop, rock and funk as a versatile and prolific collaborator with talents like Grammy winners Anthony Hamilton and Lionel Richie.
By his own admission, Crutchfield cites his time with Prince was the most professionally significant because it challenged and sharpened his skills.
“People always say he used to play for Prince, and I correct them and say I still play for Prince” Crutchfield said. “As a colleague. Prince was the one who really pushed me to be an artist myself. He really encouraged me to step out and do it myself, instead of just relying on being his side.”
Crutchfield got his start as a 4-year-old when he received his first saxophone from jazz standout Kenny G. at a concert in Roanoke, Virginia. Kenny G. noticed young Crutchfield’s enthusiasm for music in the audience and in return gifted his saxophone.
“Roanoke is where I was made,” Crutchfield said, “and Charlotte is what made me.”
Crutchfield, who travels the country for weekend gigs in addition to teaching at a workshop in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that focuses on Prince’s writing and music, developed his skill in Charlotte.
“I have to give credit to the Charlotte artistic community,” Crutchfield said. “It’s just a really beautiful community of artists, and it’s really overlooked. Charlotte has an amazing artistic scene. The Carolinas period, we have an amazing artistic scene.”
Crutchfield learned from creatives who shaped the local music scene, like Bill Hanna, known as the “Godfather of Charlotte jazz.”
“Bill Hanna, he would invite me out to his jam session at the Double Door and Jack Straw’s and all these other places, and that’s where I cut my teeth,” Crutchfield said. He also credits other Charlotte artists like Gerard Vincent, Ziad Rabie and Michael Porter as inspiration.
Crutchfield went solo in 2009 and has since released four albums. This year Crutchfield signed his first record label deal with Trippin ‘n Rhythm Records and released the album “Slick” in May. The title came from a song he felt embodied the word’s meaning.
“We were trying to come up with a name, and they said, ‘We think this song really kind of describes you, Adrian. This is high energy, but also really suave and confident and, you know, slick.’”
Crutchfield typically puts storytelling at the front of his work but wanted to take a different approach with the new album.
“I wanted to give people the material to make up their own story. I
wanted to create the soundtrack that people could live their lives to every day,” he said. “I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to just have these songs and have something they could just live life to and experience life through, you know, just pop it on and go live life and see what happens and let this be the soundtrack.”
Crutchfield points out the importance of growing pains and how each album reflects how he’s matured as an artist.
“I still love the music I did when I first came on the scene, because it’s free and uninhibited, it’s just wild,” Crutchfield said. “But I learned about certain things. I learned the industry. I studied more artists, and I became more seasoned myself as an artist.”
When it comes to performing live, Crutchfield believes in reciprocated energy, that what you give is what you get in return.
“Live performance art, we’re going to respond to the audience, so if the audience is dull and not having a good time, we’re not going to have a good time either, and vice versa,” he said. “The beauty of it is that no matter what size the audience is or who the audience is, I’m going to make sure that I have a good time because if I’m not having a good time, they’re not going to have a good time.”
In addition to teaching and performing, Crutchfield plans to continue releasing new projects including a new record next year. “As artists we are always working on something new,” he said. “You got to keep growing. You got to keep challenging yourself, because once you stop growing, you die, artistically and literally. That’s the way life is. You got to keep growing.”
