For Paul Adler

Dedicated to the Memory of Paul Adler (1989-2019)

Paul Adler was a gifted drummer, guitarist, composer, blogger, writer, and friend to many. Trained in

classical music, and jazz (he was 13 years old when he started gigging with a jazz quartet), but with a love

of hard-rock bands like Avenged Sevenfold and As I Lay Dying, Paul was in demand as a drummer in the

New York Tri-State area. As talented as he was on the drums, Paul’s love of telling stories turned his

mind towards composing.

When Paul got out of college, the first thing that he did was to compose and record his 2nd album. This

album, carefully composed, arranged, and performed, was his finest hour. Unfortunately, the world was

coming out of a big recession, and Paul could not get interest from a major record label. But even to this

day, the work stands on its own and resonates in today’s challenging world. Paul would love nothing

more than for you to listen to his album, his magnum opus, a work titled Jazz Funeral.

https://jazzfuneral.bandcamp.com/album/jazz-funeral

His writing reflected his distinctive and distinctively New York state of mind, His warmth and wit shone

through in his stories and captured the endless parade of characters hitting him up for cigarettes. His

voice is as empathetic as it is acerbic, and his stories find strange beauty in the bodegas, bus stops, diners,

delis, offices, and subway trains of his everyday life.

His stories have been gathered in a book that was lovingly put together by his cousin. All proceeds from

the sale of the book are donated to charities that deal with

drug addiction and mental health.

https://www.amazon.com/Bumming-Bed-Stuy-Memoir-Paul-Adler/dp/0990823237/

A sample anecdote from the book:

It's pretty inappropriate for people to panhandle outside a dollar pizza joint, not because there's anything wrong with panhandling-it's a free country, and it's New York City; you can beg for change anywhere you damn well please-but because of the choice of venue. Like, there's a reason I'm getting lunch at a dollar pizza spot and I can assure you, it ain't the taste.

Paul left this world in July 2019. On the fifth anniversary of his passing, the Adler family wanted to commemorate Paul’s life with a beautiful composition for the guitar. It’s our hope that his work continues on through the music that people will make. We hope that you will enjoy performing this piece that Gulli Bjornsson lovingly put together.

- Marc Adler