Charlene Adzima

***"The Initiation" Reviewed in Irish Music Magazine
June 2008***
http://www.irishmusicmagazine.com/releases/0806june
"Charlene Adzima is a Columbus, Ohio-based fiddler.
Her debut enterprise, ‘The Initiation’ is a nice mix of
tunes and songs. She uses the talents of her friends
and teachers to good device, but it is her ability that
makes this album work.
Adzima has a wonderful feel for her instrument. She
is able to coax out the sweetness of ‘The Rambling
Pitchfork/Trip to Reykjavik/ Tommy Peoples’, a series
of lightly played jigs and reels. ‘Marcus Hernon’s Air’
is filled with the requisite heart tugging a well-played
slow air can muster. She plays with Liz Carroll on
‘The Initiation Reel’, and masterfully matches her
note for note in a strong bit of playing.
Adzima also sings a number of songs, all in Irish.
Her voice is soft, sweet, and slightly small. The first,
‘An Cailin Rua’, is probably the weakest of the numbers,
and it also leads off the album. However, she is superb
on the lullaby ‘Einini’, and ‘Inion A’ Bhaoghaillagh’,
both somewhat haunting in their delivery, the latter
assisted by Josh Michaels’ vocals and Craig Markley’s
keyboards.
Adzima is joined by a number of Columbus area
musicians. They include: Marian Funk, Craig Markley
John Sherman and Zac Leger (a fellow bandmate in
her other project ‘Oisre’). Their contributions fill in the
spaces around her playing and singing, such as
Funk’s accordion on ‘Farewell to Tara Hall/Old Jones
Jig’, and Leger’s guitar and whistles on ‘Smash the
Brisket/Hunter’s House/Maids of Mitchelstown’.
Mike Dugger, late of Scartaglen, expertly produced
the album. If the Columbus players are representative
of the music in that part Ohio, they are a blessed
region, to be certain. ‘The Initiation’ is a very good
bit of music. Adzima clearly has passed hers with
flying colors."
--Brian G Witt
Thanks, Brian!
Charlene Adzima has been playing violin since she
started Suzuki lessons at the ripe old age of nine.
By the time she was 14, she had been listening to
her mom's Irish dance music for a few years and
was asked to start playing in the session down at
Tara Hall, a local pub run by an Ancient Order of
Hibernians group. Over the next ten years, she
gained experience in performing through her old
band Aisling, and honed her Irish style by going
to The Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, NC and
Augusta in Elkins, WV.
Her singing skills were developed at home with
her mother, who grew up singing with her sisters
and father in the south side of Chicago. The Irish
style was not introduced to Charlene until she
started studying the music on the fiddle. Several
Altan albums later, she managed to learn to sing
songs in Irish and only recently started singing
them in public, at the request of well-renowned
musicians.
Now 26, she has developed a unique style of
playing Irish fiddle under the influences of locals
such as Sandy Jones, Deborah Colon, Ted Jordan
and internationally known fiddlers such as Liz Carroll,
Oisín Mac Diarmada, Antóin Mac Gabhann, Seamus
Connolly, Eileen Ivers and more. Gold medalist of
the 2005 Midwest Fleadh Cheoil, she has competed
at the all-Ireland music competition twice. She has
performed at venues around the country, including
nearly 10 years in a row at the Dublin (Ohio) Irish
Festival. A former Irish step dancer, she plays
regularly for feiseanna (Irish dance competitions)
where she is known for her steady rhythm, knowledge
of dance and energizing style. She is moving to
Reno, NV in August 2008 for her husband’s graduate
school in geology. She is hoping to teach and
perform full-time in the “Biggest Little City in the World.”
Her most recent endeavors include:
-joining the band Oisre (on hiatus) and completing a
demo album (2005)
-teaching Irish fiddle to 6 students a week aging from
8 to 66 years old
-working full-time at the Loft Violin Shop in Columbus, OH
(www.theloftviolinshop.com)
-subbing as interim fiddler in the bands Glen Road
(Kansas City, MO) and in The General Guinness
Band (Columbus, OH)
-anchoring several sessions a month in Columbus, OH
-playing at various feiseanna (Irish dance
competitions) in OH, IL, and MI
-playing for ceilis and contradances all over Ohio with
the band Continental Drift (Marian Funk and Rick Nelson)
-playing for former president Jimmy Carter in 2005
-performing a 3 week stint with Glen Road and General
Guinness at Dollywood in 2007 and 5 weeks in 2008 as
part of the “Festival of Nations”
-performing as the headliner in Key Largo, FL for their
St. Patrick’s Day festival in 2007 and 2008
-recording on multi-instrumentalist Randy Clepper’s
upcoming album (2008) (http://www.randyclepper.com)
-recording on General Guinness Band’s upcoming album (2008)
In 2007, Charlene finished and released her first
solo album under the direction of producer Mike
Dugger, formerly of Scartaglen. The album is a
montage of several different styles and arrangements
of Irish tunes and songs, including several newly
composed tunes by Charlene, one of which features
a duet with Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll. Guests on
the album include Liz Carroll (fiddle), Marian Funk
(piano accordion), Zac Leger (guitar, whistles,
bodhran, percussion), Craig Markley (piano, keyboard),
Rick Nelson (guitar), John Sherman (tenor banjo),
Jennifer Short (cello) and Jeni Westerkamp (harp).
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