Adrian Crutchfield Is Bringing Sax Back with Latest Album, ‘Slick’

When Adrian Crutchfield was 4 years old, his parents took him to a Kenny G concert. The smooth jazz saxophonist saw the child sitting on his father’s shoulders and invited him up onstage. After chatting with the preschooler, Kenny G gifted Crutchfield a small Casio synthesizer saxophone.

Crutchfield never forgot the kindness an older musician showed an eager kid: “That’s what started everything for me musically,” he says.

Crutchfield went on to build a career as an inspired saxophonist and sideman, touring with Lionel Richie, Bette Midler, Young Jeezy, Anthony Hamilton, Prince and more. He’s released four solo albums, the latest of which, Slick, dropped in May, and on Aug. 8 he’ll bring his energetic stage show, featuring friend CeeLo Green (Gnarls Barkley, Goodie Mob), to the Carolina Theatre.

Throughout a career of iconic collaborators, Crutchfield is most identified with The Purple One. Crutchfield collaborated with Prince from 2011-16, playing on the albums Plectrumelectrum, Art Official Age, HITnRUN: Phase One, the Grammy-nominated HITnRUN: Phase Two, and Black Is the New Black.

Crutchfield knows he’ll be forever known as Prince’s last saxophonist, so he wears the title as a badge of honor.

“He was the greatest artist of our time,” Crutchfield insists.

Crutchfield moved from Roanoke, Virginia to Charlotte as a kid, attending Northwest School of the Arts from sixth through 11th grade. There, he befriended Charlotte musicians Harvey Cummings II and Tim Scott Jr.

“I take a lot of pride in Northwest,” Crutchfield says, “For me and for many artists that went there, that’s the place that made us.”

Similarly, Paisley Park, Prince’s home and studio complex outside Minneapolis, holds a place in Crutchfield’s heart. Prince hired Crutchfield after seeing him play for Anthony Hamilton. He then tasked his new saxophonist with finding players for his New Power Generations Hornz section.

“I told [the recruits], ‘If we work with Prince, we become immortals in the music world,’” Crutchfield recalls.

After Crutchfield’s debut solo LP Private Party (2009) failed to find an audience, Crutchfield focused on being a sideman. In 2016, Prince encouraged Crutchfield to “take a leap” by continuing to pursue a solo career with even more vigor despite the disappointment of Private Party.

Prince died a month and a half later but Crutchfield remembered his words. In 2017, he released his second solo LP and dedicated it to his mentor, titling the project Leap.

“I liked all kinds of music and I put it all on wax,” Crutchfield says of his first two albums. In contrast, he calls Lover (2022) more refined, a straightforward contemporary jazz record that nevertheless retains Crutchfield’s restless eclectic soul.

The latest LP Slick is Crutchfield’s first on a record label, the British smooth-jazz imprint Trippin N Rhythm. While as varied as the rest of Crutchfield’s music, it is his best produced, most tactile work to date.

“I just want anybody to be able to pick at least one song off each of my records and say, ‘This is one I’m putting on my playlist,’” Crutchfield says.

For the Aug. 8 Carolina Theatre show, Crutchfield performs with flamboyant singer-songwriter and Dirty South pioneer Green, writer of pop hits like his solo joint “Fuck You,” Pussycat Dolls’ “Don’t Cha,” and Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.””

“I love CeeLo,’ Crutchfield says. “He’s a true artist, and a great inspiration.”

Read more: Historic Carolina Theatre to Reopen with Concerts

The upcoming gig will offer variety, Crutchfield says — a mix of old tunes, new tunes and unexpected covers. The show will also point back to another concert in Roanoke 36 years ago.

“Every year I look for a kid to give a saxophone to,” says Crutchfield, who notes he wants to find someone already into music, in school, showing potential and probably without access to good equipment. In short, someone like his childhood self.

Crutchfield says audiences will have a blast at the show, but they will also get the rare chance to see one musical generation passing encouragement onto the next.

So that a younger artist may benefit from his experience, experimentation, virtuosity and vision, Crutchfield plans to pass on an older musician’s gift from so long ago.

Green and Crutchfield will take the stage of the newly restored Carolina Theatre on Friday, Aug. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $37.