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Jimmy Bruno:
A Jazz Guitarist Whose Time Has Come
By Charles H. Chapman
I have known Jimmy for numerous years and have had the privilege
to share the stage with him four times. He was the consummate
professional with a wit as quick as his "chops”. On
August 25, 2001 the opportunity arose to speak with Jimmy and
get a little insight into his life and career. What follows are
the highlights from a very relaxing, enjoyable conversation.
Charles Chapman: I noticed you have a MIDI pickup on
your 7-string solid body Benedetto “Benny”. What do
you use it for?
Jimmy Bruno: My main purpose for getting it was to get
into transcription with programs like Finale. I also use it a
lot in my private teaching. I have a setup that if someone comes
over for a lesson I will first analyze what I think he or she
needs to work on—like phrasing or whatever. Then I will type
in some chords in the “Band In A Box” program and pick
up the MIDI guitar and say; “Here’s an example of what
I want you to do”. I will then play something over the progression
that I think demonstrates what I am talking about. I can then
put it on tape as well as print it out for the student to take
home. Pretty neat stuff!
CC: So you mainly use MIDI for teaching purposes and
not to access synthesizers for performance?
JB: Yes, mainly for teaching and putting my books together
as well. I do have a Roland synth, but I just haven’t had
time to get into it the way I need to, but I do see myself utilizing
it in the near future.
CC: Why don’t you give us a brief rundown on your
most recent equipment setup.
JB: I play the best guitars in the world… Benedettos!
Bob’s guitars are works of art and there are none better.
I also have recently been playing a great sounding Guild X500
six-string. I use Thomastik strings and have designed a set for
them. I use various amps according to the situation and my mood.
I often use a Fender Deluxe as well as various Polytones. George
Allessandro has made me a few great tube style amps. and recently
I have also been also using a Clarus. I always use a Raezer’s
Edge cabinet no matter what amp because Rich Raezer makes the
best cabinets I’ve ever heard.
CC: You have been a Benedetto endorser as long as I have
known you. Where and how did you first meet Bob and Cindy Benedetto?
JB: That’s a great story. Somewhere around 1990
Bob was working in his shop in, Stroudsberg, PA, and was listening
to a jazz station on WRTI . They played a cut from my first CD,
Sleight Of Hand, and Bob was so impressed that he tried
to track me down to tell me so. At that time I had recently returned
from LA and was running a restaurant and didn’t want to hear
anything about music. Any involvement I had in playing guitar
was purely for pleasure and wanted to get as far away from musicians
and the scene as possible. I had told all my friends not to give
my number out to anyone in the business. It’s kind of like
an alcoholic who doesn’t want to be around people who drink.
I had a bad scene in the past and just didn’t want to get
sucked back into that lifestyle. There were still a few guitarists
in the area who I stayed friends with and Ron Nocella was one
of them. One day he came into the bar and said: “Hey Jimmy
this guy Bob Benedetto was looking for you, but don’t worry
I didn’t give him your phone number”. I went nuts!!
I always wanted to meet Bob and check out his guitars and just
couldn’t believe Ron didn’t give him my number. Finally
Bob and I hooked up and I went to visit him and we really hit
it off right from the beginning. I became an endorser and my relationship
with Bob and Cindy is one of the best I’ve ever had, in or
out of the music business.
CC: You have been quite active with Fender/Guild of late.
What exactly is your involvement with them?
JB: They are a great company and I am delighted to be
working with them. I play at many of the industry shows such as
NAMM and give clinics and seminars for them as well. I am now
also in the process of designing a Jimmy Bruno model guitar. It
will be a laminate and smaller than the norm for easy road travel.
It will be high quality, but affordable for the working musician.
I’m looking forward to working with them a lot more in the
future.
CC: I have heard Bill Schultz (President and CEO of Fender)
state: “There are a lot of great guitar players out there,
but I really like the music and the way that Jimmy Bruno plays”.
Having the head of a major company, such as Fender, say that about
your music must make you feel good that you are affecting people
in such a great way.
JB: Ya know, that’s what it’s really all about.
Besides satisfying your own artistic creativity, you have to give
people pleasure and it doesn’t hurt if a fan is the president
of a major company. All kidding aside, Bill is a great guy and
has done tremendous things for guitar and all guitarists in general.
CC: What exactly made the decision for you to switch
to the 7-string guitar?
JB: It was Howard Alden. I have always been a fan of
Howard’s and he is one of my favorite people. After he got
involved with the 7-string I tried his guitar and knew immediately
that was what I wanted to play.
CC: Would you recommend a young student to start on the
7-string?
JB: Sure—it makes perfect sense. The seventh string
is really no harder to play and in many ways easier. The extra
string is really not for bass lines or lower notes like most people
think. It’s to enable you to get extra notes in a position
and come with alternate chord voicings.CC: I noticed on your new
album, Midnight Blue, you used the Guild X500 6-string
guitar on a number of tunes and the concert at Duquesne we performed
in you used it exclusively. Why are you now starting to play 6-string
again when you have been such a staunch 7-string advocate?
JB: Mainly because I am designing a guitar for Guild
and have to stay in touch with this instrument. Even though I
believe in the 7-string, most guitarists are just not interested
in it. If I am going to believe in what I design I have to stay
involved in the feel and nuances of this instrument.
CC: You mentioned earlier on that you wanted to design
a laminate and a smaller instrument to be better suited for touring.
How do you deal with, what I call, the airport gorillas when flying?
JB: That’s a tough one because there is no easy
way. Probably the safest way is to get a good flight case that
totally protects it, but then you run the risk of the airlines
losing it—which is not an uncommon thing. The airports are
totally callous about musical instruments. They don’t care
what it means to you or if it worth $15,000. To them it’s
just luggage! Usually, the easiest and safest way is to get a
smaller guitar, put it in a gig bag and place it in an over-head
compartment. If you have a full size archtop, or the overhead
compartments are full, your instrument can be in big trouble.
CC: Tell us a little about your new album, Midnight
Blue.
JB: I am my own worst critic when it comes to my albums.
Usually the more I listen to a recorded project the more I find
fault with it. This project is different, the more I listen to
it the more I like it. Midnight Blue was a real collaborative
effort. We didn’t tell anybody what to play. We tried this;
we tried that and eventually settled on something we could all
agree on. And Marc (drummer) has what seems like an endless supply
of grooves for each tune. Developing chemistry was also easy because
I’ve known these guys for most of my life, especially the
drummer, Marc. I knew him from the time we were 16. I want to
keep this band as a nucleus and continue in this direction, doing
mostly original music in this style. There’s so much more
stuff that we could’ve done. Midnight Blue is just the tip
of the iceberg.
CC: The duo arrangement of “Stella By Starlight”
with Gerald Veasley on 6-string bass is awe-inspiring! I had trouble
telling where the 6-string bass left off and the 7-string guitar
came in. Does it change your way of thinking, or should I say
listening, when working with a bassist who plays an instrument
with such an extended range.
JB: Not when you play with Gerald Veasly! With Gerald
you never have to worry about anything. He’s always right
there supporting you and never in your way. He’s an incredible
musician. I’ll tell you a funny story about that track. We
were just screwing around and had not planned on doing this tune.
The engineer, Josiha Gluck, came out of the booth and said he
wanted to try something. He ran a direct line into the board as
well as a mic six inches or so from the guitar. I had my 7-string
Benny in my hands and even though it is a solid instrument it
has a tremendous acoustic quality. After we recorded it he said.
“Hey Jimmy what do think of this”. He played it back
and I loved the sound, but was very different and I didn’t
know what it was. He had shut off the direct line on the mix and
the tune was the Benny with only a mic on it. Boy, that says something
for the way Bob can make a guitar. The whole thing was experimental
and was recorded in one take.
CC: Do you have plans of touring with these musicians
and is there a Midnight Blue II in the works yet?
JB: I would love to do both and if I can get the financial
backing. I would perform or record with these guys in a heartbeat.
CC: Is there any venue that you have not performed in
that you would like to?
JB: The Blue Note in Japan.
CC: If you could perform with absolutely anyone, alive
or deceased, who would that be?
JB: Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Oscar Petersen and
Michael Brecker.
CC: Where do you see yourself ten years from now?
JB: I would like to be playing bigger venues with mostly
my original material. I would also like to perform more solo guitar
concerts.
CC: Last, but not least, you mentioned in a recent interview
one of your new interests is Mercedes Benz cars? What’s that
all about?
JB: It’s sort of my mid-life crisis. I recently
bought one and just love it. It’s so quiet that I don’t
even know when the engine is running. When I was a kid I used
to love to mess around with cars and always dreamed of owning
a Mercedes. At one time I actually thought of becoming a car mechanic—can
you believe it!
CC: I have heard through the musicians rumor-mill that
you recently had a medical problem. Would you like to set the
record straight?
JB: Sure. A little while back I found that I was starting
to get winded in airports and was feeling tired all the time.
I was getting bad indigestion, but just figured it was from the
lousy way I was eating on the road. A few weeks back I was getting
ready to go on a short road trip and decided to call my friend
and doctor, Len Harmon, and asked him if he could give me something
to help with the indigestion and make me feel a little better.
He said, “Sure, come on down and we’ll check you out”.
When I got there he decided to do an EKG”.
The next day I went on the road and when I came back there was
a message stating he wanted to see me right away. Dr. Harmon saw
a very slight variation in the EKG from a previous one I had a
while back. He gave me a stress test and found one of my arteries
was 90% blocked and were able to fix it that day. They put a balloon
in to open up the artery and inserted something called a “shunt”.
I was home the next day and it was not really a big deal. I’m
so happy I went to see about it and I’m already feeling much
better. In fact, I’d like to encourage anyone who doesn’t
feel good to go check it out. The tests and procedure was not
painful at all and there is no one more of a chicken than me with
this kind of stuff. In fact, if anyone thinks they might have
this problem feel free to email me and I would be happy to speak
with them: jimmy@jimmybruno.com
"Jimmy is a player who in 20 years people will look
back and revere as they do Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery and all the
others whom Jimmy has long since surpassed in guitar playing technique,
versatility, stamina, and originality. It's a cold hard fact that
the past giants have established high standards, but Jimmy takes
it all to another level. He truly does the impossible." --
Bob Benedetto
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