MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON BRUCE WHITCOMB

 

 

       Like so many who get hooked early on, music became very important to me at age twelve. The Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan show, and my life was changed forever. My first instrument had to be the drums; Ringo Starr was just too cool for school. A couple years later I began to play guitar. All of the popular music of the day in the 60s was very diverse when you could hear back to back on the radio tunes in succession ranging from The Beatles to Burt Bachrach to the Stones to Henry Mancini to The Animals to Barbara Streisand- to The Beach Boys- to Ray Charles- to even Tiny Tim!- and on and on. There was a wide range of style to be exposed to which has become only more obvious in retrospect, and this is something for which I am grateful to have lived through and to have been influenced by the popular music of those times early on in my musical life. I love all styles of music. I started out playing in local rock groups in the 60s on guitar or drums, but became particularly personally interested in the jazz idiom after being exposed to Miles Davis and many of those who had played with him and formed their own projects afterward. In college I played guitar in blues and rock fraternity party bands and then joined a local jazz group Third Stream in Lancaster Pennsylvania playing both guitar and piano opening for name acts comimg through town. A highlight of that time was opening for Herbie Hancock's Headhunters band in Harrisburg, Pa. where I was proud to play either guitar or piano on different tunes.  Herbie's strong foundation in modern harmony and construction of unique improvisation have been very inspirational to me since age seventeen.

 

       While in college, after hearing the Brecker Brothers on the radio in a local club where I was playing, I asked the bartender, "where are these guys from?" He told me NYC, and at that very moment I decided to move there. To this day Michael Brecker has been the most astounding improviser I have ever witnessed. I have always been proud to call him a friend and mentor even though he left the world way too young. My favorite pianists are Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, and McCoy Tyner. My hands down favorite drummer is Tony Williams followed only by Jack Dejohnette and a few others. On guitar I love players who have great blues influences plus a large jazz vocabulary- from B.B. King, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton- to Larry Coryell, George Benson, Pat Martino, Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, John Scofield and more. I have been honored to work with Mike Stern in my studio doing pre-production demos of his tunes slated for his records. We have worked together on demos for four or five of his records now. I have known him since the week before he got the gig on guitar with Miles Davis in the late 70's. Mike and I remain very good friends to this day and share a similarity in musical and improvisational vision.  Over the years I have shared the stage, recorded with, or simply played in sessions with the following people. They are all important to me as musicians and friends. There are more to be sure, but here is a list of at least 100 of them:

 

    Herbie Hancock, Mike Clark, Deodato, Jaco Pastorius, Ira Sullivan, Mike Gerber, Pat Metheny, Mark Egan, Danny Gottlieb, Ross Traut, Steve Rodby, Carmine Appice, Steve Bagby, Joe Diorio,  John Purcell, Anthony Jackson, Steve Jordan, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Steve Grossman, Bill Evans (sax), Alex Foster, Mike Wolff, Hamiet Bluiett, Patience Higgins, Jon Hammond, Barry Finnerty, Bill Frisell, John Tropea, Mike Stern, Lincoln Goines, Kim Plainfield, Kenwood Dennard, Delmar Brown, Victor Jones, Jim Campagnola, Bill Derby, Ed Palermo, Randall Wallace, Gary Gold, Gil Goldstein, Charles Telerant, Charlie Davis, Manolo Badrena, Valtinho Anestacio, "Lungs"- Don Alias, Marcus Miller, Ronnie Burrage, Dave Sanborn, Larry Coryell, Murali Coryell, Peter Wolpl, Pete Levin, Tony Cimorosi, Adam Nussbaum, Will Lee, Anton Fig, Larry Bright, Dennis Chambers, Jeff Watts, Derek David, King David, John Clark, The Three Irish Tenors, Kenny Kirkland, Steve Slagel, Andrew Scott Potter, Hiram Bullock, Jorge Calandrelli, Aaron Heick, Dave Mann, Danny Sadownick, Vincent Herring, Paul McGovern, George Breakfast, Dick Weller, Joe Locke, Nedra Johnson, Howard Johnson, J.T. Lewis, Michael Urbaniak, Sticks Hooper, Adam Rogers, Dave Moreno, Ronaldo "Tupahn" Da Silva, Frank Burrows, Stanley Turrentine, George Benson, Mino Cinelu, Heyward Peele, Harris Simon, Gary Gazaway, Steve Elmer, Mike Morganstern, Cindy Blackman, Lonnie Plaxico, Richie Morales, Mike Schrieve, Pat Martino, Horace Silver, Tom Harrell.

 

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      **** It would seem that I have only been a jazz player most of my life, but after moving to New York and starting a music production career, I soon was back into the pulse of what popular song writers wanted to convey in their recordings. So I became much more involved in the art of current pop music production in my studio in New York.  Some people wanted to do more synth. and drum machine based music. Some wanted to do lush pop ballads with string arrangements. Some wanted to do electric alternative types of music. Some wanted to do more contemporary country based productions, some wanted guitar based music, others keyboard based music.  To this day, I never know who will walk through my door and have specific recording needs and goals to reach that will always keep me interested and on my toes.