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Brandon Bernstein

Brandon Bernstein began studying guitar at age 14. At 18, he discovered his passion for jazz and improvised music while attending Berklee College of Music. After a semester of study, Brandon ventured to Montreal, Canada where he studied jazz for the next four years. He received a BA in Jazz Performance from Concordia University in 2003.

Following his studies at Concordia, Brandon was awarded a full scholarship as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Louisville where he completed his Master’s degree in Jazz Performance in 2005. Currently, Brandon is a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Southern California where he is pursuing his DMA in Studio/Jazz Guitar and plans to graduate in the fall of 2008.

Most recently, Brandon co-authored a book for Mel Bay Publishing Company on the guitar style of modern jazz guitarist, Kurt Rosenwinkel. The book is scheduled to be released in early 2009. Brandon also writes for Just Jazz Guitar Magazine and Jazz Improv Magazine where he has his own column and submits reviews. Amongst Brandon’s other accomplishments, he was invited to present a lecture on the future of music education in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the International Society of Music Education Conference (ISME) in 2006. In 2008 he presented again,upon request,speaking about integrating the creative process in the classroom-at ISME’s meeting in Italy. As a musician, Brandon has performed and/or studied with a variety of well- known artists including Wynton Marsalis, Larry Koonse, Pat Kelley, Bruce Forman, Adam Del Monte, Delfeayo Marsalis, Terrell Stafford, Percy Heath, Jimmy Heath, Eric Reed, Jack Wilkins, Gene Bertuncini, Ben Monder, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Matt Otto,Tim Pleasant, David Sills, Jeff D’Angello, Jimmy Wyble, John Goldsby, Harry Pickens, Remi Bolduc, The Vanguard All-Stars, Ed Shaughnessy,Jamey Abersold, Walter Smith, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Larry Coryell.

Brandon is an adjunct professor at Cypress College where he teaches jazz guitar and at Pasadena City College where he teaches a guitar class.He gigs regularly throughout Los Angeles.

Brandon plays a Roger Bory's B-120 handmade archtop and a Hans Pukke handmade classical. His amp of choice is a Clarus 1R through a Raezer Edge speaker.

Brandon currently resides with his wife, Jessica Weinhold, in Pasadena, California.

Gear

Roger Borys B 120 Guitar Hans Pukke Classical Guitar Raezer Edge Speaker Clarus 1 R amp


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Album Review

Brandon Bernstein Trio: But Beautiful

Read "But Beautiful" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Sensitive, serious and sincere are the adjectives that bass veteran Putter Smith uses to describe guitarist Brandon Bernstein, and those simple words prove to be descriptive bull's eyes. Bernstein started on guitar at fourteen, scored a scholarship from the Berklee School of Music at eighteen, and proceeded to wrack up a series of degrees--culminating in a doctorate in Jazz Performance from the University of Southern California. These days, he's working his way through the Los Angeles jazz scene and sharing ...

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