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Bruce Arnold
Guitarist Bruce Arnold’s passionate pursuit of new ideas and applications for his beloved six-string instrument has taken him from the minimalist landscapes of Sioux Falls, South Dakota to the bustling city of Boston, where he studied and later taught at the Berklee College of Music, to the hallowed halls of Princeton University, where he has been on the faculty for the past 24 years. Along the way, the music educator and author has managed to document his innovative ideas for guitar on a series of potent recordings that explore the notion of applying highly complex 12-tone theoretical constructs and serial methods to modern American improvised styles. As he wrote in the liner notes to his ambitious 1996 debut recording, Blue Eleven: “All of the work reflects my goal to achieve a balance between emotional expression and formal exploration.”
Throughout his impressive body of work over the past 20 years, Arnold has deftly pulled together a myriad of musical influences ranging from Messiaen, Schoenberg and Webern on the contemporary classical side to Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin on the modern jazz guitar side. Furthermore, he has laid out his ideas in clear, concise fashion in the 52 instructional books that he’s written on ear training, theory and technique (including his mammoth, 700-page “The Sonic Resource Guide”). His latest educational outreach endeavor is “Bruce Arnold’s Jazz Guitar Summit NYC,” a series of guitar instructional videos that he oversaw for TrueFire Video (www.truefire.com) which break down specific techniques for aspiring players. Such celebrated New York-based six-stringers as Jack Wilkins, Leni Stern, Sheryl Bailey, Peter Leitch, Mimi Fox, Brad Shepik, Peter McCann, Serbian-born classical guitarist Dusan Bogdanovic and other prominent players were recruited by Arnold for these enlightening instructional videos. As he explains, “This video series is an outgrowth of the New York University Summer Guitar Intensive that I headed up for six years. All of these people were coming in and doing clinics for the students in this program I established, and I just thought, ‘This is amazing! We need to document this.’ These are all great players with a lot to offer to aspiring guitarists who are looking to improve their playing significantly. It’s just a treasure trove of information for guitars of all levels.”
As for his own music, Arnold continues his various applications of the classical based pitch class set theory. explains. “This is something that I got into in the early ‘90s,” he explains. “When I was living in Boston, I had been playing in straight ahead jazz groups, fusion groups, rock groups, metal groups, and then when I moved to New York City in 1988 I started doing working with this band Spooky Actions where we played music by Messiaen, Webern and Schoenberg. And since then, this has actually been my baby — this whole pitch class set method. So now when I improvise, whether it’s on a jazz standard like ‘Stella By Starlight’ or McCoy Tyner’s ‘Passion Dance’ on a Webern piece or whatever, I’m using the pitch class sets that they used in the composition. That’s really my thing.”
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The Great Houdini: Arnett Brewster and Woodrow T. Greenwich
by Howard Mandel
Guitarist Arnette Brewster and harmonica man Woodrow Tecumseh Greenwich hang out in the office of the jazz department at New York University, playin' the blues. It's natural to them as drinkin' water. They've been playin' the blues all their lives. Door's open and famous jazz musicians peek in. Some scoff at these bluesmen. Some say That's really cool." Bunches of jazz students walk past, too, shocked 'cause everything in the jazz program at NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, ...
read moreBruce Arnold/Mike Miller: Two Guys From South Dakota
by AAJ Staff
Guitar duos are an honorable and deep jazz tradition that reaches back to the music's beginnings. Two Guys From South Dakota is a superior, bop-based addition to that lineage, and it fits right in. Arnold and Miller are in fact from South Dakota, and they keep things swinging throughout. They have stylistic roots in Jim Hall, and to a lesser extent, Pat Metheny, although neither of them are mere imitators. They do favor Hall's lyrical, relaxed swing, however. ...
read moreBruce Arnold & Olivier Ker Ourio: Duets
by Jim Santella
Moody jazz and blues from the modern mainstream allow this duo to explore currents that emphasize melody and harmony over rhythm. Together, Bruce Arnold and Olivier Ker Ourio weave intricate patterns of sound on Duets that belie a melancholy refrain into which emotions fall loosely and untangled.
Their aim is perfectly clear: to paint languorous pictures where a soul can rest alongside ocean waves of sensuous music. Ker Ourio's harmonica wafts on an easygoing breeze, rising and falling ...
read moreBruce Arnold & Mike Miller: Two Guys from South Dakota
by Jim Santella
The guitar duo of Bruce Arnold and Mike Miller interprets familiar standards on this pleasant session. Musically interesting and filled with inspiration, they provide the listener with an inside look at each classic piece. Their performance is laid-back and introspective.
As they alternate melodic and rhythm roles, the two guitarists swing lightly and maintain a close-knit groove. Their lyrical caresses reveal a coolness in their passion, as each picks his instrument delicately. Crisp and clear, their interwoven phrases ...
read moreBruce Arnold: Give `Em Some
by Dave Nathan
Guitarist Bruce Arnold continues his odyssey of using the twelve tone in bringing together elements of jazz, rock and funk. His companions on this serious undertaking are Ratzo B. Harris and Tony Moreno, a duo with whom Arnold has been performing for more than 10 years. This music is not easy to listen to and will never find itself as an example in a Jazz for Dummies" primer. As soon as the first few measures of the kick off tune ...
read moreBruce Arnold: A Few Dozen
by David Adler
A Few Dozen finds guitarist Bruce Arnold adapting serialist and twelve-tone concepts to jazz composition and improvisation. Joined by bassist Ratzo Harris and drummer Tony Moreno, Arnold comes up with a heady brew that defies easy categorization. There’s an angular edge to much of the material, especially the title track and the multilayered Dialog." But the tempos and moods do vary — witness the latin bounce of Broadway Y2K," the brooding slowness of Numbers," and the singable beauty of Reflection." ...
read moreBruce Arnold Trio: A Few Dozen
by Mark Corroto
Even though the liner notes penned by guitarist Bruce Arnold were written for fellow music scholars and guitar technicians, the music certainly was for us common listeners. Arnold, a Berklee School graduate, releases A Few Dozen, a follow up to his first recording as leader entitled Blue Eleven. He also works in Release The Hounds, a free jazz improv trio and Spooky Actions, an ensemble that reworks modern classical music. What is particularly striking about the music is his ability ...
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