Gary Brunotte

Pianist/Vocalist/Organist Gary Brunotte performs his own brand of lyrical jazz, influenced by the tradition but in his own personal voice. Born and raised in a small town in Minnesota, he remembers, “My uncle played accordion, was self-taught and performed in the Navy band. In addition, my stepfather played guitar and my other uncles all played instruments. I started taking accordion lessons when I was nine.” He debuted as a professional musician at a New Year's Eve job when he was 11, switched to organ and performed with r and b and rock and roll bands as a teenager. “I discovered jazz after listening to Brasil '66 and Blood, Sweat and Tears. I particularly enjoyed Howard Roberts' records of the period and Jimmy Smith.” After graduating from college, Brunotte attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, switched to piano, and taught at the prestigious school for three years. He moved to Manhattan in 1980. “I worked for a period at Rodney Dangerfield's comedy club. The jazz trio would open a set and there would be a different singer each week before the comedian came out. It was fun for a time.” During this period, he won a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to write a suite for a big band and his orchestra performed once a week in a mid-town club. After living and working in the Hudson Valley area, Brunotte spent 1987-97 back in Minnesota. “I played a lot of gigs at local jazz clubs and restaurants. I also recorded my first CD, Yesterday's Dream for the Altenburgh label.”

Yesterday's Dream, which features Gary Brunotte with altoist Eric Marienthal in a quintet setting, introduces nine of his melodic originals. The CD received excellent reviews in both JazzTimes and Billboard. In addition, it received airplay throughout the United States and Europe and remained on the Gavin Chart Bound list for 8 weeks straight. In 1997 he and his wife relocated to North Carolina where he has worked steadily ever since. “Since moving here, I have recorded the duo CD Conversations with bassist Rick Jones and the trio CD Smile with drummer Bill Berg and bassist Steve Haines plus I have done a lot of gigging, from little restaurants to backing major names at concerts including Mark Whitfield and Byron Stripling.”

Brunotte recorded his fourth CD, Manic Moments which features Gary on organ and piano. Teamed, on most selections, with drummer Bill Berg and guitarist Scott Sawyer, Brunotte performs such invigorating originals as “Manic Moments,” “Bridgemix,” and “Slightly Blued” along with standards including “You and the Night and the Music,” “Mas Que Nada,” “The Peacocks” and “That All.”

In recent times Gary recorded a fifth CD, About Time, with former Berklee classmates Gian Wiegner and John Lockwood. Released in fall of 2008, the CD successfully made it on the Jazz Week Charts and received both national and international airplay. He also graduated with a Master of Music - Jazz Studies degree from North Carolina Central University. He as also taken up singing “The Great American Songbook.”

Gary Brunotte is an accessible and creative jazz performer whose music is well worth exploring.

Awards

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) 1981 - Grant to write a Big Band Suite, performed by the Herb Pomeroy Orchestra

Gear

Yamaha C6 Grand Piano, Hammond Sk1 organ, Hammond A105, Leslie 122, Clavietta, Hammond 44 Melodion, Morbidoni 120 Bass Accordion