Customer Reviews

Party Hats

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4 star:		(1)
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. . . playing at a venue near you.

Has there ever been a finer representation of this essential music? I don't think so. One thinks, for example, of Robert Walter, or Skerik's Syncopated septet, or Stanton Moore, or Garage a Trois, and one must conclude that this is the granddaddy of 'em all.

Why?

More res, I'd say. That is, more soul, more heartfelt, irony-free, postmodernless authenticity than anybody else.

It's not that Will Bernard is a naif.

No.

It's just that he doesn't play games where others, no matter how pure their motives, manage to slip into funk self-consciousness and vitiate whatever authentic vibe they've got going.

How does he do it?

I confess, I don't know. Purity of heart? Perhaps. Left Coast ur-freedom audacity? Again, perhaps.

My own view is that it doesn't matter. If a SF band can trump a N'awlins funk endeavor, in these postmodern times, so be it. Who am I to grouse, to point fingers, to wring hands?

Aren't we the land of the free, the home of the brave? Then let's recognize the Big Daddy of Funk and move on from there.

OK?

... in celebration of the best Will Bernard contribution to date. All of the elements that I expect when I go to see a live WB show: stellar skills, spontaneous collaboration and playful spirit... just as delivered in 'Directions to my House' and 'Motherbug'... but sUpEr FuNkY!!!!!! Chin up is straight out of a 70's pimp flick!

"...one of the most potent, if under recognized, guitarists on the

post-Frisell/post-Scofield scene".

- Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times

"Will Bernard is one of the best-kept jazz-guitar secrets on the planet".

- Dan Ouellette, Billboard

An alumnus of the jazz studies program at Berkeley High School that included Peter Apfelbaum, Josh Redman, Charlie Hunter, Craig Handy and Steven Bernstein and Lenny Pickett, Bay Area guitarist/composer Will Bernard first began playing and recording on an international level during his membership in Peter Apfelbaum's Hieroglyphics Ensemble, whose first recording was on Don Cherry's "MultiKulti" (A&M 1989).

Since then Will has been involved with a host of boundary stretching groups, ranging from jazz, hip hop and world music to experimental music, with many stops in between. He has performed and recorded with Jai Uttal and the Pagan Love Orchestra, Peter Apfelbaum's various band incarnations, Beth Custer, The Coup, and Pothole to name a few.

The most successful of these projects was the group T.J. Kirk (with Charlie Hunter) whose 2nd record for Warner Bros. "If Four Was One" was nominated for a Grammy in 1997.

Shortly thereafter Will Bernard released his debut CD as a leader, "Medicine Hat", in 1998 on Verve/Antilles.

Subsequently Will self-produced two Albums "Will Bernard and Motherbug" (2001) and Will Bernard Trio "Directions to my House" (2005) both on his own label, Dreck to disk.

The Will Bernard band has performed at The Monterey, North Sea, SF Jazz, Bumbershoot, Be-Bop and Brew, Montreal, Vancouver and The High Sierra festivals, as well as clubs across the country and through Canada. They have opened for Herbie Hancock and the Head Hunters, Jimmy McGriff, The Funky Meters, John Scofield, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Ziggy Modeliste and the Charlie Hunter Quartet.

More recently Will has been seriously expanding his musical associates and has been working with a range of musicians that include Robert Walter, Stanton Moore, Dr Lonnie Smith, Idris Muhammad, Adam Deitch, Zigaboo Modeliste, and John Medeski. Between 2002 and 2005 he toured extensively in the US with Robert Walter's 20th Congress.

Sit-ins and all-star bands have included Trey Anastasio, Ruben Wilson, Johnny Vidacovitch, Melvin Seals, Living Daylights and Mike Clark's Prescription Renewal.

In 2006 Will recorded with Stanton Moore for his Telarc debut and is touring the country with Stanton's Trio, on their own and opening for Galactic. During the same year Will and Sonoma County's Groundation began a side project with Leroy Horsemouth Wallace (of reggae cult movie "Rockers" fame) and Will continued his collaborations with Fully Loaded (members of RW20th Congress, Greyboy All-stars and John Scofield) and MG5 (members of Galactic and Greyboy All-stars).

You might know Will Bernard as two of the five arms that make up T.J. Kirk's guitar attack (Charlie Hunter, of course, has three).

In that outfit, his loose twang complements Hunter's clean, rhythmic style to drive a tight, rocked-out brand of abstract soul-jazz.

On his solo projects, Bernard tends to get even more experimental ? both in composition and instrumentation ? and, at least to the casual listener, the product isn't always easy to swallow.

To my surprise, the 11 tracks on his latest, "Party Hats", are decidedly more digestible.

The sound is an intriguing blend of acid jazz, soul and even a little afrobeat.

Bernard's tricky jazz chops shine over the catchy, laid-back arrangements.

Best tracks : "Share The Sea", "Chin Up" and "Ripple Sole".

Multikulti

T.J. Kirk

Talking Only Makes It Worse

If Four Was One

Medicine Hat

Motherbug

Directions To My House