Although currently a New Yorker, Grammy nominated guitarist Will Bernard's unique voice was formed for the most part from the rich cultural roots of the San Francisco Bay Area. Along the way he studied classical music, jazz, played in basements and coliseums, and absorbed the Bay Area Multi-Kultii, the New York downtown edge, and the loose funk of New Orleans. He has performed or recorded with Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore, Robert Walter, John Medeski, Dr Lonnie Smith, Ben Sidran, Peter Apfelbaum, Jai Uttal, Tom Waits, Dr. John , MTO, Butler/Bernstein and the Hot 9 and a lot of other known and unknowns...
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Although currently a New Yorker, Grammy nominated guitarist Will Bernard's unique voice was formed for the most part from the rich cultural roots of the San Francisco Bay Area. Along the way he studied classical music, jazz, played in basements and coliseums, and absorbed the Bay Area Multi-Kultii, the New York downtown edge, and the loose funk of New Orleans. He has performed or recorded with Charlie Hunter, Stanton Moore, Robert Walter, John Medeski, Dr Lonnie Smith, Ben Sidran, Peter Apfelbaum, Jai Uttal, Tom Waits, Dr. John , MTO, Butler/Bernstein and the Hot 9 and a lot of other known and unknowns. Will can be seen working in a chameleon-like way to fit into his current habitat. His 2007 CD "Party Hats" as well as his 1997 collaborative project T.J. Kirk's If Four Was One were both nominated for Grammys, and he is nominated yearly in Downbeat Magazine's Critics Poll for "Best Rising Star" Guitar Player. Will is a regular fixture at New Orleans Jazz fest, Jam Cruise and other similar events, and has toured extensively in the US and Europe. Currently, Will performs with John Medeski's Mad Skillet, Peter Apfelbaum's Sparkler, Frequinox with Stanton Moore and Robert Walter, Pleasure Drones, Brian Charette's Mighty Grinders, Clubfoot Orchestra, Revelator featuring Bill Laswell, and the Will Bernard Trio and Quartet. Will's 8th album as a leader, Out and About was released in 2016 on Posi-Tone Records. Will’s 9th record as a leader “Freelance Subversives” was released in 2020 on Ropeadope records and 10th record “Ancient Grains” on Posi-Tone in 2021. Since then he has released two records on his on label Dreck to Disk “Pond Life” in 2022 and “Sky” with Beth Custer in 2023Here are what the critics have said: Pond Life: "What hedoes with the instrument, assisted by an array of effects, is at times sotransformative, so wholly inventive, that one would be excused for forgettingmomentarily where those ethereal sounds are actually coming from." "It’sall rather thrilling stuff, stimulating and capricious, not intended for thosewho always want to know what’s coming next."JeffTamarkin, Relix Magazine "Bernard,as ever is as generous as a leader as he is a profoundly gifted composer"HerbBoyd, Downbeat "GuitaristWill Bernard bears the bittersweet blessing of virtuosic skill and eclectictaste, making his music a perpetual delight and yet hard to categorize."BrittRobson, Jazz Times "These days thejazz guitar stage is almost overloaded with extraordinary talent, but Bernardclearly has the distinctive vision to stand out from the crowd."Michael Toland, The Big TakeoverWILL BERNARD QUARTET"Happy Belated” from Out and About featuring Ben Allison, Allison Miller, and John Ellis:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLpqHz1z4_kI think the Pond Life project would be amazing to do. We have gotten a lot of amazing reviews of the album. “Pond Life” was chosen on at least 6 best of critics list for jazz albums in 2022.Trio: myself Ches Smith, and Chris Lightcap. Special guests John Medeski and Tim Berne.Down Beat Best of 2022 https://archive.maherpublications.com/view/223855741/JAZZIZhttps://www.jazziz.com/winter-2022-jazziz-on-disc-annotated-playlist/Rock and Roll Globe best of 2022https://rockandrollglobe.com/jazz/the-top-ten-jazz-albums-of-2022/ Glide Magazine best albums of 2022 https://glidemagazine.com/283013/glides-best-jazz-albums-of-2022-julian-lage-emmet-cohen-will-bernard-bill-frisell-anders-koppel-makaya-mccraven-more/ Nippertown best jazz records of 2022 https://nippertown.com/2023/01/01/best-of-2022-the-top-10-jazz2k-releases-of-2022/ All About Jazz Doug Collete’s best of 2022 https://www.allaboutjazz.com/doug-collettes-best-jazz-albums-of-2022 One of my other projects “Freelance Subversives" is more in the funkvein:“Freelance Subversives”: With Eric Kalb, Eric Finland, BenStivers, Ben Zwerin, John Medeski, Jay Rodriguez, and Skerikhttps://willbernard.bandcamp.com/album/freelance-subversivesHere are what the critics have said:Pond Life:"What he does with the instrument, assisted by an array of effects, is at times so transformative, so wholly inventive, that one would be excused for forgetting momentarily where those ethereal sounds are actually coming from." "It’sall rather thrilling stuff, stimulating and capricious, not intended for thosewho always want to know what’s coming next."JeffTamarkin, Relix Magazine "Bernard,as ever is as generous as a leader as he is a profoundly gifted composer"HerbBoyd, Downbeat "GuitaristWill Bernard bears the bittersweet blessing of virtuosic skill and eclectictaste, making his music a perpetual delight and yet hard to categorize."BrittRobson, Jazz Times "These days thejazz guitar stage is almost overloaded with extraordinary talent, but Bernardclearly has the distinctive vision to stand out from the crowd."Michael Toland, The Big Takeover Press links “Pond Life” https://www.allaboutjazz.com/will-bernard-finds-his-own-path-to-jazz-career-will-bernardhttps://glidemagazine.com/275910/on-pond-life-guitarist-will-bernard-creates-liberating-musical-boundaries-album-review/https://somethingelsereviews.com/2022/05/27/will-bernard-pond-life/https://jazztrail.net/blog/will-bernard-pond-life-album-reviewhttps://www.makingascene.org/will-bernard-pond-life/https://www.allaboutjazz.com/pond-life-will-bernard-dreck-to-disk-recordshttps://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/will-bernard-pond-life/https://www.jazzword.com/reviews/will-bernard/https://www.saxophonforum.de/threads/will-bernard-pond-life.59849/ Press links "Freelance Subversives"https://newyorkmusicdaily.wordpress.com/2021/03/06/willbernard/https://www.allaboutjazz.com/freelance-subversives-will-bernard-ropeadopehttps://jazzjournal.co.uk/2021/01/04/will-bernard-freelance-subversives/http://georgegraham.com/reviews/will-bernard-2020.htmlhttps://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/will-bernard-freelance-subversives-ropeadope/https://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/will-bernard-freelance-subversives-reviewhttps://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/will-bernard-freelance-subversives-ropeadope/https://rockthebestmusic.com/2020/05/will-bernard-freelance-subversives.htmlhttps://www.mercurynews.com/2020/09/14/new-music-3-new-albums-that-should-be-on-your-radar/https://cdhotlist.com/2020/05/04/may-2020/http://tomhull.com/ocston/arch/rhap/rh2006-1.phphttps://www.jazzism.nl/recensies/will-bernard-freelance-subversives/
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