Unexpected Influences

They come from all over. Sometimes it’s a performance. Sometimes you know right away. Sometimes it takes some looking back.

Once when I was probably somewhere between the ages of 17 or 18 (around 1974-75) the local university (NSU of Louisiana) sponsored a concert featuring the Buddy Rich Big Band. Everyone had heard of the famous Buddy Rich and I was anticipating the concert with great excitement. It was really a good experience for me - I had never seen anything like that before. The way he worked his playing into the arrangements was so exciting! And the way he connected the tunes to each other setting up segues so that the music didn’t stop. The tunes just flowed right into each other. Around that time I was starting to get passionate about guitar playing and being unfamiliar with big band jazz I was anxious to see if they had a guitarist and what his role might be.

There was a little guy with a big guitar and when his turn came to solo - wow! The notes came out of the guitar like it was on fire. Long phrases of incendiary lines but with none of the rock sounds I was used to hearing. Who was this guy? No one I knew had any idea. What I did know was that I had never seen or heard anything like that before and it introduced me to a whole different way to think about guitar and music.

I can imagine the band rolling from town to town playing hundreds of these little gigs on campuses everywhere never giving a thought to much else besides making it through this gig and heading for the next. What they probably never imagined is the impact they may have on one person and what a difference it can make, even at a university or a whole community.

To my delight when I graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1980 who was on stage to shake my hand and give me my diploma? Along with composer John Williams, it was Buddy Rich! Yes!

Years later in my forties, I discovered the music of a guitarist Jimmy Bruno. As I learned more about him, I found out he had played with The Buddy Rich Big Band. It was him! He was the guy tearing it up in the Buddy Rich band when I was a kid! When Jimmy Bruno started his Jimmy Bruno Guitar Institute (JBGI) a few years ago, an online approach to guitar study, I was eager to see what I could learn from him. In that first round of study, I stayed with it for only about 3 months, but in that time I learned critical information that I now incorporate into my playing all the time, and also share with my own students. My students at the university. Where the Buddy Rich Big Band played. So long ago. When I was seventeen.

I guess one of the morals of this story is when you’re performing, whether you’re touring the country or just playing locally, your never know who you’ll influence or what that will lead to. So try to be your best whenever you perform.

I’ve had a whole host of influences, and there are many people I need to say thank you to. In this case - thank you Jimmy Bruno. Your dedication has personally affected me and those I influence as well.