On the release of Portals, composer John Bruschini sits down with writer Linda Shockley to discuss his passion for jazz, early influences, family, and what keeps him inspired on discouraging days.
LS: Your new CD is a bit of a departure from your earlier recordings.
JB: The new CD is a body of music that I learned to step out of the way for. In other words, it was a channeling experience that began in a musically triggered meditative state. Once in that magical place, I wait for things to come and then begin translating the feel and sounds to the guitar. After I develop the technique to implement the music to my instrument, I then transcribe the primary motifs to standard music notation for reference and to suggest the character sound identities. This enables me to return to those locations to develop and improvise further, forming and strengthening those musical entities. One of the pieces is titled “Spirit Mining,” and “mining” is a word that comes to mind to define what I feel happens when I create in this way. It may also be described as a musicological dig where I use my guitar as a divining rod. So, once the soundscapes are identified (composed?), I draw from a variety of treatments and applications—such as exploring through repetition, mining and construction/deconstruction—while trying to remain in a state of innocence, honesty, reverence, wonder and blissful abandon. And, all while having my feet on the ground, or at least keeping one foot in each world.
LS: How did you come to focus on jazz?
JB: By the end of the 60s, Fusion was evolving with Miles Davis at the helm with his electric bands. So I was more exposed to this period of jazz/fusion, especially with the discovery of John McLaughlin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra.That was it! For me, the music was spiritual, heroic, soulful, passionate and downright exciting. It wasn’t until the early-to mid-70s when I heard Bird, Trane, Diz, Wes and all the rest, that I was brought to my knees. I studied for awhile with Bird’s favored guitarist, Billy Bauer, who introduced me to basic theory and harmony. This would give me a clue about the tools necessary for an understanding of how to approach improvisation and achieving a feel for jazz, and more specifically, bebop. I’m not a dyed-in-the-wool bebop player and never considered myself one. But I realized the necessity of learning as much as I could from it in order to broaden my musical knowledge and apply what I learned to wherever I might take it. There are a variety of elements in my music, and the outstanding distinction to categorize it as jazz, for me, is the importance of improvisation as a key element. There were too many influences, especially having grown up in New York and in the 60s, to be pigeon-holed into a genre. This kind of compartmentalizing seems to be largely for marketing and the business of music. But I do understand that one has to start somewhere in order to define such a chimerical and multidimensional art form.
LS: Who are your influences?
JB: Endless influences...early ones were Carlos Montoya, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters, Elvin Bishop, Johnny Winter, Hendrix, Otis Spann, Julian Bream, James Brown, Mary Wells, The Righteous Brothers, The Temptations, The Miracles, Mississippi Delta players and country blues players like Bukka White, Robert Johnson, Skip James, Furry Lewis, Blind Lemon Jefferson and countless others. Later on, I listened to musicians and composers like Egberto Gismonti, Leo Brouwer, Duke Ellington, Bach, Penderecki, Henze, Mingus, Debussy, Ravel.... Wes was a big influence during the more straight-ahead years. Eric Dolphy, Julius Hemphill and Hamiett Bluiett were also favorites.
LS: What are your earliest memories of music?
JB: Probably listening to my mother singing songs by my bedside, either to help me fall asleep or to soothe and comfort me when I was sick. My mother is a very gifted and natural singer.
Watching American Bandstand on TV at an early age and hearing “Hot Diggity Dog Diggity Boom” was memorable as my sister and I danced in front of the television set.
Perhaps one of my strongest early memories of music was having the special treat of listening to my great uncle play the piano when he came to visit. He had given my family a Chickering Grand piano, which his brother had bought for him years earlier. My great uncle was a monster player. He played a lot of Chopin and did some composing as well. He would rip through pieces while always having a cigarette in an ashtray on the piano, waiting to be lit in between pieces or movements. He would finish a piece and then take a few fast drags of his Pall Mall non-filter, stub it out and resume playing. He was amazing! I would park myself in the most comfortable living room chair and be transported through a spectacular flood of brilliant and inspiring music. Yup. He was a monster player.
Lots of classical music was always played in our home, with strong Italian and Spanish influences stemming from our ancestry.
LS: How old were you when you started playing?
JB: I started playing at 12 years old, primarily studying classical guitar music along with some pop music. I studied with Al Cappi, the teacher who had given my father some lessons. Cappi had worked with George Van Epps and Carl Kress, and did radio and TV work from 1950 through 1970, including Merv Griffin’s early shows, as well as The Joe Franklin Show.
LS: Was it always guitar?
JB: I studied piano for a short spell, probably not even a year, but I love the instrument and I continue to dabble with it. If guitar hadn’t chosen me, I most likely would have pursued the study of piano. And because my mother and sister both play piano, I feel a special affinity for the instrument.
LS: What inspired you to become a musician?
JB: I give my father the credit for getting me started with guitar lessons and buying me my first guitar when I was 12. He would take me to hear flamenco guitarist, Carlos Montoya, whenever he came to town. Carlos was inspiring. Talk about chops, passion and fire! And once again, coming from a home where there was always music being played and everybody played an instrument, it seemed like a natural progression, although my parents were not professional musicians. (That was probably a good thing!)
LS: It’s a tough business.
JB: You said it!
LS: What keeps you inspired on discouraging days?
JB: Well, first of all, I’m never discouraged with the music itself, but I do get discouraged with the music business on a regular basis. For me, music and spirituality are almost one and the same. When I’m not inspired, I summon inspiration or perhaps more accurately, I summon myself to work. It’s not pure inspiration at these times but rather a discipline, a traditional marriage--for better or worse. If I were to sit and wait for inspiration, it might not come to me for days on end. That is where the discipline to sit down and practice and compose comes into play. You just do it! And the inspiration will come. This may be where the conventional term of “job” enters. It is something you do everyday no matter what. When inspiration comes, the creation is that much better, but my advice to anyone is “don’t wait for it to arrive.” With consistent work towards a goal, inspiration will eventually chime in, wanting to be a part of the Great Work. And all of that said, there is no order to these events.
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