October 2000
Review from allaboutjazz.com

Summer Photographs and Memories
By Chris M. Slawecki

At the end of just about every year, most music journalists compile "Best Of The Year" lists. Inevitably, journalists compiling such lists end up remarking about some release or another, "Man, I wish I had the space and time to write about that one…and that one…and that…"
I say this is foolishness and I say to hell with it. Here and now are space and time enough for quick snapshots of some of the music that helped get me through the summer of 2000…

John Bruschini: As You Were (Cathexis)

It's nice to know that someone still makes albums like this - an honest-to-god jazz fusion guitar record, full of the wide open spaces, of risky exploration with commensurate danger and reward. Perhaps that sense of surprise should be no surprise, since guitarist Bruschini has enjoyed a long association with pianist Cecil Taylor. He leads his quartet (drummer Jeff Hirschfield, bassist Kip Reed, and keyboardist Robert Aires), plus guest Jim Nolet on violin, through a completely original program. Bruschini sounds like a "world"y guitarist, more Steve Tibbets than Al DiMeola and with sparkles and flashes of Jeff Beck, too (especially in "Bloodroot," where Aires on keyboards plays Jan Hammer to Bruschini's Beck). Doubling the guitar, Nolet's viola in the opening "As You Were" and "B4" help resurrect the diverse, spiritual fusion of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Of course, you can't forget the groove - and the closing jam to "B4" and "Funkyard," engaging yet slippery, soulful and funky with that organ throbbing in the background, do not. Bruschini obviously put his heart and soul (and a great deal of thought) into this record; the emotion and power of the soaring "Glory," for example, is…well, glorious.

Review from allaboutjazz.com
October, 2000

As You Were
John Bruschini (Cathexis)

By Joel Roberts

Guitarist John Bruschini is perhaps best known for his long tenure with Cecil Taylor, as well as his association with some of New York's top avant-gardists. So As You Were, his funky, soul-drenched new release on the Cathexis label, comes as somewhat of a surprise.
There's no questioning Bruschini's chops - he's definitely near the top of the crowded guitar summit. But unlike so many rock-informed electric guitarists, he can do more than just play a lot of notes - he actually has something to say. He can play loud and fast (as on the groove-based "B4"), or soft and tender (on the ballad, "Glory," and the sentimental, "April"). Backed here by a quartet of top New York players including keyboardist Robert Aries and violist Jim Nolet, Bruschini proves he's an avant-gardist with a sweet side, but one who also knows how to leave sweetness aside and let the funk fly.
There's plenty here to appeal to young fans of groove bands like Medeski, Martin and Wood, as well as fans of fusion and electric jazz in general.
Track Listing: As You Were, B4, Way Down, Bloodroot, Glory, April, Funkyard, Ancestral Seeds, Sarah's.

Personnel: John Bruschini, guitars; Robert Aries, keyboards; Kip Reed, electric bass; Jim Nolet, viola; Jeff Hirshfeld, drums.