Jazz Articles

Will Bernard & Beth Custer: Sky

by Mark Corroto
August 16, 2023

Luckily there are no record producers or record executives for creative music these days, because clarinetist Beth Custer and guitarist Will Bernard would be out of a job or, at least, a recording contract. That is because neither of the artists' interests can be categorized, pigeonholed, or compartmentalized. Custer performs chamber music, jazz, trance, pop, blues, silent film soundtracks, trip-hop, rock, folk, tribal, and ambient music. Likewise, Bernard has his fingers in jazz (from straight ahead to soul and jazz-rock), ...

Will Bernard: Pond Life

by Mark Corroto
May 4, 2022

All great performances, be they athletic or musical, start with a solid base. For guitarist Will Bernard that is a trio with drummer Ches Smith (Ceramic Dog, Snakeoil) and completing Bernard's bass (sic) with both the acoustic and electric input of bassist Chris Lightcap. Upon this foundation Bernard is inspired to expand his music with the help of keyboardist John Medeski and saxophonist Tim Berne. Medeski can be heard on the guitarist's 2008 album Blue Plate Special (Palmetto Records) and ...

Will Bernard Trio: Outdoor Living

by Doug Collette
April 10, 2012

As if capturing the Will Bernard Trio caught up in a rush of inspiration, both the initial and concluding pairs of tracks on Outdoor Living are sequenced together without breaks between. It's an appropriate production touch for an album on which the participants are clearly feeding on each others' ideas and building on the individual and collective talent on hand. The initial segue to “Morgan Deux" from “Nature Walk" is a springboard for the musicians and listeners alike to become ...

Will Bernard Trio: Directions to My House

by John Kelman
August 8, 2005

Thanks to artists like Bill Frisell and Nels Cline, the definition of jazz guitar has broadened so far that heated discussions are a regular occurrence, on and off the web. Certainly if an album like Frisell's Nashville can win the Downbeat critic's poll for best jazz album, we're witnessing a significant shift that allows for considerably more latitude than ever before.

On the other hand, if you were to ask these artists if what they play is jazz, they'd likely ...