BRUCE FORMAN’S THE RED GUITAR & BRUCE FORMAN’S JUNK YARD DUO

Many of you already know Bruce Forman’s work as the jazz/western swing/bop guitarist in the band Cow Bop. Tonight Bruce does what his bumper sticker on the back of his horse says—My other performance platform is. . . Tonight we present two of Bruces other musical endeavors, The Red Guitar and the Junk Yard Duo. A busy touring schedule; seventeen recordings as a leader; countless sideman recording dates–including a featured role on one of jazz great Ray Brown’s last albums; soundtrack performances on three of Clint Eastwood’s distinguished films–the Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby, Oscar-nominated Flags of Our Fathers and Hereafter; producer, arranger, and acclaimed educator; over twenty appearances at the landmark Monterey Jazz Festival; in residence at USC ’s Studio / Jazz Guitar Dept.—when does Bruce Forman rest? Forman is a seasoned jazz player with top-level skills as a leader, entertainer and sideman. He creates soulful, lyrical melodies, inventive harmonies, and solid accompaniment. Though he can shred bebop at blistering tempos with the best of ‘em, he is no urban snob. Cow Bop, Forman’s unique “western bebop” band, hit four separate charts with its CDs, Swingin’ Out West, Route 66, Too Hick for the Room and Cowlifornia Swing. In May 2014, Cow Bop was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame.

The Red Guitar—

Imagine receiving an invitation to a gala featuring John Coltrane, Sigmund Freud, and Faust. Bruce Forman’s “The Red Guitar” is all that and more. It draws on Forman’s decades of experience as a formidable jazz guitarist and his considerable skill as a storyteller and teacher, producing a work that is greater than the sum of its dazzling parts. A story in and about jazz, The Red Guitar showcases Bruce Forman’s genre—breaking inventiveness and his ability to improvise and create within a classical form. Enlisting the full power of the jazz idiom and integrating it with seasoned and provocative story-telling, he confronts the dilemma of artistic obsession face-to-face—by creating a work of art that simultaneously explores and demonstrates the hold that music has over its most ardent followers, the hold that poses itself as a life-or-death, must-be-solved-question: “The Red Guitar. Do you play it…or does it play you? See where you stand. See and hear The Red Guitar  

The Junk Yard Duo—

Scavenging music form the edge of sound, Junkyard Duo uses unique instrumentation and exotic sounds to create a spontaneous and intimate improvisational exploration of styles and approaches. Hobo chic at it’s most utmost!!!

http://www.bruceforman.com