Bruce Forman’s guitar style has been an important part of the international jazz scene for more than two decades. He has been featured as leader as well as sideman at most of the prestigious festivals and concert venues throughout the world. His numerous recording and performing credits include the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Henderson, Barney Kessel, and others. Known for bop-style phrasing and inventive harmonizations, his ability to work in a variety of settings keeps him in constant demand.

His devotion to sharing his knowledge—particularly with children—has been a constant throughout his career. Having taught since his late teens, he is keenly aware of the needs of developing musicians and is personally connected to all of his students, many of whom have moved on to successful careers as recording and performing artists. He has served as ‘artist in residence’ at numerous music workshops worldwide, has conducted seminars in conservatories and universities across four continents, is a Resource Team member for the IAJE and a longstanding member of the Monterey Jazz Festival Education Program.

In January 2000, he founded JazzMasters Workshop, a music-mentoring program that is free to student-age musicians. Beginning in 2001, JazzMasters achieved non-profit 501(c)(3) status and has operated more than 600 workshops in venues throughout California, including an entry-level performance program at The Boys & Girls Club of Monterey County for at-risk children. In 2002, JazzMasters expanded to the East Coast, with an after-school program at Clara H. Carlson School in N.Y. Through JazzMasters Workshops’ auspices, many of the world’s greatest touring and recording artists have had the opportunity to inspire and interact with the upcoming generation. In June 2003, the Jazz Journalist’s Association recognized this work by bestowing an award for “Service To and Beyond Jazz.”

Bruce Forman’s music publications exemplify his passion for music and educating. The Jazz Guitarists Handbook, (GSP Publications), is a critically acclaimed method book that clarifies the concepts of jazz from a performance-based point of view. Jazz Band Guitar, (Mel Bay Publications), is a no-nonsense approach to the big band for guitarists of all levels. His video, Jazz Guitar Soloing, (GSP), encompasses the important musical aspects that make up an expressive and swinging solo.

In April 2003, his first published fiction novel, Trust Me, was released by Lost Coast Press. The story is a Faustian frolic, a guitarist’s personal odyssey through jazz, mysticism and human folly. It has received rave reviews for its portrayal of playing music and the jazz life.

He has thirteen recordings as leader, the most recent being a self-produced issue entitled Dedication, Bootleg Vol. I, a selection of compositions and arrangements that reveal his personal acknowledgement of many of the musicians and experiences that shaped his music. Among his numerous recordings as sideman, Bruce was prominently featured on Ray Brown’s Some of my best friends are Guitarists CD, released in 2002.

September 2003 commemorated his 21st year at the Monterey Jazz Festival with a trio performance with special guest Sherman Irby, and as a featured member of tribute to the late Bill Berry.

JazzMasters Workshop: a personal narrative

Jazz music is living legacy, one with a profound tradition and a limitless future. It represents the continuum of the American experience. I grew increasingly frustrated that many of our treasures and greatest resources—the masters of past and current generations—have left us and that their experience and knowledge weren’t fully acknowledged or utilized.

As a young man, I was fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to interact with many great players, to learn by playing with them and to grow though musical and personal contact. This, I felt was sorely lacking in today’s experience. I decided to stop complaining about it and to do something. I consider that to be one of the pivotal moments of my life to date. I started by finding a suitable site (one that was safe and easily accessible for young players) and then put out the word out that I was there through schools, private teachers and with coverage by local journalists.

I was adamant that these workshops would be about playing and everyone would get to experience making music with me firsthand, and that teaching—at least in the classic sense—was only done in context of that moment’s music. I was equally steadfast in my commitment to this being free of charge to students, as I saw the music becoming overwhelmingly populated by students who were rich in resources. Learning to play music is not cheap, given the expenses of instruments, private instruction, music camps, etc. It is my opinion that music—particularly jazz—is a thread that ties all practitioners together and affords the opportunity for all to relate and grow on a common level.

I asked for contributions from friends and parents in order to pay for substitute mentors when I needed to work on the road. This is what led to a fortuitous moment. I met a fan, Mike Lyons, a guitar-playing Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist. He felt that the JazzMasters Workshop model was visionary and set up a meeting with Andy Rappaport. The upshot being that they helped me get non-profit status and contributed seed money to start the program on an expanded level.

To fully implement this vision and to fulfill our mission I had to take a year off from touring and to cut back or shelve many projects that I had invested much of my time and creative energy. Why? Because this was too important. I saw—and still see—my work with JazzMasters serving a larger common good than any one person’s project. Through JazzMasters Workshop, I am engaging the music community, assisting young players, activating communities in regards to the arts and culture and ultimately, doing my part for the future of jazz, a music and art form which I have dedicated my life’s work. Already, the sacrifice has been worth it. The rewards—seeing young people enthused and progress, and mentors energized in a new and productive way—have exceeded what I have given.

In our initial phase, we focused on students who had outgrown or were not getting enough input from their school programs. As we grew stronger as an organization, and our roots in the communities we worked deepened, we uncovered an even greater area of need: children at the youngest ages. Whether or not there were programs in schools—an area that has become increasingly challenged—we found that inspiring kids and instilling them with the benefits and value of performance music was too compelling an issue to ignore. We launched a Developmental Music Program at the Boys & Girls Club in Seaside, CA, a place where children could play instruments for the first time, could get guidance and inspiration from enthusiastic professionals, people passionate about their art. This program (run weekly like all the others) has grown and expanded into many other regions and is a cost-effective way to provide a connection for musicians of a given community and the children who live there.

Our mission: Transforming lives through mentoring and music is what we are all about. The strength of our program is the positive effect it has on all who are involved. The students, mentors—great people whose greatness increases through their giving and sharing, families, schools, teachers, and the community at large. JazzMasters represents a new approach, based on the time-honored, time-proven mentoring model, one that can expand and flourish throughout the world and serve the greater good through the experience of jazz and music performance.