Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/819918
The Man with the Red Guitar R egardless of the genre in which they perform, profi- cient practitioners of the musi- cal arts can generally be divid- ed into two categories: musi- cians and musician's musicians. The former group consists of accomplished instrumentalists and singers who have a broad range of appeal to the general public. Think Justin Bieber and just about anyone on the con- temporary country charts. The latter includes perform- ers whose ability and com- mand of the language of music makes the ears of other musi- cians perk up and take notice, but perhaps haven't attained widespread acceptance among casual listener s. This group includes Esperanza Spalding and Yngwie Malmsteen. There is another subset, however. These player s can thoroughly seduce a casual audience while at the same time inspire awe in musicians. In this category are Jimi Hendrix, YoYo Ma and Carmel Valley's own jazz guitarist Bruce Forman. Proving this point are two past masters of the instrument, Barney Kessel and Kenny Burrell, who said, respectively: "Bruce Forman is one of the greats lights of our age." … and… "Bruce Forman is a won- derful guitarist; extremely versa- tile and very musical…a first- rate accompanist and soloist.." And Forman delights audi- ences around the world with his vir tuosity, humor and wit. He's a busy, in-demand guy who has recorded and/or per- formed with some of the greats, including Freddie Hub- bard, Bobby Hutcherson and Ray Brown. Clint Eastwood has tapped his talents for three of his films, "Million Dollar Baby," "Flags of Our Father s" and "Hereafter." Br uce Forman Makes Next-Level Jazz B Y M I C H A E L C H AT F I E L D An extremely talented musician, Forman is also an accomplished wordsmith with several novels under his belt. 162 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 7 Photo: TGO Photography