Carmel Magazine

Summer 2017

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in the players. I try to nurture that." He says that he approached jazz education as a mentor/apprentice relationship, versus a maestro/pupil one. Over the years, he has put on more than 3,000 JazzMasters workshops free of charge (including many at the Carmel Youth Center). "I'm proud that we have impacted the lives of hundreds—if not thousands—of young people," he says. Forman also has a group of private stu- dents and is currently Adjunct Assistant Professor in Jazz/Studio Guitar at USC. Young people are not the only beneficiaries of Forman's outreach. With his friend, jazz fusion gui- tar virtuoso Scott Henderson, he produces a weekly podcast, "Guitar Wank." "When I first moved to LA, Scott and I started having breakfast together once a week, just hanging out, talking music," he says. Troy MacCubbin, a guitarist who had studied with both, joined them one day and was struck by what an unusual pair they were. "He thought we were like the two old guys in the balcony on The Muppet Show," he laughs. MacCubbin thought the world should hear what these two guitar masters were discussing, and the three convened at his studio for the first installment in January of 2016. Nearly 60 episodes later, the weekly podcasts are followed by 80,000 or so subscribers. Topics are wide- ranging—and sometimes bawdy. "We are, after all musicians talking," Forman says. "It's a little of teaching a whole lot of laugh- ing. Exactly what it would be like hanging out with us." Oddly, as a highly-accomplished artist with such a deep dedication to education, Forman is largely an autodidact. "I'm one of those guys…if I want to do something, I figure it out. It's been a lifetime of unique challenges," he says with a smile. But he recognizes that he didn't do it alone. "If I hadn't been in San Francisco, hadn't met that kid who turned me on to BirdF, I might not even know what jazz is," he shares. "I love jazz and I love to spread joy with it." For more information, please visit www.brucefor- man.com. Tickets for "The Red Guitar" are avail- able at www.carlcherrycenter.org. Stream the pod- casts at www.guitarwank.com. 168 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 "The Red Guitar," Forman's highly entertaining, unique and personal one-man show, features philosophy, life stories, opinions, observations and a satisfying helping of his wry humor set to a live soundtrack of solo jazz guitar virtuosity. Forman will perform "The Red Guitar" at the Carl Cherry Center for the Arts on May 20. Photo: Spiz Photography

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