Robert D. "Bob" Rusch (born April 3, 1943 in New York City) is an American jazz critic and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

. Rusch has also been accused of allegedly sexual abusing students when he worked as a teacher.

Biography

Rusch studied clarinet and drums in his youth. During the 1970s, Rusch played drums in workshops with

Jaki Byard John Arthur "Jaki" Byard (; June 15, 1922 – February 11, 1999) was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. Mainly a pianist, he also played tenor and alto saxophones, among several other instruments. He was known for hi ...

and Cedar Walton. He wrote for the magazines ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', ''

Jazz Journal ''Jazz Journal'' is a British jazz magazine established in 1946 by Sinclair Traill (1904–1981). It was first published in London under the title ''Pick Up'', which Traill founded as a locus for serious jazz criticism in Britain.Roberta Freund Sc ...

'' and ''

Jazz Forum ''Jazz Forum'' is a European jazz magazine based in Warsaw. It was established as a quarterly in 1964 by jazz bassist Jan A. Byrczek, who served as its editor-in-chief. It was the first jazz magazine published behind the Iron Curtain and allo ...

'' in the 1970s before founding ''

Cadence Magazine ''Cadence: The Independent Journal of Creative Improvised Music'' is a quarterly review of jazz, blues and improvised music. The magazine covers a range of styles, from early jazz and blues to the avant-garde. Critic and historian Bob Rusch fo ...

'' in 1975. He founded two record labels,

Cadence Jazz Cadence Jazz is an American record company and label specializing in noncommercial modern jazz. It is associated with ''Cadence Magazine''. Cadence Jazz was founded by Bob Rusch in Redwood, New York in 1980. By 2000 the label had issued more ...

(in 1980) and

CIMP Creative Improvised Music Projects, usually abbreviated CIMP or C.I.M.P., is an American jazz record company and label. It is associated with ''Cadence Magazine'' and Cadence Jazz Records. The label is noted for its minimal use of electronic proc ...

(in 1995), and produced or oversaw the release of hundreds of jazz releases; among those musicians he has produced are Bill Dixon, Chet Baker,

Glenn Spearman Glenn Spearman (February 14, 1947 – October 8, 1998) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was associated with free jazz and experimental music. Spearman was active in Oakland, California, in the late 1960s but moved to Paris in 1972 and ...

, Ernie Krivda,

Ivo Perelman Ivo Perelman (born January 12, 1961) is a Brazilian free jazz saxophonist born in São Paulo. Career In his youth, Perelman learned to play guitar, cello, clarinet, trombone, and piano, concentrating on tenor sax since age 19. He attended the Be ...

Noah Howard Noah Howard (April 6, 1943 – September 3, 2010) was an American free jazz alto saxophonist. Biography Born in New Orleans, Howard played music from childhood in his church. He first learned trumpet and later switched to alto, tenor and sopra ...

Dominic Duval Dominic Duval (c. 1944 – July 22, 2016) was an American free jazz upright bass, bassist. Since the 1990s, Duval was active principally on the New York City jazz scene. He did not begin recording regularly until the 1990s, but since then had app ...

, Steuart Liebig, Cecil Taylor, Fred Hess,

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Ch ...

, Bill Barron,

Paul Smoker Paul Alva Smoker (May 8, 1941 – May 14, 2016) was an American composer and jazz trumpeter. Music career Smoker was born in Muncie, Indiana, grew up in Davenport, Iowa, and moved to Chicago to play professionally. He worked there in the 1960s, p ...

, and

Steve Swell Steve Swell (born in Newark, New Jersey, December 6, 1954) is an American free jazz trombonist, composer, and educator. Music career Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his m ...

. He has run North Country Record Distribution, an independent jazz label distributor, since 1983. Rusch has donated his large, indexed collection of jazz periodicals to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rusch's book, ''JazzTalk: the Cadence Interviews'', was published in 1984. A review at the time by

Kevin Whitehead Kevin Francis Whitehead (born April 27, 1952 in New York City) is an American jazz critic and author. Biography Whitehead studied at Oswego State University in New York, then earned a Masters in American Literature and Culture at Syracuse Unive ...

noted that it includes "one of the best discussions of the social realities concerning the creation of new music to have appeared in print," in an interview with the trumpeter Bill Dixon. Whitehead wrote that "Rusch has conducted hundreds of interviews with improvisers" and considers that this collection, including interviews with "drummer Art Blakey, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, pianist Cecil Taylor, and saxophonists

Billy Harper Billy Harper (born January 17, 1943) is an American jazz saxophonist, "one of a generation of Coltrane-influenced tenor saxophonists" with a distinctively stern, hard-as-nails sound on his instrument.Chris KelseyBilly Harper Biography ''AllMusi ...

, Paul Quinchette and

Von Freeman Earle Lavon "Von" Freeman Sr. (October 3, 1923 – August 11, 2012) was an American hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, Freeman as a young child was exposed to jazz. His father, George, a city policeman, was a ...

," among others, includes both valuable insights into jazz history and the thinking of the interviewee, and "some dead weight as well."

Sexual abuse allegations

From 1965-1973, Rusch was a teacher at Woodward School, a private elementary school in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. On June 4, 2014, three articles appeared in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' accusing Rusch of "sexually abusing female students as young as 12 years old during the late 1960s and early 1970s." Rusch was interviewed by the newspaper, and in the articles "Rusch acknowledged that he had sex with multiple young students.... 'I accept involvement in some of the things that went on, not all of them, and to that extent I am embarrassed and remorseful and I have been for the better part of 41 years,' said Mr. Rusch, who is now 71 years old. 'I carry a lot of guilt.'" In 2020, three women filed a lawsuit alleging they were "sexually abused and assaulted" by Rusch.Decades later, three women accuse former Brooklyn private school teacher of sex abuse
by Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, July 30, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rusch, Bob 1943 births Living people Record producers from New York (state) Jazz writers American music critics