Bruno Destrez (born September 13, 1959 in Épernay, France) is a French/American bassist, composer, and luthier specializing in the construction and repair of

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

es.

Education

Destrez studied at the National

Conservatory of Nice The Conservatoire Pierre Cochereau à rayonnement régional de Nice (C.R.R. de Nice) is a state-run regional music and dance conservatoire which serves the French city of Nice (Alpes-Maritimes). It was founded by Adeline Ballet, a pianist, in 1916. ...

(Premier Prix in 1981) and continued his education ( B.M.) at the Berklee College of Music in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

,https://2018cat.basscongress.eu/presenters.php were he lived until 1991. He then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

where he has been living since.

Career

Musician

Destrez has performed with trios and quartets featuring such players as

Mick Goodrick Mick Goodrick (June 9, 1945 – November 16, 2022) was an American jazz guitarist who spent most of his career as a teacher. In the early 1970s, he worked with Gary Burton and Pat Metheny. Biography An Elvis fan, Goodrick began studying guitar ...

, John Abercrombie, Matt Wilson,

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Salvatore Bonafede Salvatore Bonafede (born August 4, 1962) is an Italian composer and pianist. Early life Son of jewellers, Bonafede was born in Palermo on 4 August 1962. He started playing the piano at the age of four and became interested in jazz thanks to hi ...

, and John Riley. He also has a career as a sideman with such players as

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s an ...

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Ricky Ford Ricky Ford (born March 4, 1954) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Ford was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States,) and studied at the New England Conservatory. Ricky Ford AllMusic In 1974, he recorded with Gunther Schulle ...

, Vaughn Hawthorn, and performances with various classical orchestras and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

shows. Besides being an improviser, he has composed modern jazz pieces that he has performed with his trios and quartets. Some of his works have also been recorded by such artists as the Chris Parker Trio, Vaughn Hawthorn, and Kyoko Oyobe. He wrote the Music for ''Flyboy'', a play by Yvon Adrian where the music is central to the script, and he provided music for the Richard Broadman film ''Present Memory'' (1989). He has participated in numerous audio-visual and choreographic projects.

Luthier

As a luthier, Destrez has adapted his techniques to the instruments of symphony orchestras and jazz musicians around the world (National Italian Orchestra Santa Cecila, OCB Barcelona, members of the Scala of Milano, Palermo Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana, the Cleveland Orchestra, Maximillian Dimoff, Scott Haigh, Diana Gannett, Andrea Pighi, etc…) url=http://www.fujisan.co.jp/product/1333/b/619341/ and to the instruments of some of the greatest jazz bass players alive, such as Ron Carter, Marc Johnson, Richard Davis, Larry Grenadier, Peter Washington, Gerald Cannon, Paolino Dalla Porta, Palle Danielsson, and many more. Since 2016 he has been a faculty of the Milt Hinton Institute and has given masterclasses at

Oberlin College and Conservatory Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest coeducational liberal arts college in the United States and the second oldest continuously operating coeducational institute of hig ...

where he was the bass luthier between 2016 and 2019.https://www.chrisparkerdrums.com/pdf/chris_parker.pdf He is currently living in New York City. As a bass player and luthier he frequently holds workshops and Masterclasses in the U.S.A., Europe, South America, Puerto Rico, Japan, Tokyo.

References

External links

Artist's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Destrez, Bruno 1959 births People from Épernay French double-bassists French male double-bassists Living people 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century French male musicians