Randy Bernsen (born July 15, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist.

Career

Bernsen was born in

Needham, Massachusetts Needham ( ) is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb of Boston, its population was 32,091 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census. It is the home of Olin College. History ...

and grew up in Florida. He attended high school in

Plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

and was active in the clubs of

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

, starting at age 17. He studied at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. During the mid-1970s, he was a part of the '' Peter Graves Orchestra'', which played in ''Bachelors III'' with

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

. In 1977, he was a part of

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and ...

. Bernsen's debut album, ''Music for People, Planets & Washing Machines'' (1986), featured numerous greats of fusion jazz, including

Urszula Dudziak Urszula Bogumiła Dudziak-Urbaniak (born 22 October 1943) is a Polish jazz vocalist. She has worked with Krzysztof Komeda, Michał Urbaniak (her ex-husband), Gil Evans, Archie Shepp, and Lester Bowie. In 2007, her 1970s song "Papaya" gained wides ...

, Bob James,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

, Jaco Pastorius and

Peter Erskine Peter Clark Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the d ...

. After good reviews, Bernsen managed to sign up for the follow-up album, ''Mo' Wasabi'', with

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) was an American jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader. Shorter came to mainstream prominence in 1959 upon joining Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, for whom he eventually became the primary comp ...

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American jazz fusion drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and most highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction i ...

, and

Toots Thielemans Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...

. Bernsen has toured since the 1990s with his own groups from

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

. Occasionally he was on concert tours in Europe, Southeast Asia and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. In 1992, he was involved in

Joe Zawinul Josef Erich Zawinul ( '; 7 July 1932 – 11 September 2007) was an Austrian jazz and jazz fusion keyboardist and composer. First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with Miles Davis and to bec ...

's album ''Lost Tribes''. In 2003 he recorded and edited a tribute to Jaco Pastorius, ''Word of Mouth Revisited'', with the Peter Graves Orchestra, followed in 2006 by ''The World is Out''. Tom Lord recorded 42 recordings with Bernsen between 1979 and 2006.Tom Lor
The Jazz Discography
/ref> He can also be heard on albums by Silvano Monasterios, Dan Bonsanti, Mike Levine, Mark Colby and . Bernsen has also been a professional private pilot since 1998, qualified on Learjets, Jetstar, PC-12 and Hondajet.

Discography

Albums

* ''Music for Planets, People & Washing Machines'' (Amc, 1984) * ''Mo' Wasabi'' (Zebra, 1986) * ''Paradise Citizens'' (Zebra, 1988) * ''Calling Me Back Home'' (101 South, 1993) * ''Live @ Tavern 213'' with John Yarling, Pete Sebastian (1997) * ''Live in San Miguel'' (2001) * ''Be Still and Know'' (2004) * ''Angels we have heard on High'' (2005) * ''AppTeaser'' with David Nizri, Uzi Nizri (self-released, 2012) * ''Grace Notes'' (self-released, 2015)

Single download

* "Folksy" (2010) * "Come Together" (2011) * "Revelation 5:1" (2019) * "Billy Gate Blues" (2019) * "Abba Father" (2020) * "Alone Together (Again)" (2021)

Randy BernsenReferences

External links

Official site

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernsen, Randy 1954 births Living people Jazz fusion guitarists American jazz composers People from Plantation, Florida The Zawinul Syndicate members