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

Career

Bernsen was born in Needham, Massachusetts and grew up in Florida. He attended high school in

Plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

and was active in the clubs of South Florida, 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 research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

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

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...

. In 1977, he was a part of

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura N ...

. 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 wid ...

, Bob James, Herbie Hancock, Jaco Pastorius and

Peter Erskine Peter 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 dru ...

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

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

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 both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

, Marcus Miller,

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

, 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 his chromatic harmonica playing, as well as his guitar and whistl ...

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

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

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

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In 1992, he was involved in Joe Zawinul'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 Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

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 People, Planets & Washing Machines'' (Amc, 1984) * ''Mo' Wasabi'' (Zebra, 1986) * ''Paradise Citizens'' (Zebra, 1988) * ''Calling Me Back Home'' (101 South, 1993) * ''AppTeaser '' (self-released, 2012) * ''Grace Notes'' (self-released, 2015)

Single download

* "Revelation 5:1" * "Folksy" * "Alone Together" (2021) * "Abba Father" (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