Robert D. Rusch (April 3, 1943 – January 14, 2024) was an American jazz critic and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Biography

Robert D. Rusch was born in New York City on April 3, 1943. 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 h ...

and

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and c ...

. He wrote for the magazines ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (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 that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'', ''

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 S ...

'' 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 allowed ...

'' 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 f ...

'' in 1975. He founded two record labels, Cadence Jazz (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 pr ...

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

Bill Dixon William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

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 f ...

Ernie Krivda Ernie Krivda (born February 6, 1945, in Cleveland, Ohio as Krvda Ernö) is a jazz saxophonist, flutist, bandleader, and educator. Ernie Krivda, who is of Hungarian and Sicilian heritage, began his professional career in 1963 with the Jimmy Do ...

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 sopran ...

Dominic Duval Dominic Duval (April 27, 1945 – July 22, 2016) was an American classical and free jazz bassist. Biography Duval's was born in New York City. His father Dominic Duval Sr. was a bassist. At Eastman School of Music, Duval double majored in C ...

Steuart Liebig Steuart Liebig, born July 25, 1956, is an American bassist and composer of modern creative jazz and the free improvisational music. He plays 6-string bass guitars. Life and work Liebig grew up in Los Angeles and was influenced as a child by rock ...

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in comple ...

, 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 Chi ...

Bill Barron William Barron (26 October 1917 – 2 January 2006) was an English sportsman, who played football in the higher leagues before the Second World War and, along with some football, first-class cricket afterwards. Sporting career William Barron ...

, Paul Smoker, Jimmy Bennington, and

Steve Swell Steve Swell (born December 6, 1954 in Newark, New Jersey) 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 The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library (NYPL) and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Located at 515 Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) be ...

. 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) is an American jazz critic and author. Biography Born in New York City, Whitehead studied at Oswego State University in New York, then earned a Masters in American Literature and Culture at Syracuse ...

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 considered that this collection, including interviews with "drummer

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

, trumpeter

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

, 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 was exposed as a young child 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." Rusch died on January 14, 2024, at the age of 80.

Sexual abuse

From 1965 to 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'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' 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 was 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 2024 deaths Record producers from New York (state) Jazz writers American music critics