Bruno Destrez (born September 13, 1959 in Épernay, France) is a French/American

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

, composer, and

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

specializing in the construction and repair of

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

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. BM or bm may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * BM (rapper), born Matthew Kim, a Korean-American rapper * BM (singer), a Congolese-born, British singer-songwriter, dancer, director and record producer * ''BM'' (album), a 2008 Barbara ...

) at the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

,
where he lived until 1991. He then moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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,

Dewey Redman Walter Dewey Redman (May 17, 1931 – September 2, 2006) was an American saxophonist who performed free jazz as a bandleader with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett. Redman mainly played tenor saxophone, though he occasionally also played alto s ...

Salvatore Bonafede Salvatore Bonafede (born August 4, 1962) is an Italian composer and pianist. Early life The son of jewellers, Salvatore Bonafede was born in Palermo on 4 August 1962.. His father, Antonino Bonafede, was a self-taught jazz pianist and a followe ...

, and John Riley. He also has a career as a

sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo o ...

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 ...

Marlena Shaw Marlina Burgess (September 22, 1939 – January 19, 2024), professionally known by her stage name Marlena Shaw, was an American singer. Shaw began her singing career in the 1960s and continued to perform until her death. Her music has often been ...

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 Sch ...

, 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 Stre ...

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…) 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 where he was the bass luthier between 2016 and 2019. He is currently living in New York City. As a bass player and luthier he frequently holds workshops and masterclasses in the U.S., Europe, South America, Puerto Rico, and Japan.

References

External links

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