Will Bernard

Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug.

Will Bernard
Wiil Bernard at the d.b.a. with Stanton Moore Trio at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2007
Background information
Born	Berkeley, California
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1990s–present
Labels	Antilles, Palmetto, Posi-Tone
Associated acts	Peter Apfelbaum, T. J. Kirk, Motherbug, Mad Skillet, Stanton Moore
Website	willbernard.com

Career

In the 1980s Bernard was a member of the Hieroglyphics Ensemble led by Peter Apfelbaum.[1]. In the 1990s he formed the band T. J. Kirk in San Francisco with Charlie Hunter and John Schott. The band's name "James T. Kirk" was taken from James Brown, Thelonious Monk, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk.[2][3] Palmetto released his debut solo album, Blue Plate Special, in 2008.[1] He has also worked with The Coup, John Ellis, John Medeski, Stanton Moore, and Jai Uttal.[1]

Awards and honors

Grammy Award nomination, If Four Was One, 1997[4]

Discography

As leader

• Medicine Hat (Antilles, 1998)
• Motherbug (Dreck to Disk, 2000)
• Directions to My House (Dreck to Disk, 2005)
• Party Hats (Palmetto, 2007)
• Blue Plate Special (Palmetto, 2008)
• Night for Day (Bju, 2008)
• Outdoor Living (Dreck to Disk, 2012)
• Just Like Downtown (Posi-Tone, 2013 )
• Out and About (Posi-Tone, 2016)
• Freelance Subversives (Ropeadope, 2020)

With T.J. Kirk

• T.J. Kirk (Warner Bros., 1995)
• If Four Was One (Warner Bros., 1996)
• Talking Only Makes It Worse (Ropeadope, 2003)

As sideman

With Peter Apfelbaum

• Signs of Life ([Antilles, 1991)
• Jodoji Brightness (Antilles, 1992)
• Luminous Charms (Gramavision, 1996)
• It Is Written (ACT, 2005)

With Stanton Moore

• III (Telarc, 2006)
• Emphasis! (On Parenthesis) (Telarc, 2008)
• Groove Alchemy (Telarc, 2010)

With Ben Sidran

• Don't Cry For No Hipster (Nardis, 2012)
• Picture Him Happy (Nardis, 2017)

With Jai Uttal

• Beggars and Saints (Triloka, 1994)
• Shiva Station (Triloka, 1997)

With others

• Steven Bernstein, Diaspora Suite (Tzadik, 2008)
• Anthony Brown, Rhapsodies (Water Baby, 2005)
• Don Cherry, Multikulti (A&M, 1990)
• Spearhead, Home (Capitol, 1994)
• Trance Mission, Trance Mission (City of Tribes, 1993)
• Tom Waits, Bad as Me (Anti-, 2011)
• Robert Walter, Giving Up the Ghost (Magna Carta, 2003)

References

1. Collar, Matt. "Will Bernard". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
2. Interview, Guitar Player, October 2007.
3. Meredith, Bill. "T.J. Kirk". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
4. Michael Ricci, Biography, AllAboutJazz.com Retrieved September 6, 2007.

External links

• Official site