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Artist
Jimmy Bruno
12+ albums
jazzjazz guitarSmooth JazzguitarHard Bop
about
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bruno started playing at the age of 7. He began his professional career at the age of 19, touring with Buddy Rich.[1] Among his many credits, he is the only guitarist to have ever led Frank Sinatra's band. He played for many years in Los Angeles before returning to the Philadelphia area. He counts Johnny Smith, Hank Garland, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, Wes Montgomery, Howard Roberts, Jim Hall, and Pat Martino amongst his influences (2) One of the finest jazz guitarists in Philadelphia, Jimmy Bruno is a passionate hard bopper who loves to swing aggressively but can be a very sensitive ballad player when he puts his mind to it. The Italian-American was raised in South Philly, where he fell in love with jazz as a kid and took up the guitar at the age of seven. Growing up, he was influenced by such bop guitar greats as Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel and Jimmy Raney but also admired the pre-bop work of Eddie Lang, Charlie Christian and Django Reinhart. At 19, Bruno hit the road as a sideman for The Buddy Rich Big Band before ended up spending much of his youth living in the West--where he did a lot of non-jazz gigs in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Although those live and studio pursuits paid the bills for Bruno, he never gave up hard bop and hoped to eventually be a full-time jazz musician. Returning to Philly in 1988, a 35-year-old Bruno was determined to do exactly that even it meant being poor for awhile. An article in the Philadelphia Weekl
