Guitar Player
Will Bernard
Motherbug (Dreck to Disc)
May 2001

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Over the course of two decades spent firebombing the barricades between rock and jazz, guitarist/composer Will Bernard has gradually redefined "fusion." Bernard's approach echoes the lofty ambitions and musicianship of the genre's '60s and '70s pioneers, but he side-steps the pitiful wanking that ultirnately sank the style. Bernard's compositions also include generous doses of humor and irony - seasonings rarely used by first-wave fusionaires. No kitchen- sink composer, Bernard gravitates toward a few specific idioms: James Brown-style funk, acid jazz, Latin jazz, and Hendrixiana. But while Bernard turns to straight-ahead swing only occasionally, there's a downright Ellingtonian aspect to his arrangements. No matter that his core group is a mere quartet-he layers guitars and keyboards as if scoring for a big band. And when he does launch into a full- blown solo, it not only boasts stellar fretsmanship, but a strong personality and a clear point of view. Hanging out with some of Bernard's "characters" - the Hindi-blues slide player on "Rounders," the wheezing filter-freak of "100 Cha Chas," the boorish fuzztone farter of "Adjust the Facts" - is like stepping into a Coen Brothers movie, an Elmore Leonard novel, or any other alternate reality peopled by unforgettable freaks.