Gene Bertoncini

American jazz guitarist

Gene Bertoncini
Born	(1937-04-06) April 6, 1937 (age 87) New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1960s–present
Labels	MPS, Stash, Chiaroscuro, Concord, Motéma

Musical artist

Gene J. Bertoncini (born 6 April 1937) is an American jazz guitarist.

Biography

A native of New York City, Bertoncini grew up in a musical family.^[1] His father, Mario Bertoncini (1901–1978), played guitar and harmonica. His brother Renny (1934–2023), played accordion and keyboards. Bertoncini began playing guitar at age seven and by age sixteen was appearing on television. He graduated from high school and attended the University of Notre Dame, where, in 1959, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering.^[2]^[3] He also played clarinet for the Notre Dame marching band.^[1] His first guitar teacher was Johnny Smith.^[4]

After college he entered the Marines, then moved to Chicago, where he became immersed in the jazz scene, working with Carmen McRae.^[1] He returned to New York City and played with vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and then in one of Buddy Rich's ensembles.^[1] He was a member the Tonight Show band.^[1] He has also worked with Burt Bacharach, Tony Bennett, Paul Desmond, Benny Goodman, Lena Horne, Hubert Laws, Michel Legrand, Charles McPherson, Wayne Shorter, Clark Terry, and Nancy Wilson.^[1] He has performed often with bassist Michael Moore.^[1]

Bertoncini was notable in the world of jazz guitar for using a nylon-string guitar in performances and recordings, as Charlie Byrd had done in the 1950s and 1960s. After hearing a Julian Bream album at the advice of his teacher Chuck Wayne,^[4] Bertoncini began studying classical guitar and using the instrument for jazz and Latin music styles. Bertoncini discussed his use of the instrument in a 2008 interview:

I started practicing classical guitar just about the time when the bossa nova hit. Joao [Gilberto] was borrowing my guitar, I was playing the classical repertoire, and all these things kind of came together. I was doing studio work at the time, and I got a call to play on a big album by Ahmad Jamal; they wanted somebody to play a bossa nova kind of thing.^[5]

From 1990 to 2008, Bertoncini played solo guitar on Sunday and Monday evenings at the Bistro La Madeleine on West 43rd Street in New York City.^[6] He recorded two albums of solo guitar arrangements (Body and Soul and Quiet Now) and published ten of these arrangements in Gene Bertoncini Plays Jazz Standards.^[7]

Bertoncini has been on the faculties of William Paterson University, New York University, Eastman School of Music,^[4] New England Conservatory, and the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. He has been on the staff of the Tritone Jazz Fantasy Camps.

Discography

As leader

Evolution (Evolution, 1969)
Bridges with Michael Moore (GJB Music, 1977)
The Guitar Session with Jay Berliner, Toots Thielemans, Richard Resnicoff (Philips, 1977)
Crystal & Velvet with Bobbi Rogers (Focus, 1981)
O Grande Amor with Michael Moore (Stash, 1986)
Strollin' with Michael Moore (Stash, 1987)
Close Ties with Michael Moore (Musical Heritage Society, 1987)
Two in Time with Michael Moore (Chiaroscuro, 1989)
Jiggs & Gene with Jiggs Whigham (Azica, 1996)
Someone to Light Up My Life (Chiaroscuro, 1996)
Interplay with Fred Haas (JazzToons, 1997)
Gene Bertoncini with Bill Charlap and Sean Smith (Chiaroscuro, 1999)
East Meets Midwest with Kenny Poole (J-Curve, 1998)
Body and Soul (Ambient, 1999)
Just the Two of Us with Jack Wilkins (Chiaroscuro, 2000)
Autumn Leaves at Astley's with Frank Vignola (True Track, 2001)
Meeting of the Grooves with Frank Vignola (Azica, 2002)
Acoustic Romance with Akira Tana and Rufus Reid (Sons of Sound, 2003)
Quiet Now (Ambient, 2005)
Just Above a Whisper (Stellar Sound Productions, 2005)
Concerti (Ambient, 2008)
Smile with Roni Ben-Hur (Motéma, 2008)
2+2=1 (Blueport Jazz, 2009)
Reunion (Ambient, 2012)
Love Like Ours (Ambient, 2022)^[8]

As sideman

Monty Alexander, Spunky (Pacific Jazz, 1965)
Duke Pearson, Prairie Dog (Atlantic, 1966)
Meredith D'Ambrosio, Silent Passion (Sunnyside, 1997)
David Amram, On the Waterfront on Broadway (Varese Sarabande)
Chet Baker, The Best Thing for You (A&M, 1989)
Irwin Bazelon, Music of Irwin Bazelon (1992)
Tony Bennett, A Place Over the Sun (Columbia, 1969)
Tony Bennett, I've Gotta Be Me (Columbia, 1969)
Peter Bernstein, Mundell Lowe, Jack Wilkins, We Remember Tal (J-Curve, 1999)
Phil Bodner, Clarinet Virtuosity: Once More with Feeling! (Arbors, 2006)
Canadian Brass, Swingtime! (RCA Victor, 1995)
Earl Coleman, Love Songs (Atlantic, 1968)
Dolly Dawn, Memories of You (Dawn, 1981)
Paul Desmond, Bridge Over Troubled Water (A&M, 1970)
Paul Desmond, Skylark (CTI, 1974)
Trudy Desmond, Tailor Made (Jazz Alliance, 1992)
Linda Eder, It's Time (Atlantic, 1997)
Ronnie Foster, Two-Headed Freap (Blue Note, 1972)
Nnenna Freelon, Nnenna Freelon (Columbia, 1992)
Johnny Frigo, Debut of a Legend (Chesky, 1994)
Astrud Gilberto, Gilberto with Turrentine (CTI, 1971)
Astrud Gilberto, That Girl from Ipanema (Image, 1977)
Bob Hammer, Beatlejazz (ABC-Paramount, 1967)
Jane Harvey, Jane Harvey (RCA 1974)
Bobbi Humphrey, Flute-in (Blue Note, 1971)
Bobby Hutcherson, Natural Illusions (Blue Note, 1972)
Rufus Jones, Five On Eight (Cameo, 1964)
Roger Kellaway, Meets the Duo Gene Bertoncini and Michael Moore (Chiaroscuro, 1992)
Rebecca Kilgore, Rebecca Kilgore with the Keith Ingham Sextet (Jump, 2001)
Morgana King, Miss Morgana King (Mainstream, 1965)
Morgana King, A Taste of Honey (Mainstream, 1991)
Peggy King, Oh What a Memory We Made...Tonight (Stash, 1984)
Peggy King, Peggy King Sings Jerome Kern (Stash, 1985)
Michel Legrand, After the Rain (Pablo, 1983)
Michel Legrand, Twenty Songs of the Century (Bell, 1974)
Jay Leonhart, Great Duets (Chiaroscuro, 1999)
Herbie Mann, The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd (Atlantic, 1965)
Susannah McCorkle, How Do You Keep the Music Playing? (1986)
Susannah McCorkle, Dream (Pausa, 1987)
Charles McPherson, Charles McPherson (Mainstream, 1971)
Bette Midler, Some People's Lives (Atlantic, 1990)
Tony Mottola, A Latin Love-in (Project 3, 1967)
Mark Murphy, Satisfaction Guaranteed (Muse, 1980)
Mark Murphy, The Artistry of Mark Murphy (Muse, 1982)
Gerry Niewood, Facets (Native Language, 2004)
Duke Pearson, Prairie Dog (Atlantic, 1966)
Doc Severinsen, The Great Arrival! (Command, 1969)
Marlena Shaw, From the Depths of My Soul (Blue Note, 1973)
Wayne Shorter, Odyssey of Iska (Blue Note, 1971)
Lonnie Liston Smith, Renaissance (RCA Victor, 1976)
Lonnie Liston Smith, Watercolors (BMG/Novus/RCA 1991)
Sonny Stitt, When Sonny Blows (Blue Jamal 1970)
Harvie Swartz, In a Different Light (Bluemoon, 1990)
Sylvia Syms, She Loves to Hear the Music (A&M, 1978)
Clark Terry, Clark Terry Sextet (Cameo, 1962)
Clark Terry, Tread Ye Lightly (Cameo, 1964)
Toots Thielemans, Toots (Command, ABC 1968)
Toku, Chemistry of Love (Sony, 2002)
Michal Urbaniak, Jam at Sandy's (Jam, 1981)
Michal Urbaniak, My One and Only Love (SteepleChase, 1982)
Grover Washington Jr., All the King's Horses (Kudu, 1972)
Harold Wheeler, Black Cream (RCA Victor, 1975)
Nancy Wilson, But Beautiful (Capitol, 1989)
Paul Winter Consort, The Winter Consort (A&M, 1968)
Paul Winter, Something in the Wind (A&M, 1969)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Yanow, Scott (2008). The Jazz Singers. Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-87930-825-4.
^ Wynn, Ron. "Gene Bertoncini Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^ Summerfield, Maurice. 1998. The Jazz Guitar: Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1900. United Kingdom: Ashley Mark Publishing
^ ^a ^b ^c Koenig, Kate (1 October 2021). "Guitar Talk: Gene Bertoncini and His Unique Nylon-String Approach to Jazz". Acoustic Guitar. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
^ Schlesinger, Dr. Judith. "The Architect of the Guitar (interview)". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2011-09-28.
^ Ratliff, Ben (March 5, 2008). "More Than Just Background". The New York Times. New York, NY: New York Times. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
^ Bertoncini, Gene (2012). Gene Bertoncini Plays Jazz Standards. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard. ISBN 9781458418425.
^ "Gene Bertoncini: Love Like Ours". Ambient Records. Retrieved 5 October 2023.