Mission Statement

    This blog is about my involvement with music and functions as a forum of expression where I hope to illuminate how I engage with and use music. This is a big topic for me because I have been playing music, and specifically the guitar, for most of my life. For me, a guitar is an instrument for evolution and revolution.  An evolution of consciousness and self-realization through the manifestation, manipulation and use of sound.  Evolutionary processes give rise to a diversity of musical expression. These processes take place over relatively long periods of time.

    Furthermore, guitar and musical revolutions for me emerged from fundamental changes in power and organizational structures.  These changes took place in a relatively short period of time. Aristotle described two types of political revolution:

  1. Complete change from one constitution to another.
  2. Modification of an existing constitution.

    For me the “constitution” may be my own personality, the general musical marketplace, or the musical culture with which I participate.  Many of the essays I publish here will illuminate my personal course of evolution and revolution.

    People make music what it is. So for the most part, this blog is especially about how I make and use music with others. In this blog I’ll strive to touch on the ways in which I make music meaningful and useful in my life.

    My hope is that readers will be attracted to the diverse perspectives that I express about music, my own music history and the music history of others, my participation with other musicians, how and why I make music, music composition, improvisation, the economics of the music business, issues of identity and authenticity, guitars (probably lots about guitars!), guitar gear, recording and engineering techniques, new music technologies, sheet music, the books I’ve written and the books I’m working on, transcriptions, opinions, reviews, etc. My hope is that this blog helps you to think musically.

    I am uniquely qualified to talk about these subjects because of my experience. I’ve been playing the guitar for over 45 years and playing professionally since I was 15. Since the mid 1980’s I have toured throughout the USA several times. So, I’ve also weathered a lot of changes.

About admin

Bruce Eisenbeil is a composer, improviser, and guitar instrumentalist who has dedicated his life to the advancement of modern guitar techniques through the growth and evolution of modern composition and improvised music. He has twelve CD’s released on a variety of labels including: ESP, New Atlantis, Pogus, Nemu, Konnex, Cadence, C.I.M.P and Nine Winds. Eisenbeil has performed and recorded with some of the best musicians throughout the USA, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Brasil, and at many festivals. Eisenbeil has been living in New York City since 1995. In addition to his musical developments, Eisenbeil is trained in advanced mathematics, physics – general relativity and quantum mechanics, organic chemistry, computer languages, electrical engineering, acoustics, art history, philosophy and psychology. He has worked as an electrical technician, mechanical draftsman, auto mechanic and in construction. Although Eisenbeil was born in Chicago, he grew up in Plainfield, NJ which is where he began playing the guitar when he was 4 years old. He has been performing professionally since he was 15. Mostly self-taught, he studied with a few great teachers including Joe Pass, Howard Roberts, Joe Diorio, and Dennis Sandole – teacher of John Coltrane and Pat Martino. Despite the fact that Eisenbeil is singular artist with his own personal sound, those critics who write comparatively associate him not only with guitarists such as Wes Montgomery, Django Reinhardt, Grant Green, Billy Bauer, Derek Bailey, Sarnie Garrett, Sonny Sharrock, Curtis Mayfield, John McLaughlin, Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck but also with saxophonists John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman and pianists McCoy Tyner and Cecil Taylor. Eisenbeil’s ensemble writing has garnered a lot of attention for his unique counterpoint, textures, and sound masses. Because his work is tough to describe, critics have associated Eisenbeil’s writing with that of Miles Davis, Don Cherry, Brian Ferneyhough, Sun Ra, Anthony Braxton, the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Revolutionary Ensemble. Eisenbeil has performed and/or recorded with some of the best musicians in the world including: Cecil Taylor, Katsuyuki Itakura, David Fox, David Murray, Evan Parker, Rob Brown, Ellery Eskelin, Aaron Ali Shaikh, Jimmy Stewert, Biggi Vinkeloe, Steve Swell, David Taylor, Karl Berger, Perry Robinson, Michael Manring, Alex Blake, William Parker, Kent Carter, Lisle Ellis, Wilbo Wright, Hill Greene, Tom Abbs, Peter Evans, Nate Wooley, Tom Hamilton, Charles Cohen, SKFL, Milford Graves, Badal Roy, Andrew Cyrille, Edgar Bateman, Nasheet Waits, Jay Rosen, William Hooker, Lou Grassi, Ian Ash, Lukas Ligeti, Shiro Onuma, Michael Lopez, and many others. In the 1980’s he worked with Jeff Buckley, Paul Gilbert and in R&B bands. His trio, TOTEM>, includes Tom Blancarte and Andrew Drury.