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Biscuit’s Bassment, a Bass Musician’s Review: Spotlight on Bruno Migliari
You may play Bass, but can you really “feel it in your soul”? If you have the talent, passion, commitment, and a story to tell about yourself and your music, you could have your very own review with me, right here at Bass Musician Magazine. I am looking to find the vast array of talented Bass players out there, from all genres of music, which so often go largely unnoticed. Both Bass Musician Magazine and myself feel that you should be heard about…world wide. So if you are interested in joining me in the “Bassment”, then please send me your full bio, pictures and tracks, and any questions that you may have, etc, to…..
biscuitandbass3@yahoo.com
I look forward to hearing from you all.
Hello, and Welcome to “BISCUIT’S BASSMENT”, A Bass Musician’s Review”. In this December 2010 issue of Bass Musician Magazine, I would like to introduce to you a multi-talented player who is a complete gentleman and a real virtuoso on the Bass… Mr Bruno Migliari
Bruno Migliari may not be the kind of Bass player that you would normally expect to find in my “Bassment”, as many of you are probably aware of. I usually tend to lean towards the Rock side of the Bass playing “map”. But of course great bass players come from all walks of life and encompass every musical genre there is. 
It has become apparent that I am being approached more and more these days by bass players from the other side of the “Rock fence” as it were, and so it would be unfair of me not to take notice of these fabulously talented guys, and give them a chance to expose their fine talents by featuring them here in the “Bassment”. So from now on you will be hearing a lot about those bassist’s that reside in the area’s of Jazz, Blues, Soul, Funk, and any other genre you care to think of. Rest assured, there will always be a place for the Rock players as well.
I feel that every type of “Low end” player should now be featured in this column. By including different styles and approaches to bass playing, it will hopefully help to keep this column fresh, interesting, and relevant for all of you.
Bruno Migliari was born in 1971 and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Italian and Brazilian Parents, and spent many of his younger years growing up listening primarily to Brazilian music, and records by the Beatles as well. Such talents as Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa were the favoured artists on his parents’ stereo system in those earlier years, together with Dave Brubeck, Lalo Schifrin, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Meirelle Mathieux, and Yves Montand. There was quite a variety of music going on in the Migliari household for the young Bruno to absorb.
At a very young age, Bruno began buying records with his weekly allowance money. His first four records he bought were…The 1982 release by Queen, “Hot Space”, the 1980 album Double Fantasy by John Lennon, together with “Revolver” and “Let it Be” by the Beatles. Bruno was always fascinated by music as a child and indeed various musical instruments as well. He would fool around with any instrument that he could lay his hands on at the time, which included his aunt’s acoustic guitar and a friend’s piano.
He was particularly attracted to the low end of the spectrum though, and specifically remembers identifying the sound of the bass very early in life, and feeling very moved by the subdued way in which it seemed to “control” the songs he listened to. Bruno says that it felt to him that the song was a ship, and whoever was playing those low notes seemed to him to be at the helm of that ship, almost guiding any given song to its musical conclusion.
By the time he was fourteen years old, Bruno had realised that music was far more than just a passing phase, or indeed a hobby to him. He decided that he wanted to play music professionally when he was old enough and try and make a career of it as a bassist…that was his ultimate goal. Private lessons began in ernest, to be followed up very quickly with an enrolment in a music conservatory, and within six months Bruno found himself performing in school competitions and other similar music contests. Within just a few years he was already playing in three different bands at the same time, and one of those bands actually gained recognition after winning a continuous series of music competitions.
By this time, Bruno definitely knew for sure that he wanted to be a professional musician, and began that “wood shedding” phase that we all know so well, which he would carry out relentlessly everyday from the moment he got home from school. The years of hard work eventually paid off for the young man, and Bruno did indeed officially realize his dream to became a professional musician after his last year at school when he was seventeen years old.
Now he had made this decision to make music and the Bass his life. Bruno began to embark on a very busy gigging schedule which included his own jazz trio gigs and also accompanying various other singers and musicians alike simultaneously. Bruno undertook this heavy workload while also attending Music College, at the same time pursuing a classical music curriculum on double bass. He worked very hard from a young age to become a very respected and versatile all round bassist who has excelled not only on the electric bass guitar, of which Fender is his preference, but has also become very accomplished in the music world on the double bass as well.
Ever since graduating in 1994 at Uni – Rio Music College, Bruno has continued to maintain a very well balanced diet of Pop, native Brazilian, and Jazz music, and confidently handles the “Low end” of things in any number of musical situations.
Since 2001 he has been playing bass for Brazilian singer/songwriter Frejat, and has also acted as music director for the TV series “Claro Que É Rock” aired on the Brazilian cable TV channel “Multishow”. He continues to remain involved in jazz-related projects, leading his own band called the “Bruno Migliari Trio”. He also leads the compositional project “8VB”, and co-leads the small orchestra “11 Cabeças” with saxophonist and arranger Henrique Band. Add to that being the rhythm section leader for the big band “Orquestra Popular”. Being a fan of the Jaco style of playing bass, he also leads the Weather report tribute group “Weather Forecast”.
Bruno’s credits for both recording sessions and tours, which were either national tours of Brazil and/or international tours of Europe and the USA, are as follows:
Ana Carolina… Milton Nascimento…Marcos Valle…Maria Gadú…Lulu Santos…Barão Vermelh…Lobão…Leoni…Paulinho Moska…Monique Kessous…Orlando Morais…Lokua Kanza…Martinho da Vila…Fernanda Abreu…Isabella Taviani…Denise Reis…LiberTango…Quito Pedrosa Quarteto…Marco Lobo Quinteto…Ricardo Leão, Barrosinho, and Maracatamba.
Bruno works professionally as a full time bass player, which includes playing electric, acoustic, and upright basses. He is an arranger and composer, and can also be called upon to sing background vocals if required on other artist’s material. He has even been known to challenge himself as lead singer on occasion, sometimes with his own projects.
I think we can all agree that Mr Bruno Migliari has deservedly earned his place in the “Biscuit’s Bassment” column here at BMM, and I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of you, the readers, to wish him the very best in his future musical endeavours, of which I am more than sure he will make a success of.
I would also personally like to thank Bruno for contacting me and becoming a member of the “Bassment family”, and Bass Musician Magazine as a whole. It was my pleasure to find out about this excellent bassist and his music. Without the contributions from bassist’s such as Bruno, and previous, as well as future interviewee’s, my column would indeed fall short of what I hope to accomplish here at Bass Musician Magazine. I thank you all so much.
From myself, and on behalf of all the staff at Bass Musician Magazine, we wish Bruno Migliari and all of our readers a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS in 2010.
Peace and Respect Always………….. BISCUIT
Please check out all of Bruno’s links below and listen to his spirited music and wonderful bass playing style. And don’t forget to join him on MySpace, Facebook, and Reverbnation as well, and please give him your full support, and tell him BISCUIT sent you!
Email: migliaribasso@me.com
Visit: web.me.com/migliaribruno
Listen: www.reverbnation.com/brunomigliari
www.ilike.com/artist/Bruno+Migliari
Watch: www.youtube.com/migliaribass
Follow: www.facebook.com/pages/Bruno-Migliari/9957916626
Hire: www.promusiciansonline.com/perfil.php?mid=MTYy
And a final quote from BRUNO MIGLIARI
Bass, the final frontier… these are the voyages of a professional musician in search of new – and old –music; to boldly play what he hasn’t played before.
