13 QUESTION METHOD: ANDRE BUSH
Guitarist/composer André Bush’s grounding in jazz along with his extensive experience in rock and pop combine to give him a unique musical outlook. Bush’s playing reconciles these disparate worlds, ultimately establishing a natural and logical extension of the jazz-guitar tradition. On his latest album, Start from Silence, Bush joins forces with master pianist Art Lande and an all-star band to perform his complex-yet-accessible original compositions. Challenging rhythms, beautiful harmonies, poignant lyricism, and brilliant improvisation come together in this unique, cohesive album.

1. Which was the first record you bought with your own money?
AC/DC’s Back in Black, and it's still one of my favorite albums. I listen to it all the time while driving, which seems to be the only way I listen to music anymore. There is a focused, raw energy to that album. Obviously great writing, incredible band vibe and performance. What gets me most is how solid everyone's time is, and uniform in its execution. It sounds like one person playing everything, in a way. I mean, you can talk about Tower of Power all you want, but this is seriously funky music. It swings hard — as hard as any jazz record I've ever heard.
Now, don't misunderstand me. I'm not in any way implying that the harmonic or melodic language is on par with, say, Speak No Evil, but it's not supposed to be — this is rock music. The rhythmic language is sheer perfection. Also, I really like the way Mutt Lange took AC/DC’s basic format to another level through sheer force of will, cleaning up all the performance-level rough edges apparent on previous albums, and delivering the message to much wider audience in the process.

2. Which was the last record you bought with your own money?
Jonatha Brooke’s Back in the Circus. I can't say enough about her as a songwriter, lyricist, vocalist — everything. This album is the full realization of everything that makes her great. The pure vulnerability and emotional nudity of this album are exceptional. She is the Virginia Wolfe of songwriters. I'd practically off someone to do a project with her. If anyone out there knows her, pass the message. I'd strum rhythm guitar behind her for $20 a week on the road, just to hear her do her thing on a nightly basis. My major musical crush of the last few months. I hope I'm not alone.

3. What was the first solo you learned from a record — and can you still play it?
"Hotel California.” The question itself will send me back to the woodshed to relearn it!

4. Which recording of your own (or as a sideman) are you most proud of, and why?
Gotta be the new album, Start from Silence. Two things happened for me on this album. First, I got to spend a lot of time working with [pianist] Art Lande developing this music. He is a musical hero of mine, going back many years. One album in particular that he’s on — Miracles, by the great French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê — was particularly inspirational in my formative years as a player/composer. It features Nguyên in a quartet setting with Art, [drummer] Peter Erskine, and [bassist] Mark Johnson. Not too shabby. I learned a lot from Art, but especially important was seeing how hard he works on realizing the development and direction of music. Not so much particular notes, but the shaping of solos, compositions, and even entire albums. I had never dug in to that area quite so deeply before meeting Art.
Secondly, I feel that my composing reached a new level. I felt less and less like I had something to prove with every tune. That’s ego. Rather, I could sit in a place of peace and contentment and allow my honest artistic perspective to emerge without agendizing every last musical maneuver.

5. What's the difference between playing live and playing in a studio?
It’s night and day. There are factors to playing live that do not exist in the studio. One is the audience, which is fairly important to me, but not a major factor. Then there’s the-music-over time equation, which is to say, on a CD you can listen to a solo over and over, forever, whereas in a live situation once it's gone, it's gone. That’s how I prefer it. For me, making CDs and playing live have almost no relationship at all, other than the fact that you may be playing tunes from your CD on a live gig.

6. What's the difference between a good gig and a bad gig?
How it feels for me. I guess that's the way it has to be for everyone. I mean, if it sucks for me, it probably sucks for anyone listening too, although you never know. What I do know is, when I'm at my most happening, I transcend the instrument, my body, and the gig. I enter a zone where the differences between you and I, audience and player, player and instrument all cease to exist. It’s not really a qualitative distinction, because every slice of life can be reflected in that zone, including pain, joy, melancholy and indifference. But when I'm sucking, or the gig is sucking, or I'm not happy with who I'm playing with — again, not a qualitative distinction, they may not be happy with me either — all I'm thinking about is getting paid and getting home to watch the Daily Show. I guess the magic trick we all have to pull off as professional performers is to never let the audience see the difference.

7. What's the difference between a good guitar and a bad guitar?
Wow — that’s an interesting question for me right now. I finally fell out of love with my Klein this year, and have been exploring all kinds of other guitars. I really like this Schecter C-1 Elite that I've been playing, and my slew of acoustics, especially my Godin. Sounds like I'm talking about a love interest, no? Anyway, I recently hooked up with California Custom Guitars, which is a fairly new company. I freakin' love them! We're currently working on developing one to my specs, taking all the aspects of several guitars that I love into consideration. This stuff is so subjective, though. Unless a guitar truly blows, I can usually find some good notes in it.

8. You play electric and acoustic. Do you approach the two differently?
Yes, I think of them as separate instruments — like drums and, say, violin. I have to, because the nature if each is so different. The envelope of the note, decay, relative dynamic range, attack, and so on is such that you may as well think of them as different instruments. Also, I tend to think of "acoustic guitar" as pure steel or nylon. As soon as we get into signal processing, it's electric to me. The way I approach them technically is way different. My touch is about half as light on electric guitar.

9. Do you sound more like yourself on acoustic or electric?
I would like to think of them as a unified voice. But, truth be told, probably acoustic. I'm getting closer on electric, though. Acoustic guitar of the classical variety was my first love, and I guess I hear everything through the filter of my first experiences, guitar-wise.

10. Do you sound like yourself on other people's guitars?
Now I finally do, but I don't think I could have given an honest “yes” until maybe three or four years ago. I was in Las Vegas on a recent tour and crossed paths with one of my oldest buddies plays, who plays guitar and is the musical director for Tom Jones. His name is Brian Monroney — killer player, great musician. Anyway, after my show I stopped by his, and we hung out in the theater at the MGM, where Tom plays. I played a bit on Brian's set-up and was amazed at how much I still sounded like me, in a foreign room, with a foreign axe and rig. That is a very different space than I was in just five years ago, or maybe even more recently.
Another anecdote that I think of all the time involves you, Adam. About seven or eight years ago, if you recall, we had a jam session in San Francisco at the home of bassist Jon Evans. [Readers may know Jon from Tori Amos' band.] I remember you playing this beat up piece-of-shit little guitar that was sitting around and being amazed how good it sounded in your hands. I'm not just saying this because it's your interview. I share that story with students all the time!

11. Which living artist (music, or other arts) would you like to collaborate with?
Jonatha Brooke, Nguyên Lê, Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, whoever wrote the screenplay for American Beauty, Steven Soderberg, Gillian Anderson. Wait, did you say collaborate? Okay, scratch that last one.

12. What dead artist (music, or other arts) would you like to have collaborated with?
Miles [Davis]. It’s an obvious answer, but even still. Picasso would have been cool, to improvise to him sculpting or painting. I would have loved to have met and talked music with Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, John Coltrane. Oh, and e.e. cummings! And John Kennedy Toole, the guy who wrote A Confederacy of Dunces.

13. What's your latest project about?
I'm currently promo-ing my album Start from Silence and my book Modern Jazz Guitar Styles, which are both available at my site. I have two projects mapped out for the future — "Are Three Gypsies Mark B. or Tom's Cat?" will be the title of a forthcoming album. The cryptic and slightly annoying title is an anagram on four composer/band names. Anyone who guesses correctly gets one of my guitars. It can't be someone I told already! Secondly, I'm planning a trio project for guitar, Paul McCandless, and Jonatha — if either of them will have me — featuring compositions on some of my poetry. It’s a children's album, but I might be unable to edit my proclivity for profanity enough for that.

Web site: www.andrebush.com