“I’m really blessed to be able to do this in this period of time.  It’s been an incredible amount of hard work, but also an incredible amount of fun.”

One of the reasons we have On the Side is to not only introduce our readers to the musicians who bring our favorite songs to life, but to show people that the side musicians are much more than just the people we see backing the headliner.  They’re more than a name in the liner notes.  These talented men and women wear many hats, and do a lot of diverse and creative things.  Take, for example, guitarist Wayne Bruce.

DC native Wayne Bruce has music in his blood.  He began playing as a child.  Like any younger sibling, he wanted to emulate his big brother, who happened to be a musician.  He chose the guitar as his instrument and things began to happen from there.  “I wanted to play drums, but my brother didn’t want me to, so he broke my sticks.  That was his instrument, so, I developed a love of playing guitar.”  Wayne started and stopped several times before seriously considering music as a career.  At the time, he was majoring in art administration, a far cry from playing a guitar.  As he became more serious about his instrument, he began to practice more and more.  Maybe there was a bit of sibling rivalry going on, or maybe there were other factors involved.  He feels that his brother passed the torch to him.  Wayne not only picked up that torch, he ran with it.

Wayne credits his family for his musical abilities.  In addition to his brother, his mother is a musician too.  “My mother played drums.  That’s where we get the drum thing from, and the music thing.  She was in marching bands in high school, and the drum and bugle corps.  She actually got a scholarship to college.”  Living in a family of musicians ensures that there are rich and diverse musical influences to shape you.  “Coming up, we had a diverse household.  My brother played a lot of rock.  My mother listened to a lot of jazz, and my sisters listened to a lot of Motown.”  Wayne counts Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, John Scofield, and Eric Gale as some of his early influences.  These are some of the musicians who shaped Wayne into the musician we see today.

He has played with a host of well known smooth jazz and R&B musicians including Dexter Wansel, Al Jarreau, and the aforementioned George Benson.  “I played with some of the people I grew up listening to.  People like that give you your first opportunities as a young musician to really go out and perform.  My own introduction to Wayne came at a Maysa concert.  Wayne has been a part of her band for 10 years, with the last six of those years as her Musical Director.  He is well known in the Baltimore-Washington music scene thanks in part to his own band, Spur of the Moment.  Spur is a local favorite.  They have three releases out, and Wayne is currently finishing up their first DVD, recorded at the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts.  He is the Executive Producer on that project.  In addition, he is also working on a DVD for WHUR radio called, Soul of the Holidays, featuring Angie Stone, Phil Perry, and Joe.  “I performed with them, and, I’m the Musical Director and Executive Producer on that.  It’s been a real fairy tale.”  The list of people he’s played with also includes Will Downing, Carl Thomas, Ledisi, Gerald Albright, Eric Darius, Miki Howard, Gary Taylor, Lalah Hathaway, and Kim Waters.  At the time of our interview, he recently finished working with Marion Meadows on his latest project, and just came back from playing with Patti Austin.  For the past two years, Wayne has been the Musical Director for the Capital Jazz Super Cruise.  “I had the opportunity to put together both house bands.  It was great, and I loved it.”

These days, Wayne is also part of Brian Culbertson’s Funk Experience.  We caught him with Brian this year when they played this year’s Capital Jazz Festival.  He will not be on Brian’s Soulful Christmas tour, but will resume touring with him in the New Year.  Wayne jokingly compares working with Brian in his always high energy show as “like playing guitar on a treadmill, but much more fun.” 

Wayne would love the chance to play with Herbie Hancock, or play second guitar for Eric Clapton.  In the jazz realm, he wants to play with George Duke.  He came close to having that happen this year, but not quite.

When not making music, Wayne can be found in front of the TV rooting for his favorite team, the Washington Redskins.  “I love to watch football.  I’m a football fanatic.  I grew up a Washingtonian, so I’m a home team guy.”  (As of this writing, the Skins are doing okay, so Wayne is happy.)  His love of sports extends to basketball.  “I root for the Wizards, even though they’re having a bad time right now.” 

In the meantime, Wayne will finish his production work on the Spur of the Moment DVD, and the Soul of the Holidays DVD.  “I’m really getting into this production and executive producing.”  He’ll be a part of the big NAMM show in January, and then he’ll be ready to hit the road again with BC.  Look for Wayne both on stage and behind the scenes in the coming year.

www.spurofthemoment.com