Bernie Kenerson: News

Presenting Bernie Game (The Art of the EWI), the newest release on his own Bernup label, Bernie Kenerson brings listeners a contemporary Jazz/Groove record with innovation at its core. The foremost authority of the AKAI EWI 4000s (that’s synth heaven for horn players), Kenerson has been progressing as an electric wind instrumentalist for 30 years now—and it shows.

Bernie Game showcases the chops of a veteran jazzer composing with a maturity not often heard in contemporary “electric” Jazz. Kenerson explains, “I definitely came of age as a player during the ‘fusion revolution’ era of the 70s, and you’ll hear that influence both in my playing and in my composition. But what I took away most from that music was its accessibility ~ everyone can dig it! I think that’s a quality we’re starting to see again in contemporary Jazz, and I’m doing what I can to turn people on to some new, funky sounds.”

Funky, indeed! Kenerson’s virtuosic command of the EWI assures us that it is far from novelty or gimmick—this is a serious player with a unique voice that does more than make a statement; listeners fortunate enough to hear what Bernie Game has to offer will undoubtedly ask, “More, please?”

I get many questions about how to set up wind controllers with vocoders so this should provide some answers. Vocoders are based of on gates and filters. You need a source and a formant. In this case the EWI with breath sensor set to self oscilate is the source audio going into the vocoder. Plug a mic into the formant and your voice triggers the EWI sounds. I'm learning that you can effect the filters by manipulating vowel shapes. You don't have to match pitch with the notes fingered on the EWI. In fact, you could sing or speak a monotone (hard to do) and you'd still get the pitch fingered on the EWI. I sing along with what I play...kind of like the guitar and bass players I've always envied. Now I can sing along with my solos. It's really fun and quite addicting. Remember, the most important thing is to set the wind controller to self oscilate by turning up the wind/breath sensor gain. Hope this helps, Peace.

My new CD release "Bernie Game" is mixed and mastered. Release date is set for July 1, 2008. 2 new tracks from the CD are posted on http://www.myspace.com/berniekenerson for you to check out. Also, clips are posted on music page of this site. This CD is a funky contemporary smooth jazz project featuring the Art of the EWI. The are 7 new originals and 3 covers. 6 of the tunes are with a live rhythm section and 4 are programmed. Now it's off to Discmakers for duplication and time to go into pre-release promo mode. It's gonna be a funky smooth Summer. Peace

Bernie Kenerson and the Group have a new home base on the Grand Strand. The venue is Joe Mancuso's new Fontinello's Restaurant & Coffee House on Hwy 17 Bypass in Murrells Inlet. The jazz willl begin on Friday & Saturday nights in Mid April and The Bernie Kenerson group will be there any weekend they don't have out of town shows. Check the calendar section of this website for more info and exact dates and times of the Group's shows at Fontinello's.

The big news is that I'm celebrating my 30th year playing electric wind instruments and 2008 is starting out great. "Just You & Me" (The Art of the EWI) is now on the playlists of over 100 stations. Work continues on my next CD release, "Bernie Game" (The Art of the EWI) scheduled for release in early May 2008. This is a Smooth Jazz CD with new tunes and some classic surprises, featuring the EWI of course. I've also signed with D and M Records to do my EWI Christmas CD for the 2008 Holiday Season. D and M is great company based in California, www.dandmrecords.com.

My recent CD release "Just You & Me" is the CD of the Week on RADIOVINILEMANIA in Italy. Check it out:

http://www.vinilemania.net/NEWS/RADIOVINILEMANIAlast.htm

Check out the article online that is in the new issue (Nov/Dec) of ABYSSJazz Magazine. More press for the EWI, cool.

http://www.abyssjazz.com/ajm/breakout/breakout_bkenerson.asp

I'm now hard at work promoting my recent CD release "Just You & Me" The Art of The EWI and recording tracks for my next CD "Bernie Game" The Art of The EWI, which is scheduled for release in Spring '08. It'll be smooth/contemporary jazz and feature the EWI. There will be ten tracks on the CD and it's about 75% done. Hope to have all final tracks done before Thanksgiving and then start the final mixdown post production phase.

The radio campaign for "Just You & Me" The Art of The EWI is starting it's
fifth week and so far there is airplay on 43 stations in 27 states and 6 countries. Many more are pending and reviewing with new adds every week. My appreciation goes out to Lisa Reedy Promotions for all her hard work and success. Send me an email if you'd like to know what station is playing the CD near you.

The band and I had a great time performing at the 3rd annual Little River Shrimp & Jazz Fest. The audience was very enthusiastic and their energy just made us kick it up a couple of notches. We gained many new fans and sold lots of CDs. Thanks to all who attented and we look forward to being in the lineup for '08.

The last weekend of September was great for the Bernie Kenerson Group. They made their Columbia, SC debut Saturday the 29th at the Blue Martini, 808 Lady Street and the shows were a blast. The crowd loved us. Sunday the 30th we appeared on Columbia's new live jazz radio show, "Jazz on Main Street" WXRY 99.3 FM hosted by local artist Eboniramm from noon to 2pm. We performed for a live audience for a jazzy Sunday brunch. Our music was a big hit and it was a beautiful afternoon. Eboniramm and Columbia are great hosts. Sunday evening 8pm we were back on the Grand Strand appearing at Pawley's Island Tavern. All performances featured music from my new CD "Just You & Me" The Art of The EWI and many CDs were sold. Thanks to all that attended.

I've just released my new CD 'Just You & Me' with 10 tracks of original jazz tunes and all songs feature the Akai EWI4000s (w/ Patchman sounds) as the main lead and solo instrument. The tracks are instrumentals and cover a variety of jazz styles. I'm really pleased with how this project turned out and I think you'll like it too. It'll be available at CDbaby and iTunes but as a new release special you can order direct from me using PayPal for just $12.00 (S&H included). Just goto www.paypal.com and make a payment of $12.00 to my email: mizmor@sc.rr.com (don't forget to include a shipping address) and I'll get one right out to you.