RareNoise Records Co Founder Giacomo Bruzzo in Conversation with CJ Shearn
Throughout the New York Jazz Workshop Podcast series I’ve had the privilege of speaking with some of the greatest players on the scene today about their new releases, and great jazz educators on their philosophies of teaching. Very rarely have I spoken to anyone in depth about the process of making a record,like I did with Giacomo Bruzzo, an Italian music lover who in 2008 co-founded RareNoise in London with Eraldo Bernocchi. Since then, the label has become one of the leaders of bringing jazz, free improvisation and any number of uncategorizeable projects to discerning open minded listeners. In a first for the podcast, the focus goes beyond jazz, but Bruzzo’s thoughts on his label, music and process were so interesting I included the bulk of our conversation. We spoke about the recent Merzbow/Keiji Haino/Balazs Pandi release An Untroublesome Defencelessness and the forthcoming release by producer Gaudi, boldly resculpting music from the RareNoise catalog due in the Spring of 2017, but an EP was released in June available digitally, and on limited edition 10″ white vinyl.
Thanks go to Giacomo Bruzzo for his time and Antje Hubner of Hubtone PR for setting up the interview. For more information, please check out www.rarenoiserecords.com
I have been the staff writer for the New York Jazz Workshop School of Music blog in midtown Manhattan since 2014, and that has broadened my freelance writing skills considerably. In addition to writing artist bios, and articles of interest that pertain to the mission of the school, I have interviewed (in print on the site) legendary guitarist and NEA Jazz Master Pat Metheny, trumpeter Cuong Vu, and in 2015 embarked on producing a podcast for the school where I have achieved my dream and interviewed jazz giants such as Dave Liebman, Lenny White, rising talents like Thana Alexa, Logan Richardson, guitarist and bassist Brian Kastan, among others. I also work on SEO optimization for the blog. In 2015 I started my blog Jazz Views with CJ Shearn, and have written liner notes for 5 time Grammy winner and Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, Antonio Sanchez (for his latest recording “Channels of Energy”) and guitarist Gene Ess for his latest recording, scheduled to be released in November 2018.
My passion for jazz music is what drives me, which is an interest I’ve had since I can remember. I initially began writing about jazz at the age of 13 for my high school newspaper, and in my late teens contributed occasionally to jazzreview.com. In college I was member of the Harpur Jazz Project which brought jazz acts to campus. I’ve also contributed in the past to AllAboutJazz where I was mentored by John Kelman. I decided to focus on my passion for jazz music journalism after a job in the social services field as a caseworker went south, and as a person with a physical disability I work on going against the odds, living independently and having accomplished things people had said I’d never do.