Bruce H. McCosar

Bruce H. McCosar

Sterling, United States

In existence since : 10.2005

http://bmccosar.wordpress.com/

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jazz instrumental rock fusion progressive

Albums by Bruce H. McCosar

The Next Age of Adventure (Part 2 of 2)

Progressive Jazz-Rock

jazz rock instrumental fusion progressive

9 out of 0 to 10

( 5 Reviews )

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The Next Age of Adventure (Part 1 of 2)

Progressive Jazz-Rock

jazz rock instrumental fusion progressive

8.3 out of 0 to 10

( 8 Reviews )

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to playlist

In Unexpected Places

jazz rock instrumental fusion progressive 

Martian Winter

jazz rock instrumental fusion progressive 

Points of Departure

jazz rock instrumental fusion progressive 

La vie sous la mer

jazz instrumental melodic concept modern 

Handmade

Evolution

jazz instrumental rock fusion progressive 

*News* (May 2010) -- My seventh Jamendo album is The Next Age of Adventure -- an album so big, I had to upload it in two parts!  18 songs total, and more than 73 minutes of audio.  It's here on Jamendo right now.  I'm also writing a series of articles about it on my music blog.

Bruce H. McCosar is a middle school science teacher residing in Sterling, VA, USA. He switched to teaching after a career in medicinal chemistry. He is a member of the Mvskoke (Creek) Nation, a Native American tribe originally indigenous to the Southeastern United States.

As a musician, he plays bass, guitar, Hammond organ, keys, and various drums. Many of these appear on his first album, evolution (Nov. 2006). His second album, handmade (Feb 2007), featured jazz compositions backed by hand percussion instruments only (mainly conga drums).

Then came La vie sous la mer (Oct 2007). After a long and difficult summer, this album developed as a labor of love. Jazzier, cooler, and stranger than any work he'd released before, this album tells eight interconnected stories, and even features a freely-available PDF companion book (for more details, see this page).  Points of Departure (April 2008), his fourth Jamendo album, focused more on progressive rock, although with a heavy jazz influence.

In 2008, Bruce moved from Gainesville, Florida to Sterling, Virginia.  Building a life is hard; giving it up and starting over somewhere else is even more so.  Against this background, Bruce composed his fifth album, Martian Winter.  Like Points of Departure, it focused on a jazz-influenced rock sound; however, like La vie sous la mer, it was almost exclusively built using odd time signatures (such as 5/4 and 7/8).  In this way, although it was born in a different world, it retains its connection to the past.

One more move: this time to a new house.  It was a difficult change, and out of the struggle was born a new sound.  In Unexpected Places is just that: a collection of jazzy, funky, cool -- and most of all, original -- compositions.

In February 2010, Bruce participated in February Album Writing Month.  By coincidence, this was also the year of the record 60 inches of snow in the DC area.  Although most of the area came to a standstill, this was one of the most productive music sessions of all time, resulting in The Next Age of Adventure--a double album, with 18 total songs.

Influences

Originally, Bruce was a jazz guitarist, and started a Gainesville band known as Rhythm Method. His favorite, and most influential, "mainstream" jazz artists are John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea / Return to Forever, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, and Chet Baker. However, Bruce also loves soul jazz --- Cannonball Adderley, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff --- and jazz influenced rock, for example, Joni Mitchell's Hejira album.

History

Bruce has been recording solo work since 2005. This led him to learn many more instruments: bass, keyboards, conga drums, and traditional drumset. In 2008, he began learning the art of interweaving electronic and acoustic composition, mostly freely available Linux audio software.  Since La vie sous la mer (2007), all of his albums have been mixed and mastered using Audacity.

Bruce H. McCosar on the Web

• Wordpress -- a blog which focuses on specific topics: background information on the albums, works in progress, Linux audio, music theory, and other current projects.
• Social networks: MySpace, Facebook.
• ccMixter -- raw (unmixed) tracks from my albums and other works, available for remix artists.
• SoundClick -- "Lost" tracks, material from FAWM, and other original works.
• The Python module pcsets on Google Code.