Peter Bernstein & Jesse van Ruller

Peter Bernstein about Jesse van Ruller:

'I first met Jesse in 1995 after he won the Thelonious Monk Competition. A few years later we played together for the first time when I visited Hilversum at the school where he taught. I've been lucky enough to perform with him a number of times over the years, sometimes as a duo and sometimes in concert with other guitarists. In 2018 we did a small tour in Italy with Rale Micic as an ode to Jim Hall. Jesse has been one of my favorite players since I first heard him and it is always fun and inspiring to play with him.”

Jesse van Ruller about Peter Bernstein:

'I first came to New York in 1993 or 94 as a young guitarist and jazz student, when I came to the East Village and heard vague jazz sounds. I followed the sound and walked into the Visiones club. The sound was of a guitar-organ-drums trio and it was the most swinging and soulful guitar playing I had ever heard. That guitarist couldn't have been much older than me. It was Peter's trio with Larry Goldings and Bill Stewart. They brought the music of previous generations to the present, in a way that appealed to me. I have admired Peter's playing ever since. I strive to improvise just like him: to impress without trying to impress, always focusing on melodic development, not relying on what you have practiced and always being in the moment.'