Will Bernard

Who is Will Bernard?

Will Bernard is a guitarist and band leader from the San Francisco Bay Area, now living in Brooklyn, New York. He has led the Will Bernard Band, Will Bernard Trio, Will Bernard 4-tet, and Motherbug.

Bernard's first major touring and recording was with Peter Apfelbaum's Hieroglyphics Ensemble. In the mid-1990s he joined guitarists Charlie Hunter and John Schott as T.J. Kirk. The band's name originally "James T. Kirk" tributed James Brown, Thelonious Monk and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Their second release, If Four Was One, received a 1997 Grammy Award nomination. Bernard also received a Grammy Award nomination for his own Party Hats in 2007.

Bernard has played with many musicians including Jai Uttal and the Pagan Love Orchestra, The Coup, Robert Walter's 20th Congress, Frequinox, Idris Muhammad, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Zigaboo Modeliste, Groundation and the Stanton Moore Trio. In January 2008 Bernard recorded his second album with the Palmetto label including John Medeski on keyboards, Stanton Moore on drums and Andy Hess on bass which was released as Blue Plate Special.