By NILS VAN OTTERLOO
Staff Writer
 

Mr. Bruno, being a guitar force in Jazz circles, though unknown to today's Pop audiences, displayed an awesome array of technique combined with a limitless control of his guitar's nuances of tone.

After his first solo, which crescendoed amazingly into a syncopated onslaught of molten sound, it was clear to everyone in attendance that they had made the right choice in Saturday night entertainment options. (Plus, it was completely free!)

The other members of the Trio fared equally well in comparison to Mr. Bruno's flights of fancy. Mr. Thomas soloed impressively, giving free rein to the range of his musical conceptions, despite the limitations of a borrowed instrument and amp. He used a playful looseness of intonation and amazing temporal phrasing. Mr. Gomes was no slouch in the rhythm department, taking very extended solos which displayed an unrestrained use of stick control, nearly shredding the snare drum with his endless rolls. The overall impression was of a tight, well rehearsed Trio which plays off itself like no other Jazz Trio in recent memory, redefining the limits to which such a small ensemble can strive.

Mr. Bruno is a small man (both notoriety-wise and vertically: He was five feet tall if he was an inch!), but he ranks among the premier giants in the history of guitar artistry. Thanks are due to Prof. John Smedley for introducing such a genius to the culturally trogloditic backwater of Bates College, in hopes of entreating him to get this marvelous Trio to return here later in the year, for the benefit of the multitudes who missed him.