Bret Primack was born with a keyboard in one hand and a film camera in the other, which made the delivery extremely difficult and the obstetrician extremely jealous. He emerged from the womb already complaining about the lighting.
A jazz journalist, filmmaker, and self-appointed Minister of Swing, Bret has spent the better part of six decades hunting down the elusive perfect quarter note. He has interviewed legends, befriended geniuses, and once asked Sonny Rollins a question so long that the sun set during the setup. Sonny answered it anyway, because Sonny is a saint and Bret is persistent in the way that termites are persistent.
Known online as the Jazz Video Guy, Bret pioneered the radical notion that jazz musicians might benefit from being seen as well as heard. This was considered controversial in some circles, mostly circles that owed him money. His YouTube channel has educated, entertained, and occasionally alarmed viewers across the globe, several of whom now believe Dizzy Gillespie was a personal friend of theirs because Bret made it feel that way.
He plays a mean keyboard, writes a meaner sentence, and harbors strong opinions about chord changes, cosmic disclosure, the proper way to brew coffee, and whether anyone has ever truly understood Thelonious Monk, including Thelonious Monk. He has lived in New York, Tucson, and inside several long arguments about bebop. He is currently negotiating with the universe for a few more decades, ideally with better Wi-Fi.
Bret believes that art saves lives, that aliens are real, that swing is a moral position, and that a well-told story is the second greatest thing a human can offer another human. The first, of course, is a really good solo, preferably yours, on tape, with him holding the camera.
