Bassist, composer, teacher & author Bruce Gertz returns to Scullers on the heels of the release of his latest recording, Reptilian Fantasies. The Bruce Gertz Quintet, both on the CD and for this show, consists of Jerry Bergonzi, Tenor Saxophone; Ken Cervenka, Trumpet and Flugel Horn; Gabriel Guerrero, Piano; Tim Horner, Drums.

Bruce Gertz is a 4 time Boston Music Award nominee and Winner of Best Jazz CD and Best Local Jazz Act from the WFNX/Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll. He is also a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts-Jazz Performance Grant and Winner of the Composition Award, from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Bruce Gertz is an American acoustic and electric bass player and composer, born in Providence, Rhode Island.  Gertz began playing guitar at the age of ten. By age fourteen he changed to the bass guitar and started playing rock, blues and later jazz.

While attending Berklee College of Music in Boston as a composition and arranging major, Bruce studied acoustic bass under John Neves and William Curtis. He began freelancing in the Boston area and soon built a reputation as a versatile player and soloist on both acoustic and electric bass. Gertz became associated with Bill Frisell, Mick Goodrick, Mike Stern, George Garzone, Jerry Bergonzi and other top players in Boston through time.

Later Bruce studied more advanced jazz improvisation with Charlie Banacos and also through association with Jerry Bergonzi.  Bruce has also toured with Billy Eckstine, Maynard Ferguson, Marlena Shaw, Gary Burton, Dave Brubeck, Jerry Bergonzi and others.