Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

No one calls Thundercat Stephen Bruner

Call him a mighty fine R&B and funk singer instead

Thundercat
Thundercat

Thundercat claims Miles Davis as an inspiration, along with jazz bassist Ron Carter and a pianist named Mary Lou Williams who was mostly active during the golden era of jazz, but you’d have to dig deep to identify any one of them in his recordings. Personally, I hear blue-eyed soulster Michael McDonald all over this man’s music, and possibly Stanley Clarke and even Kenny Logins, each of whom he has performed with.

Past Event

Thundercat

Thundercat is Stephen Bruner, but no one calls him that. He is a studio bassist with a long list of seriously worthy bands and musicians he’s toured with, including Suicidal Tendencies (while still in high school), Erykah Badu, and Kendrick Lamar. The Kendrick Lamar gig ended up in a recording, To Pimp a Butterfly, for which Thundercat received a Grammy award. At 15 he was in No Curfew, a band that had a hit record in Germany. Thirty-two as of this writing, Thundercat’s own debut CD, The Golden Age of Apocalypse, has been out for only a few years. He has since released two more.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Thundercat’s father is Ronald Bruner, a drummer who played with the Temptations, Diana Ross, Gary Bartz, and Gladys Knight. Thundercat’s older brother Ronald Bruner, Jr., a Grammy-winning drummer, has played with an amazing list of straight-ahead jazzers such as Roy Hargrove, Stanley Clarke, and Wayne Shorter. That’s who the younger Bruner grew up listening to, although he carries the family jazz tradition not one iota further.

Video:

Thundercat, "A Fan's Mail (Tron Song II)"

A few words about that six-string electric bass he plays: it’s a hollow-body instrument, and the way it is set up gives Thundercat the option to sound like both a bass and a guitar simultaneously. Even though a bit understated, he brings prodigious talent to the instrument. You could come away from a Thundercat gig thinking that Stephen Bruner is a mighty fine R&B and funk singer, and you’d be correct.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Thundercat
Thundercat

Thundercat claims Miles Davis as an inspiration, along with jazz bassist Ron Carter and a pianist named Mary Lou Williams who was mostly active during the golden era of jazz, but you’d have to dig deep to identify any one of them in his recordings. Personally, I hear blue-eyed soulster Michael McDonald all over this man’s music, and possibly Stanley Clarke and even Kenny Logins, each of whom he has performed with.

Past Event

Thundercat

Thundercat is Stephen Bruner, but no one calls him that. He is a studio bassist with a long list of seriously worthy bands and musicians he’s toured with, including Suicidal Tendencies (while still in high school), Erykah Badu, and Kendrick Lamar. The Kendrick Lamar gig ended up in a recording, To Pimp a Butterfly, for which Thundercat received a Grammy award. At 15 he was in No Curfew, a band that had a hit record in Germany. Thirty-two as of this writing, Thundercat’s own debut CD, The Golden Age of Apocalypse, has been out for only a few years. He has since released two more.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Thundercat’s father is Ronald Bruner, a drummer who played with the Temptations, Diana Ross, Gary Bartz, and Gladys Knight. Thundercat’s older brother Ronald Bruner, Jr., a Grammy-winning drummer, has played with an amazing list of straight-ahead jazzers such as Roy Hargrove, Stanley Clarke, and Wayne Shorter. That’s who the younger Bruner grew up listening to, although he carries the family jazz tradition not one iota further.

Video:

Thundercat, "A Fan's Mail (Tron Song II)"

A few words about that six-string electric bass he plays: it’s a hollow-body instrument, and the way it is set up gives Thundercat the option to sound like both a bass and a guitar simultaneously. Even though a bit understated, he brings prodigious talent to the instrument. You could come away from a Thundercat gig thinking that Stephen Bruner is a mighty fine R&B and funk singer, and you’d be correct.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.