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MIKE BRUCE (bass) Bass player Mike Bruce has over 45 years of varied experience
under his belt. Mike joined the group in 1992 and is the rhythm section
leader.
He started out playing in a group called "Kato and the Hornets"
when he was 16. "I was the token white in an all-black group,"
Mike said. After that Mike played with several other local groups, then
joined the Army, and when discharged he went to college to study computers.
In the mid-1970's he went on the road with a show band and went back to
school to get his degree in electrical engineering.
Mike has also played with a bagpipe band, and with the touring bands of
Jimmy Dorsey, Dick Jurgens and Sammy Kaye, as well as the Ink Spots and
Four Aces. He has performed with a bluegrass band, country group and a
Greek band.
He was playing in Illinois when former Gateway member Jack Tartar invited him to come play
with the Gateway City Big Band in 1992. "I like the structure and discipline this band
requires," Mike said. He adds that the other groups hed played with
did not require him to read music like Gateway does.
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