When Chris Brydge arrived at bet8体育娱乐入口 nearly 30 years ago, he wasn’t necessarily looking for the warm embrace of community or the guiding hand of patient mentors.
He was a cocky young bass player from a blue-collar background who needed a college degree, 老多明尼安是一所他负担得起的学校.
“I was a rock musician coming into a music school environment,” Brydge said. “I was used to playing in garage bands — Led Zeppelin or jam band type stuff. 那就是我的心态……我有点像个朋克. 意志坚强，头脑冷静.”
他适应了，并且表现出色. 学习 to play jazz and other styles at Old Dominion expanded his thinking and opened endless doors of opportunity. By the time he’d graduated with a degree in music education in 2000, he was a recognized presence on the Hampton Roads music scene, playing with the Virginia Symphony Jazz Orchestra as well as with national jazz acts and local stars.
年后, 在一次吸毒几乎毁了他之后, friends from ODU helped him reassemble pieces of his broken life.
今天，远离毒品的克里斯·布里奇正达到创作的巅峰.
他最新的音乐作品, 今年早些时候发布的, pairs him with retired Old Dominion English professor and poet Tim Seibles. The album, “Something Like We Did,” blends spoken poetry with deep acoustic bass grooves.
他还致力于帮助他人戒掉毒瘾.
Brydge said Old Dominion has been a relentlessly positive influence.
“我想我无法用语言来表达，”他说. “我在ODU有一段难以置信的经历. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today if it wasn’t for this place.”
转折点
Brydge is recognized in Hampton Roads as a prolific and adaptable musician — a go-to sideman who’s played with big name jazz performers John Abercrombie, Frank Foster and Steve Wilson as well as pop performers Debbie Boone, 雪莉·琼斯和伯纳黛特·彼得斯.
So, 对当地音乐界的一些人来说，这是一个震惊, 大约十年前, Brydge was arrested on drug charges and sent to prison for three years.
Behind bars, he got clean and changed the course of his life. “I always tell people, I had to go to prison to get out of prison,” Brydge said.
这些天, 当他不在台上的时候, Brydge works as a peer recovery specialist at The Up Center, a community services organization headquartered in Norfolk.
“I’ve been in recovery for more than a decade,” Brydge said. “我现在正在回报别人给予我的东西.”
他不再是那个自大的孩子，他决心为国家服务.
“Chris is just the epitome of a beautiful story of redemption,蕾切尔·伯尼说, Up中心门诊服务副主任. “你可以从他的生活方式中看出来. He’s so committed to giving back to others because of his life’s journey and some of the things he’s experienced.”
保持信仰
ODU jazz professor John Toomey has offered Brydge guidance, 支持和友谊——无论顺境还是逆境.
图米深情地回忆起布里奇在俄勒冈州立大学最初的日子. “From the start, he was absolutely motivated,图米说. 他也飞快地往前走.”
年轻的贝斯手全神贯注.
“I remember him coming over to my house and standing on my front porch while I had my cigarette,图米说. “我会说，‘让我来听一段蓝调合唱.或者“让我听听你的独唱，真正做出改变。.“他总是对这类事情津津乐道. 我让他参加我在Bienville Grill餐厅的常规演出.”
从ODU毕业后, Brydge taught music at Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach for 13 years while still performing regularly.
然而，他在公立学校的日子突然结束了.
Brydge went to prison in 2014 after being convicted of felony drug charges for distribution and possession.
当贝斯手跌到谷底时, 图米保持忠诚, 给布里奇写信，去监狱探望他.
Toomey’s support has been deep and meaningful, Brydge said. “这一直是一种积极的影响，”他说. “我把他当作我的好朋友. 他一直支持我.”
图米一直相信布里奇会东山再起.
“Chris immediately said, ‘What I’d really like to do is help people. 做心理咨询. Get a certificate so I can talk to people who are going through what I was going through.’
“对我来说，这是一个非常积极的迹象.”
第二幕
Burney from The Up Center described Brydge as fiercely devoted to helping people free themselves from substance abuse.
一个以家庭为中心, 社区机构, The Up Center provides a host of services — from foster care and adoptions to credit counseling. The center is also a source of federally funded mental health and substance abuse counseling.
“Chris is very much genuine and honest and really comes from a place of wanting to see people be successful in their recovery,伯尼说。, 谁在2021年雇佣了他. “The other cool thing about him, he practices what he preaches. 你可以从他的生活方式和行为中看出来. 不管别人看不看，他就是他.”
隆隆声和韵律
Often, the role of the bass player is to support and collaborate. 对布里奇来说，创新是另一种自然的方式.
上世纪90年代，我在bet8体育娱乐入口读本科, 他上了诗人蒂姆·西布尔斯的英语课. 多年来, 当诗人和爵士音乐家相遇时, 他们会讨论合作的可能性.
照片由詹妮弗·娜塔莉·菲什/ ODU
闲聊演变成了一项广受赞誉的艺术项目.
在录音《bet8体育娱乐入口》中,，于4月上映。, Seibles reads his poetry while Brydge’s bass illuminates the words with darting melodies, 滑动和有节奏的刺.
“我不喜欢过于宽泛地使用‘杰作’这个词, 但这个记录完全配得上这个荣誉,汤姆·罗博瑟姆在《网站登录》杂志上写道. “I can’t think of a better way to drive home the idea that poems are meant to be 听到，比如音乐.”
西布尔斯对布里奇的韧性印象深刻.
“我认为他一直是一个有深度的人, but not many people are able to rise above addiction and imprisonment to become a real help to others — and a fabulous artist,西布尔斯写道.
典型的一天
Musically and personally, Brydge watches for a chance to extend a helping hand.
“我努力在这里为人们服务，”他说. “就在今天, 我送了一个人去治疗, a homeless dude who I had met about a year and a half ago on the corner of Monticello and Granby. 他在要钱. I told him, ‘I won’t give you money, but I’ll buy you something to eat if you’re hungry.’”
Brydge took him out for a burger and a milkshake and 分享d his own story. 他们一直保持联系. 最终，这个人准备做出改变. 他请布里奇做他的同伴康复专家.
这种心态的转变需要时间，但布里奇很有耐心. 他理解.
“他也很务实，”布里奇说. “我们让他签了名，今天早上他就走了. 他将在接下来的25天里接受治疗.
“I’ll be waiting for him when he comes out, if he wants to pursue this way of life,” Brydge said.
“这就是我现在所做的.”