Few are the bass players who the average music fan can name. There are simply not that many who stand out as more than a member of the rhythm section, however tight. Paul McCartney. Sting. Bootsy Collins. Tony Levin. Gene Simmons. These may be the greater part of a list that, for most, is no larger than one hand long. Shorter still is the list of bassists who can take their playing one step further. Brian Bromberg is one such bass player. Having originally begun his musical career on drums, Bromberg soon switched to classical upright bass. Though this switch was more or less his choice, Bromberg's next musical move was more demanded than decided: in order to get a gig with Stan Getz's band, Bromberg dropped the upright, picked up an electric four-string and, leaving home on his 19th birthday, started down his own musical road less taken.
World-renowned acoustic and electric bassist Brian Bromberg hasn’t released an album in the U.S. since 2012, a fact that might not have been cause for concern if you know that at one point he released three albums in one year. Every man deserves a break. However, once you realize that this chameleon with over 20 projects in his catalog recently had reason to believe that he might never play music again, you understand the gravity of his latest acoustic jazz project, Full Circle - one he says may well be “the most important record of my career.” Like all of his work, Bromberg’s latest features a stellar cast that includes trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, saxophonists Bob Sheppard, Kirk Whalum and Doug Webb, pianists Randy Waldman,Mitch Forman and Otmaro Ruiz, and percussionist Alex Acuña. The project also finds ‘the man that refuses to sit still’ mixing styles from New Orleans funk and a legit jazz cover of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop `Til You Get Enough” to Cubop - with a sizzling relentless swing throughout.
Representative "ultimate bass sound" to King Records "bass series" that continued thoroughly committed to, both in name and reality No.1 bass player, Brian Buronbagu complete resurrection,! Book was how complete the long-awaited studio album work of the theme is thoroughly "classic!". As indicated by the album title, willingness work that overwhelmingly represent the journey to the classic by the base.
Compared To That is that musical happy place somewhere between contemporary/modern jazz but with an old school sensibility. Bromberg is not reinventing the musical wheel. What Brian Bromberg does so incredibly well here is expand his sound and push the music forward. Guest artists include such diverse talents as Jeff Lorber, Bela Fleck and Randy Brecker combined with a deceptively subtle swing of a walking bass line punctuated with attitude so if this release doesn't make your musical back leg shake you may want to see if your autopsy report is ready.
You thought Marcus Miller and Jaco and Stanley Clark were funky? They are indeed but they don't play the double bass. Brian Bromberg displays absolute chops that Charles Mingus would have wanted. Akira Jimbo as usual with his unbelievable groove keeps the whole album going and Otomaro Ruiz is one hell of a pianist. With this CD you CAN'T go wrong.
In his career, Brian Bromberg has recorded bop, fusion, and smooth with equal fluency and creativity on acoustic and electric basses. Choices is somewhat commercial, with funky rhythms, R&B-ish solos, and fade-outs. In general, the solos are more memorable than Bromberg's originals and grooves. While the material is mostly routine, the improvisations of Bromberg and altoist Eric Marienthal are excellent and the musicianship is impressive. But no real surprises occur, making this a lesser and generally easy listening effort by the hugely talented Brian Bromberg.
One glance at the personnel, which includes such popular "smooth" players as tenors Kirk Whalum and Boney James, trumpeter Rick Braun, and pianists George Duke and Jeff Lorber, could easily lead one to believe that this CD is filled with vacuous and mildly soulful background music. Actually, the playing on Downright Upright is a surprise, for most of the selections are reasonably creative renditions of soul-jazz.