Master musician Brian
Bromberg serves up
a fresh batch of Choices
In record stores today
is a fresh version of Brian
Bromberg’s Choices album, which was revisited
by the master bass player and producer.
Originally released last year, the artist remixed half of the record and
the entire disc was remastered. One
track was removed and replaced with the radio hit, “Relentless,” a duet with sax
star Richard Elliot that previously
was only released on the Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards compilation
CD. Featuring Bromberg’s nifty fret
work on the piccolo bass, which sounds like a guitar, the title track of Choices is one of the hottest songs
now collecting adds at radio.
Smooth jazz is often
criticized as being light-weight, but not Bromberg’s efforts in the genre. His hooks are memorable and infectious
yet the writing is sophisticated and substantive, and the productions are
intricately textured. On Choices, which includes guest turns
by Jeff Lorber, Brian Culbertson, David
Benoit and Eric Marienthal,
soulful R&B, funk, jazz, pop, and African rhythmscapes serve as the backdrop
for Bromberg’s melodies. No guitars
were used on the album, although you’ll swear otherwise. While primarily an instrumental album,
Bromberg’s intention was for Choices to unfold like a collection
of short stories.
Bromberg is a
remarkable musician, one of the few masters of both the electric and acoustic
bass. He’s a rare artist who has
garnered respect for releasing accomplished music in both the traditional jazz
and more commercial contemporary jazz genres.
In the midst of a
prolific creative period, Bromberg, a partner in the new Artistry Music record label that now
releases his music, has a full-slate of current projects that enable him to draw
upon his vast experience. In
addition to Choices, he’s releasing and
reissuing four albums this year. Metal is a new rock fusion
collection that was released in late February. Last month, It’s
About Time, a traditional jazz record
originally released in 1991, was reissued after being remixed and
remastered. This summer, Bromberg’s
1993 self-titled contemporary jazz album, featuring Lorber, Lee Ritenour, Kirk Whalum and Toots Thielemans, will be
reissued. Scheduled for release
early next year, Bromberg has begun recording Wood
II, the sequel to 2002’s critically acclaimed traditional jazz CD, Wood.
This spring and summer,
Bromberg is touring worldwide with contemporary jazz greats Ritenour, Patrice Rushen, Ernie Watts, and Alex Acuna. Recently Bromberg earned his first gold
record for production work he did on Chris Botti’s When I Fall In Love album; this year
he’s writing and producing songs for a number of other artists. Collaborating with Dean Guitars, he designed an innovative
line of basses, B², which will be in
stores this summer.
Earlier this year,
Bromberg partnered with soul singer-songwriter Rahsaan Patterson, their long-time
manager Lucille Hunt and veteran
marketing executive Denny Stilwell
to launch Artistry Music. Based in
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rick Scott 310.398.0260
A quartet of Choices from the prodigious
Bromberg
Four diverse album releases
showcase the versatility and virtuosity
of one of music’s most
respected bassists
Acclaimed musician-producer
Brian Bromberg recently released his
thirteenth solo album, Metal, through the Artistry Music record label and the
prolific, diverse and uniquely gifted bassist has three more albums – Choices , It’s About Time, and
Brian Bromberg - scheduled for re-release over the next few months. One would be hard pressed to find
another artist who moves between musical genres with such aplomb and has
deservedly garnered the same level of respect and praise from fellow musicians
and the media as Bromberg has.
Within the jazz arena, Bromberg has maneuvered back and forth amongst the
hard-line traditional jazz world and the commercial contemporary jazz genre with
unequaled grace and accomplishment.
His partnership in the new Artistry Music label has provided him the rare
opportunity to explore his creative muse in new musical directions as well as
give a second chance to some of his previous releases, which warrant another
listen.
Bromberg calls last year’s
Choices album the best smooth jazz
album he’s ever recorded. The
collection will be reissued by Artistry Music on May 24. Produced by Bromberg, who wrote or
co-wrote the music, the album was revamped after the meticulous professional
went back to the lab to make it even better. Half of the record was remixed and the
entire disc was re-mastered. The
title track, featuring Bromberg on his guitar-sounding piccolo bass accompanied
by keyboardist Jeff Lorber, will be
serviced to smooth jazz radio. One
song on the original album was replaced with “Relentless,” a smooth jazz radio
hit featuring sax star Richard
Elliot. The track originally
appeared on the Oasis Smooth Jazz Awards CD and was
never before released on a Bromberg album.
Metal marks new territory for
Bromberg. The answer to his
award-winning 2002 release, Wood, the collection is a truly
unique rock fusion record that astoundingly was recorded without guitars. All the melodies and rhythms that sound
like guitars were played by Bromberg on a piccolo bass. Although you’d never know it by
listening to the album, it was recorded by just Bromberg and drummer Joel
Taylor, along with keyboardist Dan Siegel, who appears on two tracks. Bromberg produced and composed the
material, which recalls guitar gods and rock fusion greats. The record is unlike anything that’s
been done before and captures an entirely new dimension of the virtuoso bass
player, who unveiled the B² line of
basses that he designed with Dean
Guitars at January’s NAMM convention.
Jim Roberts, founding editor of Bass
Player magazine and author of American Basses, wrote in the
album’s liner notes, “And when it comes to hearing it all, and playing it all,
nobody does it better than Brian Bromberg…Maybe I’m prejudiced, but you can
always tell that Brian is a bass player at heart – even his most wailing
‘guitar’ solos display the logic that comes from a deep knowledge of
harmony. And you can tell that he
knows jazz, too, because of his attention to thematic development and
contrasting solo voices.”
It’s About
Time was
Bromberg’s “first real hardcore, New York-kind-of-jazz record that is still
approachable,” according to the musician, who produced the acoustic project in
1991. Scheduled to be re-released
on April 5, the album has been remixed and re-mastered and now sounds as if it
was recorded with today’s state-of-the-art digital recording and mastering
equipment. Bromberg, who recorded
the collection while playing a 300-year-old acoustic bass, was joined on the
record by such jazz stalwarts as Freddie
Hubbard, Ernie Watts, Mike Garson, Mitchell Forman and David Bromberg.
Mining his extensive
catalogue even further, Bromberg’s 1993 self-titled album will be re-released
this summer (date soon to be announced).
It’s a Bromberg-produced smooth jazz collection that boasts guest
appearances by Lorber, Lee Ritenour,
Kirk Whalum, and Toots
Thielemans. “One of the
greatest things about having our own record label is having the opportunity to
reissue some of my music that may have slipped through the cracks for a variety
of reasons,” said Bromberg. “It’s
important that we give this music the chance to be heard.”
Earlier this year, Bromberg
earned his first gold record for the production work he did on Chris Botti’s When I Fall in Love album. Bromberg is a much in demand
producer after the success he’s had producing Jeff Kashiwa, Richard Smith, Kim Waters , Alan Broadbent, and Jeff Berlin, amongst
others.
Bromberg, along with soul
singer-songwriter Rahsaan Patterson,
their long-time manager Lucille Hunt
and veteran marketing executive Denny
Stilwell launched Artistry Music earlier this year with the release of
Patterson’s third album, After Hours. Based in
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