The Way I Play

Album review

Between stints of touring with Dr. John, or Sonny Rollins, or his own Deep Blue Organ Trio, guitarist Bobby Broom has been holding court in a Chicago restaurant for a decade or so in a small trio format. Eventually feeling comfortable with the vibe he'd been creating, a live album was culled from a series of recordings over a few months of the live show. Among all of the jazz standards here, there's a constant interplay between drummer Kobie Watkins and Broom's guitar. Moreover, there's an interplay between Broom's guitar styles and their alter-egos as it were. Though he plays with the speed and bubbliness of a Charlie Christian solo, there's a bit of a bent-string approach, of soul leanings in the riffs (exemplified well in his take on "Donna Lee"). He continues bubbling through "Fly Me to the Moon" as well as Sonny Rollins' "Airegin," only slowing up a bit for "Body and Soul," which has traveled a long way from the classic Coleman Hawkins-style recordings to get where Broom and his band have put it. "Unit 7" provides an excellent showcase for some virtuosic passages, and after a quick stop for Rodgers & Hammerstein, the album ends on a McCoy Tyner number that lets Watkins as well as bassist Dennis Carroll take turns on some worthwhile solos. A live recording can rarely live up to actually being present at a live show, but this album doesn't do a bad job. Some highly capable backing musicians, some classic songs, and an excellent guitarist, and you've got a nice piece together.

© Adam Greenberg /TiVo