Bobby Broom

The Way I Play: Live In Chicago

Origin 82504



I have been a huge fan of Bobby since I first heard him with Sonny Rollins and his new one is one of the best guitar trio records ever.
- Pat Metheny

Jazz guitarist Bobby Broom has been exploring the trio format to rewarding effect not only in his last two CDs, but on a weekly basis for the last ten years at the Evanston eatery called Pete Miller's Steakhouse - the place Broom calls his "laboratory." On his new Origin CD, The Way I Play, Broom delves into a program of jazz standards and American songbook classics with longtime trio-mates Dennis Carroll, on bass, and drummer Kobie Watkins. The chemistry is palpable - and pleasurable - in these eight performances, which capture highlights from what the Chicago Tribune calls "one of the best ongoing engagements" in the Chicago area.


Track Listing:

1 Strike Up the Band 5:50
2 Donna Lee 6:32
3 Fly Me to the Moon 9:23
4 Airegin 12:23
5 Body and Soul 6:35
6 Unit 7 7:54
7 The Surrey With the Fringe on Top 7:18
8 Inception 11:57

Performers:

BOBBY BROOM - guitar
DENNIS CARROLL - bass
KOBIE WATKINS - drums

Production Info:

Recorded Live Jan-April 2007
by LEE ROTHENBERG
at Pete Miller's Steakhouse, Evanston, IL
Compilation by JOSH RICHTER
Mastering by DANNY LEAKE
Photography by MARK SHELDON
Cover design by JOHN BISHOP


Reviews of The Way I Play: Live In Chicago

MidwestRecord.com (Chris Spector)
We're always jingoistic enough to champion one of our locals and Broom once again makes it all too easy. Coming live and direct from Pete Miller's Evanston location, the years of making that his home base makes for this to be a comfortable outing that cooks. The kind of stuff that makes upscale stake and scotch taste even better as it percolates ...

All Music Guide (Adam Greenberg)
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 ...

Cashbox Magazine (Ben Franklin)
Guitarist Bobby Broom has been recording since the late 1970s. As sideman, he recorded with such leaders as Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, Dizzy Gillespie, and David Murray. He led sessions for Criss Cross, Delmark, and Premonition. He is one of the founders of the Deep Blue Organ Trio. Despite these associations, he is less well ...

Time Out Chicago (Matthew Lurie)
Every once in a while, Bobby Broom threatens to recede into the background, the once-prized picture on the wall you no longer notice. Then, for those of us who happen to overlook the local guitarist's weekly gigs at Evanston's Pete Miller's or the Green Mill (with the Deep Blue Organ Trio), he puts out a head-slappingly good record like this and th ...

Detroit Free Press (Mark Stryker )
a no-frills bebop date recorded live at a Chicago-area steakhouse with bassist Dennis Carroll and snappy drummer Kobie Watkins. Best known for his long tenure with Sonny Rollins, Broom's solos have a soulful and bluesy bite, a gritty bob and weave as his lines snake through the harmony. There's nothing complicated to the eight standards here, and i ...

Jazz Station (Arnaldo DeSouteiro)
As a major jazz guitarist, Bobby Broom has for many years been hiding in plain sight. Following his Carnegie Hall debut at age 16 with Sonny Rollins, and his first album as a leader at 20, Broom recorded and toured steadily as a valued sideman with artists such as Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell, Dr. John, Charles Earland, and Rollins (whom he re ...

All About Jazz.com (Mark F. Turner)
Guitarist Bobby Broom could have easily taken a different musical direction when he released the popular contemporary/funk jazz album, Clean Sweep (GRP) in 1981. But with his early influences, guitarists Wes Montgomery, early George Benson and mentor/saxophonist Sonny Rollins, he has developed his own unique style on recordings such as Song and Dan ...

O's Place Jazz Letter (D. Oscar Grimes)
Guitarist Bobby Broom leads a trio with Dennis Carroll (b) and Kobie Watkins (d) for this live session at Pete Miller's Steakhouse in Chicago. They are playing bebop - eight covers of classic tunes. Bobby takes the bull by the horns on Parker's "Donna Lee" and Rollins' "Unit 7" with great fills from Watkins. Performing in a restaurant is always cha ...

Downbeat, July 2008 (Alain Drouot)
Guitarist Bobby Broom is low-key but confident, which is often reflected in his playing. On this selection - culled from a series of live trio dates recorded in his hometown of Chicago - one gets to enjoy his most spirited side as well as a return to jazz standards and other staples. Throughout the session, Broom has a fine sense of pace. While he ...

Jazz Review (Thomas R. Erdmann)
It's a shame so few musicians work in actual bands anymore; the kind of unit where the musicians stay the same from not only gig to gig, but year to year. Only through such long standing musical associations can shared concepts become created, but also explored. That is the case with guitarist Bobby Broom's band. He, bassist Dennis Carroll, and ...

JazzTimes, July / August 2008 (Owen Cordle)
If you want a jazz definition of "stretching out," listen to this live album, in which we find Bobby Broom's long-time trio elongating and compressing familiar melodies and the beat in exploratory fashion. Without trying to pin jazz down, it's tempting to say this is the way jazz should be, at least in terms of inventiveness. The music and the modu ...

The Hartford Courant (Owen McNally)
Since making his Carnegie Hall debut at 16 with Sonny Rollins, Bobby Broom has been universally hailed as a consummate sideman, the guitarist of choice for artists ranging from Rollins to Dr. John. Many sidemen lead quiet lives of desperation, lacking the chutzpah to step out front with their own albums. Not so with Broom who has ventured out ...

Chicago Jazz (Paul Abella)
Bobby Broom's latest disc on Origin Records is simply titled, The Way I Play. And after a couple of listens I have to say it's one of the most apropos titles that I've come across. Broom's fluidity and excellent note choice are on constant display through nearly seventy minutes of music. This is an album that is well worth your time and money. I ...

All About Jazz (Paul Christopher Dowd)
On his album, The Way I Play, Bobby Broom explores the more traditional guitar-led trios in the manner of Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. Broom, now in his second stint as a sideman with Sonny Rollins, made his Carnegie Hall debut with the sax legend at the tender age of 16. He has also played with Burrell, Stanley Turrentine, Dr. John and Miles. ...

Jazziz (Josef Woodard)
Count Bobby Broom as one of those jazz greats hiding in very plain sight. The nimble and continually inventive guitarist has, for years, played regularly on the uppermost echelon of jazz stages, as part of Sonny Rollins' band. On his own, though, Broom remains relatively low-key. While Rollins' audience tend to patiently await each sax solo, his ba ...



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