He’s done smooth jazz, fusion, Hendrix, bossa nova, swing and beyond, but this time out bassist extraordinaire gets funky. He’s got a full house of guests with saxists Dave Koz, Everette Harp, Gary Meek, Marion Meadows, Elan Trotman and Darren Rahn. The rhythm team includes drummers Joel Taylor-Tony Moore, percussionist Lenny Castro along with keyboardist Tom Zink, guitarists Jerry Cortez, Nick Colionne and Ray Fuller, throwing in Craig Fundiga for good measure. What’s not to keep you from dancing?
Some horns rented from an Average White Band album punch like George Foreman with Bromberg snapping his bass on “Froggy’s” and gives a nifty solo around the strings on the easy groove of “Quaranteen”. Koz gives some bluesy sax work over the tasty backbeat of “Walking On Sunshine” and Bromberg laying down a rivulet of rhythm on the electric bass, while he switches to acoustic strings on the soulful “That Cool Groovy Beatnick Jazz” and giving tender lyricism to “Lullaby for Bado. Soulful struts abound, with the team hitting the streets on “Bado Boy” and the team cruises the Boulevard on “A Little Driving Music.”
Ya know, Bromberg gets a bad rap being labelled as a “smooth jazz” bassist. Lemme tell ya; I’ve seen him numerous times in concert, and if he’s “Smooth”, it’s the roughest smooth I’ve ever seen! Never disappoints.