Home » Jazz Musicians » Brian Bromberg

Brian Bromberg

Brian Bromberg was born in Tucson Arizona. He grew up in a family of musicians and artists. His father and brother played the drums. With all that music around the house and drums all over the place, it was natural for Brian to start playing the drums as well. Brian was two and a half years old, beating up the furniture and banging on anything that didn't move.
After some years of playing and practicing, Brian began his professional career as a drummer at the age of thirteen. In elementary and Jr.high School, Brian also played the cello. That was one instrument that Brian did not feel very comfortable playing. One day in orchestra class at jr. high, the orchestra director came over to Brian and said, hey Brian, you see that big bass over there in the corner? You know that nobody is playing it. Don't you want to play that big cool bass over there? You see, the orchestra director had a plan. He thought that having one bad bass player was better than not having one at all. That was his way of getting Brian to stop trying to saw his cello in half!

That day was a blessing in disguise. Brian didn't realize that he had the gift for melody as well as rhythm. With his drumming background and all this new melody available to him from the bass, Brian knew that this was going to be his path.
From ages fourteen to eighteen, Brian locked himself up in a room and practiced day and night. While Brian was a junior in High School he was already taking many music classes at the University Of Arizona. At the U of A Brian played in the Lab Band, orchestra, and jazz combos. All that led him to test out of high school early and devote all his time to the music. For the next few years, Brian played every type of gig imaginable. Quite often Brian would play five to seven nights a week with several different bands.

Brian's first big break came in 1979 when Marc Johnson, the wonderful bassist with the great jazz pianist Bill Evans, heard Brian play while on the road in Tucson. Several months later while on tour, Marc ran into legendary jazz saxophonist Stan Getz. Stan was looking for a new bass player and asked Marc if he knew any new young players. Marc told Stan about Brian. Brian auditioned for Stan and joined the Stan Getz quintet in December of 1979. Brian had just turned 19 and spent nearly a year touring the world with Stan and his band.
Since then, Brian has toured, performed, and or recorded with some of the greatest artists of our time including the likes of:

Read more

Tags

5
Album Review

Brian Bromberg: Thicker Than Water

Read "Thicker Than Water" reviewed by Chris Mosey


Brian Bromberg specializes in smooth jazz. That's music with rough edges removed. He plays it on basses, upright and electric, and on piccolo basses which are tuned to sound like guitars. It's all fiendishly clever but Bromberg remains modest. He uses a whole side of the album's cover to thank everyone, including God, “for trusting me with the gifts that you have given me." He's had his ups and downs. In 1979, when he ...

11
Album Review

Brian Bromberg: Brian Bromberg

Read "Brian Bromberg" reviewed by Dave Wayne


Talk about backstory! There are multiple backstories going on with bass virtuoso Brian Bromberg's Full Circle. The first actually involves Bromberg's back. Full Circle marks Bromberg's return to recording and full-on playing since suffering a debilitating spinal injury several years ago. Always a chops-meister, Bromberg truly projects the sheer joy of music-making throughout. Cutting loose seems like a great thing to do, as Bromberg could barely hold his instruments, let alone play them, even after months of physical therapy and ...

5
Album Review

Brian Bromberg: Compared to That

Read "Compared to That" reviewed by Larry Taylor


Ever sit back dreamily listening to an album, letting the music wash over you when all of a sudden, you hear a number that snaps you to attention? Such is the experience when listening to Brian Bromberg's Compared to That. The noteworthy number here: “Hayride," an original by Bromberg. Earlier tracks are hard-edged smooth jazz arrangements. The title track shows off Jeff Lorber's piano, along with Bromberg's unique work on acoustic bass and hollow body piccolo bass. (Album ...

433
Album Review

Brian Bromberg: Downright Upright

Read "Downright Upright" reviewed by Jim Santella


Retro-inspired grooves can mean a lot of things--it depends on how far back one wants to go.

On Downright Upright, bassist Brian Bromberg takes a retro tour of the era when Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock were reaching a peak. Joe Zawinul and Eddie Harris were changing the scope of jazz. Weather Report was in, and jazz was changing rapidly. The umbrella was opening up to include innovative ideas and comfortable melodies that lingered in the mind for ...

156
Album Review

Brian Bromberg: Wood II

Read "Wood II" reviewed by Ernest Barteldes


On Wood II, bassist Brian Bromberg, instead of showcasing new material, prefers to give his take on songs by a different range of composers, some of whom, like Paul McCartney and Kansas, are not directly associated with jazz. He opens with a classic Duke Ellington number, “Caravan, showing incredible speed during certain moments and also giving a lot of space to pianist Randy Waldman to show his chops. Another impressive track is Kenny Dorham's “Blue Bossa, which ...

312
Album Review

Brian Bromberg: Wood II

Read "Wood II" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner


Brian Bromberg's extraordinary new release is a jazz album cured of the blues. Devoid of deep suffering pools, spare introspective valleys or convoluted mazes of cerebration, the mostly trio Wood II looks out over a vista of pure musical enjoyment seen from peaks of virtuosic playfulness. Listening to Bromberg take apart and reconstruct such staples as “Caravan, “Blue Bossa and “Bolivia is like watching a child diving into a birthday cake. He consumes these tunes with wild ...

210
Album Review

Brian Bromberg: Wood II

Read "Wood II" reviewed by Robert R. Calder


On whatever Brian Bromberg has done, he's proven himself a very gutsy bassist, not just a virtuoso who's too notable for mere technique. The opening “Caravan" on Wood II does indeed begin with the sort of neo-boogaloo that young guys used to get New Orleans brass bands going again a couple of decades back. The weight of the snare drum's just right to keep the swing going, and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta has another good workout in the run into track ...

Read more articles

Recording

Prolific And Adventurous Brian Bromberg Salutes A Pair Of Legends On Two New Albums

Prolific And Adventurous Brian Bromberg Salutes A Pair Of Legends On Two New Albums

Source: Great Scott P.R.oductions

“Bromberg Plays Hendrix” and “In The Spirit Of Jobim” continues the diverse bassist’s extraordinary summer Sherman Oaks, CA: It’s no ordinary summer for bassist Brian Bromberg, who yesterday released his second and third albums this summer via Artistry Music/Mack Avenue Records. “Bromberg Plays Hendrix” and “In The Spirit Of Jobim” pay tribute to music icons Jimi Hendrix and Antonio Carlos Jobim respectively and arrive six weeks after the release of the bassist’s critically acclaimed chart-topper “Compared To That” as well ...

8

Recording

Bromberg Swings For The Cycle

Bromberg Swings For The Cycle

Source: Great Scott P.R.oductions

Three album releases and the world’s first radio station devoted to the bass make this an extraordinary summer for the Grammy nominated bassist Sherman Oaks, CA: Like a power hitter enjoying an exceptional day at the plate, Brian Bromberg imbibes rarified air. The Grammy nominated bassist-producer-composer-arranger who has achieved accolades, respect and success commercially and artistically as a solo artist in both straight-ahead and contemporary jazz will release three uniquely different, artistically divergent albums this summer. First up is “Compared ...

23

Recording

Bass Master Brian Bromberg Swings Live on the Energetic Compared to That

Bass Master Brian Bromberg Swings Live on the Energetic Compared to That

Source: Great Scott P.R.oductions

Virtuoso ensemble, ten-piece horn section and a full orchestra string section help propel the eclectic mix of jazz due June 5th Sherman Oaks, CA: Grammy nominated bass maestro Brian Bromberg continues to blaze his own audacious path through the jazz kingdom on Compared To That, which will be released June 5th by Artistry Music/Mack Avenue Records. For his 20th solo collection of kinetic and combustible jazz of various forms, Bromberg produced, composed eight new songs, and herded a ten-piece horn ...

271

Recording

Brian Bromberg Set to Release "It is What It is" August 25 on Artistry Music

Brian Bromberg Set to Release "It is What It is" August 25 on Artistry Music

Source: DL Media

BRIAN BROMBERG SET TO RELEASE IT IS WHAT IT IS AUGUST 25 ON ARTISTRY MUSIC “I write the way I write. I play the way I play. There's nothing I can do about it!" Exclusive Streaming Track from It Is What It Is

Acclaimed bassist and producer Brian Bromberg has garnered a hard-earned reputation as one of the most versatile and respected players in music, amassing an enviable catalog of straight ahead and contemporary jazz showcasing both upright and electric ...

242

Music Industry

For Your Consideration: Grammy Members Can Help Nominate George Kahn and Brian Bromberg

For Your Consideration: Grammy Members Can Help Nominate George Kahn and Brian Bromberg

Source: Imaginary Friends

The Grammy Award Nominations have begun, and George Kahn's new album Cover Up! Is on the official entry list for possible nomination for a Grammy in 7 different categories. Please note this is not a nomination--it only allows members to vote for the album to qualify for a nomination. But, official entry does put us in the running for a potential nomination!

Grammy members and others: i have created a special website to allow you to listen to the music ...

185

Recording

A440 Musicgroup Set For Three Autumn Releases by Brian Bromberg, Andy Snitzer, and Gary Meek

A440 Musicgroup Set For Three Autumn Releases by Brian Bromberg, Andy Snitzer, and Gary Meek

Source: All About Jazz

A440 MusicGroup moves into a higher gear this fall with three excellent jazz releases by saxophonists Andy Snitzer and Gary Meek, Bassist Brian Bromberg.

Andy Snitzer, Sugar (September 3 release)

Tenor saxophonist Snitzer unveils his first straightahead jazz CD.

Much of the CD is a nod to tenor sax greats John Coltrane ("Blue Train," “You Don't Know What Love Is"), Sonny Rollins ("Blue Seven," “Moritat"), and Stanley Turrentine ("Sugar"). Snitzer, best known for his work the ...

163

"He leads the way with pizzazz. Sometimes you may mistake his bass for a lead guitar but it is always bass from Bromberg, melodic, sweet and with authority. This is another winner start to finish." --O's Place "Brian Bromberg has become one of the most well--respected virtuoso bass players in jazz, thanks to his A--list studio and touring status as sideman, producer and leader of such diverse stylistic range." --Smooth Jazz Vibes "Phenomenal." --Bass Player Magazine "...a rare jazz marriage between virtuosity and musicality." --LA Times "Bromberg is a player with a phenomenal technique whose improvised lines, full of rapid fire triplets, are intelligently and melodically structured." --JazzTimes "Phenomenally talented." --Jazziz " The greatest bass player in the world." --Lionel Hampton "Bassist Brian Bromberg and pals touch all the musical bases… marries musicality with virtuosity." --Don Heckman

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Thicker Than Water

Mack Avenue Records
2018

buy

Brian Bromberg

Mack Avenue Records
2016

buy

Bromberg Plays Hendrix

Zebra Records
2012

buy

Compared to That

Mack Avenue Records
2012

buy

Plays Jimi Hendrix

Zebra Records
2010

buy

Downright Upright

Artistry Music
2007

buy

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.