Cracks In Sidewalks

Before starting “Cracks In Sidewalks,” I made a list of musicians I thought would be fun to talk about, and Bob’s name surfaced.  I really had no idea what he had been up to, but I figured it would be interesting, so I googled him.  (I think YouTube has about 40 Bob Brozman videos on their site.)

I first met Bob many years ago in Santa Cruz, California.  He was working in the same music store as my boyfriend, also a guitarist but more a Wes Montgomery type, and they became friends.  From the beginning we were in awe of Bob and went to see him as often as we could when he had gigs.  He would also come to hear my boyfriend play and they would exchange musical tips.  We’d go to his house in the mountains for dinner, listen to old 78’s because Bob didn’t own anything but an old 78 phonograph.  We’d talk about music, and visit a special room in his house where all sorts of beautiful old string instruments lived and lined the walls, including a number of old “National” guitars, and a 1920’s yuke, that would eventually came home to live with us.  Besides his solo gigs on occasion we would make trips to Berkeley to hear Bob play with his “other” band, the “Cheap Suit Serenaders,” legendary comic book artist, R. Crumb’s, “novelty band.”  And the last time we spoke he told me he had just obtained the world’s second largest collection of Hawaiian 78’s, a fact I’ve never forgotten.  But that was a long time ago and it’s been years now since I’ve seen or spoken to Bob.

Bob Brozman is unique and always has been.  It’s hard to describe him but it’s as if he were born of another era and came out with his guitar in hand ready to wander and play; sort of like Woody Guthrie, only in the body of a skinny wiry haired charismatic New Yorker.  He’s a virtuoso slide guitarist full of energy and humor who also knows all the fun show “tricks” of his trade; how to slap his guitar to sound like a bass or a drum, how to play with his instrument behind his back, and most of all how to make the audience happy with his contagious renditions of whatever it is he is playing.  I really don’t know if there is anyone else quite like him around. He’s what musicians refer to as a “musicians musician,” the highest complement one musician can give another!

From what I read before writing this article, Bob is on the road almost constantly touring the world and has become even more of an ethnomusicologist and world musical expert.  He is someone not known to the mainstream, but has something to offer everyone.  I’ve attached two links below.  The first link will take you directly to Bob’s official website, and the second will take you to one of his many YouTube performances.  Check out a couple while you’re on the site.  You’ll have a lot of fun and you can thank me later for turning you on to this “world” musical treasure.

http://www.bobbrozman.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX–sM5G52U&feature=related

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 6:15 am and is filed under Daily Tune On. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.