Brian Bromberg | It Is What It Is

BRIAN BROMBERG SET TO RELEASE
IT IS WHAT IT IS
AUGUST 25 ON ARTISTRY MUSIC

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 basses. Confounding the music
industry with a string of innovative, eclectic releases since 1985,
Bromberg has spent the last decade recording projects driven by very
specific sounds and themes – from Wood (acoustic bass) and Metal (electric bass) to other diverse projects celebrating the artistry of fretless bass pioneer Jaco Pastorius (Jaco) and his Grammy®-nominated smooth grooves of Downright Upright.

On his fourth project for the Mack Avenue label imprint Artistry Music, It Is What It Is,
Brian unleashes another wide palette of styles letting the chips fall
where they may. It’s a decidedly funky 13-track set that features a
killer horn section and includes not only evocative original
compositions but also two cover songs that are sure to raise some
eyebrows: The B-52s’ new wave dance classic “Love Shack” and Quincy
Jones’ instantly recognizable TV-Land nugget “Sanford & Son (The
Streetbeater).”

An
A-list of musical peers join the fun including George Duke, Patrice
Rushen, Jeff Lorber, Randy Brecker, Eric Marienthal, Gerald Albright,
Richard Elliot, Rick Braun, Will Kennedy, Dave Weckl, Alex Acuña, Paul
Jackson Jr., Dan Siegel and more – all of whom are given ample
opportunity to shine.

Brian
explains, “I’ve done a lot of acoustic playing lately so I wanted to
feature my electric basses more. But I wasn’t trying to make a showy,
NAMM show demo kind of record for bass players only – that’s not me.
Within the songs and arrangements, I use my various basses in many
ways. Since I play a lot of piccolo bass (which is a bass tuned to the
register of a guitar) it allows me to play lead melodies and some
rhythm groove parts that are quite a different role than what you would
normally play on a bass with standard tuning. That helps me express
myself in different ways and not have everything I play sound the same.
I want the music to stand on its own in song-oriented ways yet also
push the envelope as a bassist. The result is very in your face –
unapologetically so – with a very discernible level of integrity.”

Beyond the bass, the thrilling new element of It Is What It Is
is Bromberg’s embrace of a burning horn section, exponentially adding
to the funk factor in the music. “The horns are my favorite thing about
this new CD,” he beams. “I do a lot of sessions with (super producer)
David Foster with big band artists like Michael Buble’ and Renee
Olstead. The spirit and energy in the studio on those recordings is so
high – the best of everything. I touched on horns in other records, but
I really went there this time. I discovered this young guy named Nathan
Tanouye. He is the trombone player in a band called Santa Fe, made up
of musicians from many of the Las Vegas show bands. They play most
Monday nights at the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas. Nathan does lots of the
horn arrangements for the band and they’re like frickin’ Tower of
Power! I sat in with them and had so much fun, I asked him to write
some charts for me. His writing is so fresh yet traditional – very
creative. I used a 5-piece horn section that I doubled. Then on certain
cuts, I had Eric Marienthal add baritone sax, so I have 11 horns on
half those cuts and 10 on the other half. It takes the energy up to
another level.”

Though
Brian’s mastery and attention to detail found him creating some truly
vivid originals this time around – from “Elephants On Ice Skates” to
“Martinis At The Velvet Lounge” – he truly outdoes himself on the cover
songs. He believes The B-52s’ “Love Shack” to be a quintessential
marriage of Motown groove and Stax brass. “Love Shack” is a party song
with more musical credibility than some are willing to give it. I can’t
wait to see the looks on people’s faces when half way through the song
they realize that we are playing “Love Shack” and they can’t sit still!”

“Sanford
& Son” holds a more personal appeal for Brian. “That was one of my
favorite shows growing up,” he shares. “There was something about Redd
Foxx as ‘Fred Sanford’ that reminded me so much of my dad. They both
wore suspenders and were so funny! This is the one song I play solely
on upright bass, but it grooves in the vein of my previous CD, (the
Grammy nominated) Downright Upright.
I think this has the most potential to be played on straight ahead jazz
radio. It’s a fun song, but righteously penned by Quincy Jones, who I
had the pleasure of working with one time recording music for one of
his historical libraries. Everybody respects ‘Q!'”

Respect
is no stranger to Bromberg. Born in Tucson, Arizona in 1960, he
initially followed his father and older brother in playing the drums.
After struggling with cello in elementary and junior high school, Brian
switched to bass at the behest of a teacher and took to it immediately.
From age 14-18, he ‘shredded’ relentlessly on the instrument becoming
proficient enough to land gigs 5 to 7 nights a week. At 18, he got his
first major gig as a member of tenor sax legend Stan Getz’s band and
since then has played acoustic and electric bass with hundreds of
artists ranging from Horace Silver, Carmen McRae and Eddie Harris to
Lee Ritenour, Nancy Wilson, Teena Marie and Dudley Moore.

Brian has recorded 16 previous albums, hitting a home run in 1998 with the chart-topping You Know That Feeling,
which netted three singles that all peaked at #3 on the contemporary
jazz charts. In addition to the aforementioned thematic projects at the
top of this bio, Brian also recorded the acclaimed straight ahead CD, It’s About Time: The Acoustic Project,
which featured Ernie Watts and the late, great Freddie Hubbard. All in
all, he has had 8 Top 10 hits (including co-composing and producing the
Rippingtons’ sax player Jeff Kashiwa’s chart topping “Hyde Park” and
two other tracks that reached #1. A much sought-after bass instructor
and mentor, Bromberg has also designed instruments as well. “I try to
put as much integrity as I can into anything I do,” he states.

Summing up It Is What It Is,
Brian philosophizes, “I never do anything twice. I wouldn’t have it any
other way musically or humanly, but professionally it creates a
challenge for an audience when you’re such a chameleon. But that’s who
I am. On this album, when you hear me play my various basses in the
different roles that I use them, I can sound like two or three
different musicians playing on the same song. I act and react on each
song and instrument a little differently. As a player, that’s a
wonderful feeling. I hope the listener eventually gets what I’m doing
and appreciates it as a breath of fresh air. I also hope they recognize
the hard work and integrity within these songs for what they are.
Because, It Is What It Is!”