Hi everyone, thank you for dropping by brianbromberg.net in for a visit! I have been quite busy lately burning the midnight oil here at B2 Studios working on several different projects for the coming months and year.

Bromberg Plays Hendrix (coming soon) Yes you read it right a bass player from Tucson Az. Recorded a Jimi Hendrix tribute CD!

Here is an excerpt from the liner notes of the Japanese release of the Bromberg Plays Hendrix CD:
Several years ago a music industry friend of mine Jon Diamond said to me at lunch one day “ You should do a Jimi Hendrix CD.” I said what? Me doing a Jimi Hendrix CD? The first thing I thought of is what could I possibly do on a Jimi Hendrix CD? He was one of the most powerful and influential recording artists and guitar players of our generation. I’m a bass player, what the heck could I do with his music? We left it at that I didn’t spend much time thinking about it after that day.

Then several years later I was having a conversation with Susumu Morikawa from King Records, he also said to me “What about doing a Jimi Hendrix CD?”.  For me to hear from two different music industry executives years later and thousands of miles apart that I should do a Jimi Hendrix CD made me start thinking about it a lot more seriously.

I must say that it is impossible for anyone to sound like jimi Hendrix, especially a bass player! What he did on the guitar was so far away from what I do on the bass it truly would be impossible and a huge mistake for me to even try to emulate him in any way.

I approached this recording just like I do any recording. I play the way I play, and I totally improvise. Whatever happens happens. I did not work out any parts in advance nor did I learn any of Jimi’s lines or licks. I put the computer in record and whatever I get, I get. I play until I make a mistake; I stop and fix the mistake then keep going. I do this on every track I play; it is just how I like to record. It keeps it fresh and exciting for me not knowing what is going to happen next! That is the jazz musician part of me.

There are also no guitars on this recording anywhere. I am a bass player and played all of the guitar sounding parts on basses I tune an octave and a fourth above a standard bass. My piccolo basses are tuned to the same register as a guitar so they sound very much like one to the non trained ear. I can’t bend the strings like Jimi did and I don’t have a whammy bar on the bass I used on this CD. I just played the way I play and do what I do trying to honor the musical giant he was.

This CD is about my arrangements and interpretations of Jimi’s music. Because he had a very unique vocal style it was quite a challenge to make some of his songs work instrumentally. His vocal delivery was so powerful and unique to him that you can’t possibly replicate it on a bass, so I had quite a challenge on my hands to make the arrangements work.

My buddy and amazing drummer Vinnie Colaiuta did a fantastic job on the drums finding a perfect balance between the vibe of Mitch Mitchell the drummer in Jimi Hendrix’ band in the late 60’s to Vinnie’s own genius of today!

Jimi’s music has always been very inspiring to me. I could never even come close to filling his shoes nor would I even try. Jimi Hendrix inspired and influenced millions of people and changed guitar playing forever. He certainly lit a fire under me to try and rise to new heights as a bass player playing guitar-sounding tracks on my piccolo basses trying to do justice to his music.

The CD I am working on now (most likely going to be called I’m Just Sayin’) is due to be released in early 2012. This CD is the equivalent of throwing my CD’s Downright Upright, It Is What It Is, and a big handful of straight ahead jazz into a blender! A lot of up tempo hi energy tunes featuring a ten piece horn section and the talents of musicians like George Duke, Jeff Lorber, Vinnie Colaiuta, Randy Brecker, Mitch Forman etc… It is primarily acoustic bass and acoustic straight ahead jazz and I must admit is tons of fun to record!

Another project slated to be released in 2012 is a CD we are working on titled In The Spirit Of Jobim.
This CD is a tribute to the late great Antonio Carlos Jobim. The recording is half Antonio Carlos Jobim classics and half of my originals in the Jobim (Brazilian) style. This recording features an incredible cast of musicians as well as I think the first recording of the acoustic nylon string piccolo bass guitar. This instrument looks and sounds like a nylon string classical guitar (which is popular in Brazilian music) but it is the size and has the string length of an acoustic bass guitar. In fact this instrument is so new that La Bella Strings made the strings by hand for me and they had never been made before! I spent a day at their factory and was there for the whole process. It was really special to watch the process of something going from an idea to reality before my eyes.

Another very special thing about this recording is that most of the songs feature a full orchestra string section. And on some tunes even a full orchestra! What an amazing sound and honor to hear so many musicians playing your music, a breathtaking sound! My good friend Corey Allen did a fantastic job on the orchestra arrangements and truly was a pleasure to record.

In the Spring of 2011, Carvin Guitars released a line of Brian Bromberg signature basses called the B²4 and the B²5. This project began 30 years ago when I lived in San Diego in 1981. I drew the basic shape of the basses sitting on the floor of my apartment with tracing paper and a pencil. It is amazing but I have come full circle as Carvin Guitars is based in San Diego. Pretty cool huh?  Please go to the Carvin section of the website for a more in depth look at these wonderful instruments.

Thanks for coming by for a visit and stay tuned for new updates and news!