David Bromberg – Archive Recordings Volume One; David Bromberg in Canada

DAVID BROMBERG
Archive Recordings Volume One 
davidbromberg.net

After racking up some impressive credentials as an A-list sideman on stage and recordings for the likes of Bob Dylan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Tom Paxton, Rosalie Sorrels and countless others, David Bromberg first emerged as a solo artist and then a band leader right about the same time I started spending so much of my time in coffee houses listening to folk music. I recall seeing David play at the Back Door Coffee House in Montreal circa 1970 or ’71 and picking up his self-titled debut LP not too much later.

Through the ‘70s and into the ‘80s, David was one of the major touring and recording artists on the folk scene (and beyond) both as a solo artist and band leader with one of the most eclectic repertoires of the day. Eventually, he tired of touring and became a student of violin making and a musical instrument dealer while only rarely performing and recording. In 2007, he returned with his first new album in 17 years – Try Me One More Time (Appleseed) which I rated 4-stars in my Montreal Gazette review – and began to tour again.

With Archive Recordings Volume One, David has also begun to release some of the hundreds of live, radio show and demo recordings he’s kept from that prolific decade of 1969 to ’79. Half of the 12 tracks here are solo performances and half feature sidemen or versions of the David Bromberg Band. Some of them are alternate versions of songs from his albums of the time, a few, I think, he’s never before released. Almost all feature David’s often brilliant acoustic guitar playing.

The album begins with a solo version of “Cannonball” (AKA “Cannonball Blues” or “Solid Gone”) recorded in 1975 on FolkScene, the legendary Los Angeles radio show hosted by my friends Roz and (the late) Howard Larmon. It’s an absolute delight to hear David’s Watson-worthy flatpicking on the song.

Among the other solo highlights are his guitar arrangements of the fiddle tune “Salt Creek” and a five-tune medley that includes “Devil’s Dream”; and his wonderful arrangement of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” that’s paired with Luke Jordan’s “Church Bell Blues.” “Statesboro” is one of my favorite blues songs and David’s official version on Wanted Dead or Alive was always one of my favorite versions.

Among my favorite band tracks is the hilarious “Jelly Jaw Joe,” a raggy tune on which David goes off on one of his legendary and very witty tangents while the band seems to be having tons of fun. The song seems like the kind of thing Pink Anderson or Jesse Fuller might have written but I don’t recognize it – so I’m guessing it might be something David himself came up with in the old medicine show style.

Other favorites among the band tracks are Bessie Smith’s “Send Me to the ‘Lectric Chair,” which features a great New Orleans-style horn arrangement, and a version of “Wheel Hoss,” the Bill Monroe tune, that has David and the always-incredible Andy Statman going crazy on twin mandolins while Peter Ecklund – who played trumpet on “‘Lectric Chair” and several other tracks – switches to guitar.

I’m looking forward to hearing more from David’s archives.

David Bromberg in Canada this coming week

David will be here in the area this coming week for some solo concerts on Thursday, October 30 at Hugh’s Room in Toronto; Friday, October 31 at the Neat Coffeeshop in Burnstown; Saturday, November 1 at Le Petit Campus in Montreal; and Sunday, November 2 at the Isabel in Kingston.

I haven’t seen David perform live in more than 30 years so I’m going to hightail it into Montreal to see the show there.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Andy Statman -- Old Brooklyn

My review of Old Brooklyn by Andy Statman for The Forward is now available on their Arty Semite blog.

--Mike Regenstreif

Andy Statman in Montreal

I wish I could be in Montreal tomorrow night when the Montreal Jewish Music Festival, presented by KlezKanada, presents a concert with Andy Statman, one of my favourite instrumentalists – on both the mandolin and the clarinet. Andy is a virtuoso in bluegrass and klezmer music and in new Jewish music and jazz.

The show is Thursday, September 1, 7:30 pm, at the Rialto Theatre, 5723 Park Avenue. Yiddish folk singer Abby Rosenfeld opens the concert. Call 514-770-7773 for tickets.

Andy is also giving a bluegrass mandolin masterclass at the Rialto at 4:30 pm.

Here is my review of two Andy Statman albums that appeared in Sing Out! Magazine in 2007.

ANDY STATMAN

Awakening from Above

Shefa 3002

ANDY STAMAN

East Flatbush Blues

Shefa 3001

Awakening from Above and East Flatbush Blues are two very different albums recorded by Andy Statman.  On the former, he plays clarinet and, on one tune, mandolin while on the latter, he plays mandolin and, on one tune, clarinet. On both, he’s supported by the highly creative rhythm section of Jim Whitney on double bass and Larry Eagle on drums and percussion. The differences are in the origins of their respective repertoires and in the primary instrument played by Statman on each disc, but the two albums are linked by the virtuosity of Statman and his accompanists, and by their obviously deep commitment to the respective musics.

Awakening from Above is a deeply spiritual collection of Jewish music. Unlike most of today’s contemporary Klezmer musicians whose approach to the music is essentially cultural, Statman approaches the melodies as an expression of his Chasidic religiosity. Many of them are based on the Chasidic tradition of wordless songs, or niggunim. Closing your eyes, Statman’s clarinet assumes the role of the rabbi’s voice singing a niggun to his followers gathered around the table after a Sabbath meal. Whitney and Eagle assume the roles of those followers who clap out the rhythms and add their voices to that of the leader.

Although I’m a secular Jew, there is something about Statman’s playing of these religious melodies that stirs me very deeply and seems to take me back to a time when the lives of my ancestors in the Eastern Europe of the 18th and 19th centuries were defined by their religion. There is a profound understanding of this music, and where it comes from, that is communicated through Statman’s virtuoso playing. More than once after listening to this album, I’ve needed to sit for a while in silent contemplation.

The 12 tunes on East Flatbush Waltz include traditional favorites like “Arkansas Traveler” and “Golden Slippers,” Bill Monroe classics like “Rawhide” and “Blue Grass Stomp,” and several of Statman’s own compositions. Bluegrass music is the obvious starting point, and Statman’s playing frequently shows that his masterful bluegrass technique takes a back seat to no one, but his approach in playing the music will certainly not sit well with purists who cannot fathom a band that departs from the standard line-up of mandolin, banjo, guitar, fiddle and bass.  No, Statman and company approach the music as highly creative jazz players.  Bluegrass, in effect, is the inspiration and the starting point for some amazing flights of musical imagination and improvisation. Their 10 minute version of “Old Joe Clark” takes the tune to places it’s never been before with an intensity it’s never had before. While this may not be an album for bluegrass purists, it is an album for someone who purely loves music.  ---Mike Regenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif