Bob Brozman - Live In Germany

A stunner. I've danced, laughed and cried. For real.
I got this on 9/20/06 and I've watched it 3 times so far. Usually I wait longer... more spins 'round the old Victrola before I review something, but this needs a high-praising review right now.

Wow! Excellent sound, incredible performance. This is all solo Brozman. He is THE MAN. Three Nationals, 1 of his Weissenborn types of Bear Creek guitars and a charango. These are the tools of the Magic Trade, in Bob's hands.

This is deep-groove kinetic music that's all about rhythm, tone and human connection. And I don't mean "beats". I mean RHYTHM. His idea of improvising isn't just making a "jam" longer, or playing a tune the same way he always plays it but then changing the solo. Bob has found music in the spaces most American guitarists never even consider. Beyond that, he's not merely a guitarist since he plays National Tricones most of the time. He's the guy who has unleashed the sonic potential of the physics of Tricones more deeply than anyone else. Ever...

Somebody, give that man a tabla!!!
I bought this expecting just another fine program of warm Hawaiian slack key to get me past the blah end of yet another harsh New England winter. I found myself transported to a small German nightclub to sit among the lucky admirers of Bob Brozman and hear him play. The sublime and luscious lighting (often reminding me of flowers), clean camera work and sound are all top notch. Everything supports Brozman's performance beautifully.
At least on this particular night, Brozman is intense - both a genius and a madman. He pulls from blues and jazz and classical. If he was a painter, I would describe him as a cross between Dali and Jackson Pollock. He bends time and presents each selection in layer upon precise layer of variation. Seriously, along with all his other fascinating instruments I would like to see him play the tabla, even though I watched him replicate the sound perfectly by his musical (mis)treatment of his surroundings and his instruments.
After watching this...

Amazing!
I am a part-time musician and although my main instrument is the bass, I also enjoy playing other instruments, especially the guitar. I purchase a lot of live music DVDs to see how people play what they play. Bob Brozman has a unique style of playing the acoustic guitar (mostly the steel resophonic guitar but other guitars too). He plucks the strings so hard you wonder how he keeps all the strings from breaking. He's good at getting all kinds of sounds from his guitars by his very percussive way of playing and they way he uses his slide. His rhythms are pretty amazing. His vocals are rough and almost funny at times but he also uses his voice as another instrument during some of the songs. He covers blues, Hawaiian, and some "Indian" sounding styles. The show is recorded live in a small German club and occassionally the camera swings around to show the people in the audience so you get an idea how intimate the setting is. Watching this enabled me to expand my own style further.

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