Bob Brozman, Blues Reflex

Picture yourself down by the bayou: barefoot, sipping on some lemonade, eating fried gator, and listening to some serious slide guitar. Imagine that you are drifting down a gentle stream on a piece of wood with Tom Sawyer, straw dangling from your mouth. What about down in the salon where my man Bobby Brozman is jammin’ hard on the twang-banger? Did I say salon? I meant forest.

Suddenly, a deep voice starts to croon you the blues — often getting to a ridiculous point, which I was really feeling. Some songs made me feel like I was walking down to the water hole with a fishing pole made out of twigs and twine after a long day on the farm.

Brozman’s eclectic collection of songs transports you through worlds, cultures, and time. One in a long list of the guy’s albums, here Brozman shows that he is the man solo. Let’s not forget, however, that he’s played with many, including the popular Woody Mann and Djeli Moussa Diawara. The song “More Room at the Edge” is described on Brozman’s Website as “Completely new all-acoustic music-hip-hop impressionism…Funky Bolero blues…Art music…Trippy chamber music… This track features Bob playing two Kona Hawaiian guitars, tricone, Baritone tricone, a tiny Greek baglama, Chinese temple blocks, and cajon, with Greg Graber on drums.”

That gives you an idea of the types of instruments on this CD. Percussion adds more rhythm to some of the songs, but it isn’t necessary in others because of the rhythmic, percussive sounds of a baritone tricone. I doubt I’ll ever listen to this CD again, but I can appreciate it for what it is. Blues Reflex is a quality mix of the blues and worldly influences.