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Boundary Crossing |
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Bob Brozman (USA)
Song : Bahu Dur Dur
Album : Mahima with Debashish Bhattacharya (World Music Network, UK)
Visit : &
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The logo on his website says it all quite succinctly - a silhouette of a man racing round the planet swinging a guitar case in each hand. For Brozman, boundaries were made to be crossed.
"I'm completely jetlagged since about 1985," the hyperactive hippie king of world music collaborations quipped at a recent workshop. A brief look at his prolific career over the last two decades makes the comment seem like no exaggeration.
Born in New York in 1954, Brozman began playing guitars aged just six. By the time he was thirteen, he'd discovered his trademark instrument - the National Resonator. So it seemed a foregone conclusion that he should then be drawn to the Delta blues, which later became the focus of his studies in music and ethnomusicology at Washington University.
He made his first solo album in 1981 and his burgeoning love of Hawaiian sounds found its first expression in 1989 on The Tau Moe Family with Bob Brozman. This enchanting CD set in motion a staggeringly diverse series of collaborative projects which continues to this day in parallel with his career as a solo performer, producer, collector of rare 78s and published author.
Brozman's fourteen partnerships to date have resulted in albums with Guinean kora maestro Jali Moussa Jawara, Hawaiian slack key masters Led Kaapana and Cyril Pahinui, La Réunion-based accordionist and guitarist René Lacaille and - perhaps most celebrated - two with Okinawan oddball Takashi Hirayasu. His most recent effort is Mahima (2003), an often dazzling second encounter with Indian slide guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya and his siblings Sutapa and Subhashis.
It's been said that Brozman gives fusion a good name, but there's just one problem … where on earth to file his joint albums? Under B for Brozman or the names of the people he works with? Perhaps his oft-stated approach to what he does provides a clue: "I try and meet whoever I work with three quarters of the way towards them, not half way."
Jon Lusk 2003
 Read other peoples comments
Bob Brozman is to me THE symbol of the richness one can get from the fusion between cultures. I saw him at WOMAD festival 2003 in New Zealand and I could talk to him... WOW, he's a really incredible character full of wisdom, tolerance and skills. Everybody should learn from him.
Yvan Richard
Bob's selfless approach to his many collaborations is to be respected and admired and this union is yet another gem in his very eclectic career.
rick heritage
If you've never seen Bob play live, you're missing out! He is the master National player. (He also does the most fantastic version of "Love in vain" that'll make any fellow player want to saw their guitar in half!)
Gareth
I first heard of Bob in Guitar Player magazine. I've always loved slide playing, so I had to check him out. I've been a fan ever since. He has amazing technique and the ability to connect with an audience. He's got me listening to Hawaiian music too.
Bilko
Putting aside the fact that Bob Brozman may well be the slide guitar master of the universe, some whisper, a musical savant. It should be noted that thoughout his world peregrinations he has remained focused and keenly interested in fostering a relationship with other cultures and their music. A great musical communicator and the essence of "Boundary Crossing."
billkeitel
Unvarnished Music Festival
bill keitel
I've been listening to Bob Brozman since the early 1990s when I first saw him in the back of the Dublin Castle pub in Camden Town. A great musician, raconteur, enthusiast, musical evangelist. Always informative, fun and entertaining live - and every album is different.
Simon Warschauer
An astounding musician every album is a treat
david
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