It was mainly about the music and just wanting to get it right.

~ Bobby Broom ~

Bobby Broom Interview on Practice (mp3)

Bobby Broom is a jazz guitarist you should know about.  He’s a great guy and a fantastic musician, but you don’t need to take my word for it. His latest album with The Deep Blue Organ Trio, Wonderful!, celebrates the music of Stevie Wonder and has been at the top of the jazz charts this fall. Musicians with more street cred than me also like his playing. Bobby Broom has played with several of the grand-masters of jazz: Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Kenny Burrell, and a lot of others.

Bobby lives and plays in Chicago and tours nationally and internationally with his groups, including The Deep Blue Organ Trio and The Bobby Broom Trio, and he sometimes appears with other great Chicago musicians like the Pharez Whitted Sextet. You gotta go hear him do his thing live if you get the chance. If you’re in Chicago, you can catch him on Tuesdays at The Green Mill with The Deep Blue Organ Trio. Check out Bobby’s web site for more information on his upcoming shows.

Huge thanks to Bobby for taking the time to chat about practice and allowing his thoughts to be shared. Thanks so much!

Recommended albums:

• Bobby Broom Trio (you should get all of them, really, but here are my favorites):
  • Bobby Broom Plays for Monk (get this one!  CD, mp3), especially excellent is their arrangement of Evidence
  • Song and Dance
• The Deep Blue Organ Trio
  • Wonderful!: celebrates the music of Stevie Wonder. This album is getting all kinds of attention and was/is one of the most-played jazz albums in the country soon after its release. Great stuff! (CD, mp3)
  • Deep Blue Bruise

Interesting/Useful stuff from the Interview:

• Wes Montgomery
  • samples of WM’s albums (mp3)
  • recommended:
    • Smokin’ at the Half Note
    • Boss Guitar
    • Full House
• George Benson
  • the album Bad Benson
  • other GB albums
• Sonny Rollins (info, CD, mp3)
• Miles Davis (info, CD, mp3)
• Kenny Burrell (info, CD, mp3)
• One version of the 5 fingerings for the major scale on guitar
• One of the Bobby Broom Trio gigs at Pete Miller’s (Can’t Buy Me Love plays while BB talks about the excellent album Song and Dance)
• The Green Mill
  • A Tuesday gig at the Green Mill with the Deep Blue Organ Trio
• Barry Harris‘s book The Harmonic Method for Jazz Guitar (also check out his  master class DVD from NYU)
• Bobby Broom’s Blog
• A Blog Supreme interview on Broom’s album Plays for Monk (with Dennis Carroll on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums)

Here’s Bobby taking a solo in the tune The Way You Look Tonight with the stellar Deep Blue Organ Trio at The Green Mill in Chicago where they play every Tuesday:

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