Bobby Broom
Encyclopedia
Bobby Broom birthname Robert Broom, Jr., is an American jazz
guitarist
, composer
and educator born and raised in New York City
. Broom performs and records with jazz saxophone
legend Sonny Rollins
as well as his Bobby Broom Trio and the Deep Blue Organ Trio
. While versed in the bebop idiom, Broom, like many current artists, draws from a variety of American music forms such as funk, soul, R&B and the blues to create his style.
Folk music
style. A year later, he began studies with jazz guitarist Jimmy Carter in Harlem
, where
he took weekly lessons for the next two years. His interest in jazz began in earnest at age 15 and as a result he began his research, study and practice of the jazz art.
Broom attended the High School of Music and Art (now known as Laguardia High School of Performing Arts
), where he played in the jazz ensemble and received an award for Outstanding Jazz Improvisation during his senior year.
Broom began his career while still in high school, performing at New York clubs with Charlie Parker
pianists, Al Haig
and Walter Bishop Junior
. In 1977 he played at Carnegie Hall
in a concert with Sonny Rollins
and special guest Donald Byrd
.
He went to the Berklee School of Music from 1978–79, then returned to New York in order to pursue his career while attending Long Island University
. At this time he began working in New York as guitarist for Art Blakey
and The Jazz Messengers, Dave Grusin
, Hugh Masakela and Tom Browne, eventually landing his own recording contract with GRP Records.
, early George Benson
and Pat Martino
and others such as Kenny Burrell and Grant Green. Broom's career has included work with Max Roach
, Stanley Turrentine
, Kenny Garrett
, Miles Davis
, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland
, Dr. John
, Kenny Burrell
, Eric Alexander and Ramsey Lewis
, among others.
In the mid 1980s Broom relocated to Chicago
where he went on to tour and record with many of the aforementioned musicians. In Chicago, he also formed the Bobby Broom Trio in 1990 and the Deep Blue Organ Trio in 1999.
Among Bobby Broom's recordings as a leader is his trio's 2001 release, Stand!, a recording of unlikely interpretations of 60s and 70s pop and soul classics which received praise for staying true to the creative demands of authentic modern jazz. Jambands online magazine writes: "Stand!"'s theme works well for Broom — it adds accessibility to the set without getting in the way of documenting a skilled trio in its natural element. Further examples of Broom's foray into the developing American Song Book can be found on his other recent recordings as well as on recordings by The Deep Blue Organ Trio (see discography).
As an educator, Broom began his work in 1982 for Jackie McLean
, Director of African American Music at Studies for the Hartt School
of Music at the University of Hartford
. Over the years Broom has also been a lecturer/instructor at the American Conservatory of Music
(1986–1990), Chicago Musical College
— Roosevelt University (1990–1994) and The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (1987) and most recently at DePaul University
(2002–2008). He currently teaches for the Ravinia Festival Organization — Music In The Schools/Jazz Mentor Community Outreach Program, as well as the Thelonious Monk Institute.
In 2005 Broom joined Sonny Rollins once again as a regular member of his touring band. He performed and recorded with Rollins until the spring of 2010. During this tenure Broom continued to increase his visibility as a leader, producing three recordings under his own name and another with the Deep Blue Organ Trio (their third). His latest trio record and Broom's eighth lead album, released on June 16, 2009, Bobby Broom Plays for Monk explores the music composed and performed by jazz icon, Thelonious Monk. The trio of Broom, bassist Dennis Carroll, and drummer Kobie Watkins "...turns what could have easily been a pedestrian "tribute" record into an inspired, swinging affair", says Jon Regan in Billboard magazine. And Ted Gioia of Jazz.com writes: "Broom shows again that he is one of the most musical guitarists of our times...".
With Deep Blue Organ Trio
With David Murray
With others
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and educator born and raised in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Broom performs and records with jazz saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
legend Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
as well as his Bobby Broom Trio and the Deep Blue Organ Trio
Deep Blue Organ Trio
The Deep Blue Organ Trio is a Chicago based jazz organ trio made up of jazz guitarist Bobby Broom, Hammond B3 organist Chris Foreman and drummer Greg Rockingham...
. While versed in the bebop idiom, Broom, like many current artists, draws from a variety of American music forms such as funk, soul, R&B and the blues to create his style.
Early years
Broom began studying the guitar at age 13, taking lessons in the AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
style. A year later, he began studies with jazz guitarist Jimmy Carter in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, where
he took weekly lessons for the next two years. His interest in jazz began in earnest at age 15 and as a result he began his research, study and practice of the jazz art.
Broom attended the High School of Music and Art (now known as Laguardia High School of Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts is a high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center and the Juilliard School in the Lincoln Center district of Manhattan, on Amsterdam Avenue...
), where he played in the jazz ensemble and received an award for Outstanding Jazz Improvisation during his senior year.
Broom began his career while still in high school, performing at New York clubs with Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
pianists, Al Haig
Al Haig
Alan Warren Haig was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop.Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey...
and Walter Bishop Junior
Walter Bishop, Jr.
Walter Bishop, Jr. was an American bop and hard bop jazz pianist.He was the son of composer Walter Bishop, Sr.. In high school his friends included Kenny Drew, Sonny Rollins, and Art Taylor...
. In 1977 he played at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in a concert with Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
and special guest Donald Byrd
Donald Byrd
Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II, is an American jazz and rhythm and blues trumpeter. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd is best known as one of the only bebop jazz musicians who successfully pioneered the funk and soul genres while simultaneously remaining a...
.
He went to the Berklee School of Music from 1978–79, then returned to New York in order to pursue his career while attending Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
. At this time he began working in New York as guitarist for Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
and The Jazz Messengers, Dave Grusin
Dave Grusin
David Grusin is an American composer, arranger and pianist. Grusin has composed many scores for feature films and television, and has won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including an Academy award and 12 Grammys...
, Hugh Masakela and Tom Browne, eventually landing his own recording contract with GRP Records.
Career
Bobby Broom is becoming increasingly noted for his personal approach to the jazz legacy that influenced him, which includes the groundwork laid by his childhood jazz-guitar heroes, Wes MontgomeryWes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
, early George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
and Pat Martino
Pat Martino
Pat Martino is an Italian-American jazz guitarist and composer within the post bop, fusion, mainstream jazz, soul jazz and hard bop idioms.-Biography:...
and others such as Kenny Burrell and Grant Green. Broom's career has included work with Max Roach
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel "Max" Roach was an American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer.A pioneer of bebop, Roach went on to work in many other styles of music, and is generally considered alongside the most important drummers in history...
, Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
, Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Charles Earland
Charles Earland
Charles Earland was an American jazz composer, organist, and saxophonist in the soul jazz idiom.-Biography:...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell
Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
, Eric Alexander and Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
, among others.
In the mid 1980s Broom relocated to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
where he went on to tour and record with many of the aforementioned musicians. In Chicago, he also formed the Bobby Broom Trio in 1990 and the Deep Blue Organ Trio in 1999.
Among Bobby Broom's recordings as a leader is his trio's 2001 release, Stand!, a recording of unlikely interpretations of 60s and 70s pop and soul classics which received praise for staying true to the creative demands of authentic modern jazz. Jambands online magazine writes: "Stand!"'s theme works well for Broom — it adds accessibility to the set without getting in the way of documenting a skilled trio in its natural element. Further examples of Broom's foray into the developing American Song Book can be found on his other recent recordings as well as on recordings by The Deep Blue Organ Trio (see discography).
As an educator, Broom began his work in 1982 for Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean
John Lenwood McLean was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in New York City.-Biography:McLean's father, John Sr., played guitar in Tiny Bradshaw's orchestra...
, Director of African American Music at Studies for the Hartt School
Hartt School
The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre...
of Music at the University of Hartford
University of Hartford
The University of Hartford is a private, independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The degree programs at the University of Hartford hold the highest levels of accreditation available in the US, including the Engineering Accreditation Commission of...
. Over the years Broom has also been a lecturer/instructor at the American Conservatory of Music
American Conservatory of Music
The American Conservatory of Music was a major American school of music founded in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt . The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It was located in Chicago until 1991 when its Board of Trustees — chaired by Frederic Wilbur Hickman...
(1986–1990), Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College
Chicago Musical College is a division of Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt UniversityIt was founded in 1867, less than four decades after the city of Chicago was incorporated...
— Roosevelt University (1990–1994) and The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (1987) and most recently at DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
(2002–2008). He currently teaches for the Ravinia Festival Organization — Music In The Schools/Jazz Mentor Community Outreach Program, as well as the Thelonious Monk Institute.
In 2005 Broom joined Sonny Rollins once again as a regular member of his touring band. He performed and recorded with Rollins until the spring of 2010. During this tenure Broom continued to increase his visibility as a leader, producing three recordings under his own name and another with the Deep Blue Organ Trio (their third). His latest trio record and Broom's eighth lead album, released on June 16, 2009, Bobby Broom Plays for Monk explores the music composed and performed by jazz icon, Thelonious Monk. The trio of Broom, bassist Dennis Carroll, and drummer Kobie Watkins "...turns what could have easily been a pedestrian "tribute" record into an inspired, swinging affair", says Jon Regan in Billboard magazine. And Ted Gioia of Jazz.com writes: "Broom shows again that he is one of the most musical guitarists of our times...".
As leader
- Clean Sweep, 1981 GRP/Arista Records
- 1961, 1993 (Unreleased)
- No Hype Blues, 1995 Criss Cross Jazz
- Waiting and Waiting, 1997 Criss Cross Jazz
- Stand, 2001 Premonition Records
- Modern Man, 2001 Delmark Records
- Song and Dance, 2007 Origin Records
- The Way I Play, 2008 Origin Records
- Bobby Broom Plays for Monk, 2009 Origin Records
As sideman
With Sonny RollinsSonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
- Sonny, PleaseSonny, PleaseSonny, Please is a 2006 album by jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins. It was released on the Doxy label and features performances by Rollins, Clifton Anderson, Bobby Broom, Bob Cranshaw, Steve Jordan, Kimati Dinizulu, and Joe Corsello.-Reception:...
, 2006 Doxy Records - Reel Life, 1983 Fantasy Records
- No Problem, 1981 Fantasy RecordsFantasy RecordsFantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
With Deep Blue Organ Trio
Deep Blue Organ Trio
The Deep Blue Organ Trio is a Chicago based jazz organ trio made up of jazz guitarist Bobby Broom, Hammond B3 organist Chris Foreman and drummer Greg Rockingham...
- Folk Music, 2007 Origin Records
- Goin' To Town — Live at the Green Mill, 2006 Delmark Records CD and DVD
- Deep Blue Bruise, 2004 Delmark Records
With David Murray
- The Tip, 1994 DIW
- Jug-A-LugJug-A-LugJug-A-Lug is an album by David Murray released on the Japanese DIW label. Recorded in 1994 and released in 1995 the album features performances by Murray with Olu Dara, Robert Irving III, Bobby Broom, Daryl Thompson, Darryl Jones, Toby Williams and Kahil El'Zabar.-Reception:The Allmusic review...
, 1994 DIW
With others
- Duke Elegant, 2000 Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
(with Dr. John) - Eric Alexander in Europe, 1995 Criss Cross Jazz
- Cubism, 1992 Fresh Sound Records (with Ronnie Cuber)
- Third Degree Burn, 1989 Milestone Records (with Charles Earland)
- Front Burner, 1988 Milestone Records (with Charles Earland)
- Pieces of Blue and The Blues, 1987 Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
(Kenny Burrell & The Jazz Guitar Band) - Generation, 1986 Blue Note RecordsBlue Note RecordsBlue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
(Kenny Burrell & The Jazz Guitar Band, w/ Rodney Jones) - Livin' For The Beat, 1984 Arista RecordsArista RecordsArista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
- Home Again, 1982 Elektra Records (with Stanley Turrentine)
- Pied Piper, 1981 GRP/Arista Records (with Dave Valentine)
- Love Approach, 1981 GRP/Arista Records (with Tom Browne)
- Orange Express, 1981 Sony Japan (with Sadao Watanabe)
- Dave Grusin and the GRP All Stars Live in Japan, 1980 GRP/Arista Records