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Bobby Broom is a veteran jazz guitarist, bandleader, composer and sideman, who is highly regarded among his peers as a compelling soloist in the tradition of Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, and
Kenny Burrell. Based in Chicago,
Broom has, since the very beginning of his career, embraced the rhythm and blues core of jazz. A professional since age 16,
Broom lent his talents to recordings and performances by everyone from
Sonny Rollins and
Dave Grusin to
Miles Davis and
Dr. John just to name a few. As a bandleader, his recordings have underscored his innate ability to render complex ideas and techniques accessible to a wide range of listeners.
Clean Sweep, his 1981 debut album, placed on the R&B charts and remained there for nine weeks. It was drenched in funk, R&B, and smooth jazz, even as his playing displayed classic hard bop phrasing and licks. His 2009 offering
Bobby Broom Plays for Monk, resonated for its startling arrangments and accessible approach while directly relating the composer's sometimes difficult conception to rhythm and harmony.
Broom was born on January 18, 1961, and raised in New York City. Introduced to jazz at early age (via
Charles Earland's 1971
Black Talk),
Broom took up the guitar shortly thereafter, resulting in playing in off-Broadway productions, gigs with
Charlie Parker alumni/pianists
Al Haig and
Walter Bishop, Jr., and an invitation to join
Sonny Rollins' band (he had to turn down the latter, choosing to listen to his parents' advice and complete high school before pursuing music full-time). After attending the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston,
Broom returned to New York, where he worked with
Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, trumpeters
Tom Browne and
Hugh Masakela, and pianist
Dave Grusin before issuing his first solo album, 1981's
Clean Sweep.
In 1982, several years after his initial invitation from
Sonny Rollins,
Broom would rejoin him to work with the jazz legend for five years of touring and the recordings
No Problem and
Reel Life. In 1987,
Broom worked with
Kenny Burrell in his Jazz Guitar Band and recorded
Generation live at the Village Vanguard for Blue Note. That same year he was also invited to join
Miles Davis' band, which lasted for a handful of performances.
Broom relocated to Chicago in 1984, where he would eventually form his own trio and co-lead
the Deep Blue Organ Trio (with Chris Foreman and
Greg Rockingham). It was also where he would come full circle in meeting and working with
Charles Earland, another newly transplanted Chicago resident. Together they recorded Front Burner and Third Degree Burn. Just before his untimely death in 1999,
Earland had planned to form a trio with
Broom and drummer
Rockingham. During the '90s
Broom collaborated with
Dr. John, touring and making recordings, including
Duke Elegant, which he co-produced.
Over the years
Broom also became active in jazz education, beginning in 1982 when he taught for
Jackie McLean's jazz program at the University of Hartford. He completed graduate work in jazz pedagogy at Northwestern University in 2005, and taught at DePaul University. Also in 2005, after 20 years,
Broom resumed work with his old boss and mentor
Sonny Rollins. Two years later,
Broom returned with the pop covers album
Song and Dance, followed in 2007 by the Latin-infused
Passport Not Required featuring
Alexandre Pires and
Sergio Pires.
In 2009,
Broom investigated the compositions of pianist
Thelonious Monk with
Bobby Broom Plays for Monk. He then returned to his adventurous original compositions for the trio album,
Upper West Side Story, in 2012. In 2014,
Broom delivered a no-less adventurous exploration of American Songbook standards with
My Shining Hour leading a trio that included bassist
Dennis Carroll, and drummer
Makaya McCraven. Over the next threee years,
Broom spent his time touring and bonding with his young son. In 2017 he issued the direct-to-web album Throwback (Home Demos 1992-1996). He followed it in the fall of 2018 with
Soul Fingers, that showcased his Organi-Sation trio (
Ben Paterson, Hammond B-3;
Kobie Watkins, drums) in a swinging program of tunes from the late-'60s and early-'70s -- pop hits from
the Beatles,
Procol Harum,
Bobbie Gentry, and
Steely Dan in classic soul-jazz fashion. ~ Greg Prato & Sean Westergaard