1981 Bob Brozman "Blue Hula Stomp"

 Ahhhhh.....Bob Brozman, a favourite for years. I didn't even know what album to post...I enjoy his entire body of work. That being the case, I've decided to post his first, released in 1981, on the Kicking Mule label.

What to say....hmmmm...Brozman is a guitar genius....also a linguist, anthropologist, and ethnomusicologist.

 He performs in a number of styles such as blues Gypsy jazz,  calypso, ragtime, Hawaiian and Caribbean music, also regularly collaborating with musicians from such diverse cultural backgrounds as India, Africa, Japan, and New Guinea. He has been called "an instrumental wizard" and "a walking archive of 20th Century American music." He has recorded numerous albums and has won the Guitar Player Readers' Poll two years in a row in both the blues and slide guitar categories.  He is also well known for his use of National resonator instruments from the 1920s and 1930s....round and square neck guitar, and ukulele. A true master of the slide guitar....just blisteringly amazing playing. Not much more to say about him....just that the album is an amazing collection of  styles...Hawaiian, blues, jazz...some originals, also. I'll steal his own words from the liner notes:

"The music on this record is intended as a tribute to the manifold outpourings of the recording artists of the 1920s. I tend to overlap styles in a way that wasn't common back then, in order to get new music that still remains true to the old sounds. I use National resonator instruments because I have been fascinated and totally absorbed by their sound and response for over a decade; they are simply the most exciting acoustic instruments I've ever played."

I agree. I owned a National tri-cone square neck for a few years. It was one of the most unusual playing and excellent sounding instruments I've ever played. I had owned an early Gibson and an Oahu electric lap steel prior to it.....they were great to play, but the National was so much more versatile, adapting itself to so many tunings and different styles....just an amazing instrument to play.

Give this a try.....if you aren't familiar with his work, you might like it.....as I've said, he's been a big fave for years....I hope y'all enjoy it. I'm gonna post some of his later work in the upcoming weeks, including some of his collaborative efforts in world music......enjoy!

Here's the link:

http://www.4shared.com/file/vSSezJHY/bluehula.html

Here's the track list:

C Stomp Blues

Body and Soul

Hilo March

Ukulele Spaghetti

Do you call that a buddy?

Chili Blues

Paauau Waltz

Short Man's vindication

Wasting my love on you

Hano Hano Hanalei

Blue Hula Stomp Medley

Hilo Hulu

Agogostein's lament