Brian Bromberg

Bromberg was born on December 5, 1960, in Tucson, Arizona. His father and brother both played drums, which influenced him to take up the instrument, and at the age of 13 he began seriously pursuing a career as a drummer. Around this time, the leader of his school orchestra steered him towards the upright bass.^[1] From then on, he committed himself to a strict practice regimen and even "tested out of high school early" because of the rigorous schedule he set for himself.^[1]

Bromberg felt it was essential to gain experience playing live and he accepted virtually every gig he could get.^[2] He often played "five to seven nights a week with several different bands."^[2] In 1979, Marc Johnson, the bassist working with jazz pianist Bill Evans, heard Bromberg's playing and recommended him to saxophonist Stan Getz, who needed a new bass player. Getz auditioned Bromberg and hired him, and at the age of 19, with only six years of experience on the bass, he found himself touring internationally.^[1] Bromberg later worked with other big names in the music business, and become a producer for artists in his genre.

In March 2011, Bromberg partnered with Carvin Guitars to produce a signature model electric bass. The B24 and B25 were based on his own design, which had previously been manufactured by Peavey and Dean. In 2014, Carvin rebranded to Kiesel for most new instruments, and the Brian Bromberg model followed suit in 2015.

Bromberg's early albums were in the smooth jazz genre and his first two, New Day 1986) and Basses Loaded (1988), caught the attention of smooth jazz radio. His third album, Magic Rain (1989) "became the most played album on smooth jazz radio during the first week of its release".^[3] Bromberg's fourth record, BASSically Speaking, consisted of his oldest material re-mastered with new additions, and reached the top 5 on the radio charts and No. 7 on the Billboard sales charts.^[1]

In 1991 he put out a straightforward jazz album, It's About Time, The Acoustic Project, which reached number four on the mainstream jazz charts.^[3] He also recorded in a trio with Freddie Hubbard and Ernie Watts. After It's About Time, he returned to smooth jazz and released Brian Bromberg in 1993. The label went out of business in the week it was released.

Bromberg took a break from recording to design basses for Peavey and tour as a clinician, In 1991 he signed with Zebra Records.^[1] In February 1998, he released a new album, You Know That Feeling, recorded with Rick Braun, Joe Sample, Jeff Lorber, and Everette Harp. It became his most successful yet and was the first smooth jazz number one record of his career, producing three singles in a row that each went to number three on the charts. The album spent seventeen consecutive months on the charts, eight months in the top ten, and nearly six months in the top five. It was the fifth most-played smooth jazz album of the year. Songs from You Know That Feeling are still played on smooth jazz stations across America.^[2]

After You Know That Feeling, Bromberg's albums moved on from his smooth jazz roots. Wood (2002), produced by a Japanese label, was recorded with pianist Randy Waldman and brother David Bromberg on drums.^[4] In addition to the solo pieces, Wood and Wood 2 (with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta replacing David Bromberg) contain interpretations of music by Wayne Shorter and Woody Herman. In 2003, Bromberg made a record titled Jaco, in which he performed Jaco Pastorius songs. Two Years later (in 2005) he released Metal with drummer Joel Taylor.

Bromberg uses a piccolo bass on some of his recordings for melody lines instead of six-string guitars. This unusual instrumentation, tuned an octave higher than usual, is explained in the liner notes. "There are no guitar melodies or solos on this recording. All guitar-sounding parts are played on piccolo bass".^[5]

Bromberg has produced eight top-ten hits, seven top-five hits, and two number-one hits. He plays a 300-year-old double bass and also uses Dean, Bob Mick, Mick Donner and Peavey basses with Epifani amplification. He owns a signature edition Carvin bass.^[1]

In 2003 Bromberg formed The JB Project with Jazz Fusion drummer Akira Jimbo. Their first release Brombo! was published in 2003, featuring Otmaro Ruíz on piano, and contained a mixture of classical music (Ode To Joy by Beethoven), Jazz standards (Giant Steps by John Coltrane, So What by Miles Davis), Contemporary/Pop piecew (Mambo No. 5 by Pérez Prado, And I Love Her by John Lennon & Paul McCartney), as well as their own material. A second release, Brombo II!!, followed in 2004, and a third, Brombo III!!!, in 2017. On this album, piano players Patrice Rushen and Jeff Lorber can be heard, in addition to Otmaro Ruíz, who played on all three JB Project albums.

• A New Day (1986)
• Basses Loaded (1988)
• Magic Rain (1989)
• BASSically Speaking (1990)
• It's About Time: The Acoustic Project (1991)
• Brian Bromberg (1993)
• You Know That Feeling (1997)
• Wood (2002)
• Jaco (2002)
• Brombo! JB Project (2003)
• Choices (2004)
• Bass Freak Out (2004)
• Brombo II!! JB Project (2004)
• Metal (2005)
• Wood II (2006)
• Downright Upright (2007)
• Hands (2009)
• It Is What It Is (2009)
• Bromberg Plays Hendrix (2010)
• Compared To That (2012)
• In the Spirit of Jobim (2012)
• Full Circle (2016)
• Brombo III!!! JB Project (2017)
• Thicker Than Water (2018)
• Celebrate Me Home: The Holiday Sessions (2020)
• A Little Driving Music (2021)
• The Magic of Moonlight (2023)
• LaFaro (2024)

• Official website
• Brian Bromberg at AllMusic