Bob Brozman - Blues Reflex

It’s been a while since I last purchased a blues record, so I thought I’d let you know of my feelings on Bob Brozman’s latest solo release Blues Reflex. First of all, although this is mostly a solo record (there are three tracks with drums as well as Bob’s guitars) it’s not the equivalent of a live solo performance in the sense that Bob sometimes uses several guitar layers to emulate a rhythm + lead combo. It is mostly constituted of vocal tracks although there are a few instrumentals.

I’ve enjoyed Bob Brozman's music ever since I discovered him on an obscure French TV channel eight years ago. It was a filmed solo live performance, and it totally blew my mind: his musicianship, humour and iconoclastic approach to music immediately appealed to me. Although I own most of his studio records, I have to say that few of them hold up to the appeal he has live, and although I do find a few gems in each of these albums, on the whole I find them repetitive and often a little too showy.

In recent years, Bob Brozman’s output has been mostly with guests from all around the world, and on these records he often sounds more subdued and very respectful of the musical traditions and baggage of his guests. Among these is my favourite of all his recordings, oddly enough a fully instrumental album recorded with fellow guitarist and lover of early guitaristic traditions Woody Mann. That record, Get Together, is a marvel of musicality, a collaboration in which Brozman’s amazing technique is fully and wholeheartedly dedicated to the music and showmanship is absolutely absent.

Although I wouldn’t say that Blues Reflex is quite at the same level, it’s a pleasant surprise on the whole. Of course, don’t let the title of the record fool you, Brozman has never, at least in recent years, released a record that sounds like that good old blues people used to play sitting on their back porch. He’s too much of a deconstructionist for that, but that’s one of the reasons I love his music. Blues Reflex, however, is more sober and has more consistency than Bob’s earlier albums, and the relative bareness of the music brings the more subtle aspects of his playing forward in a way I had not heard previously except on the wonderful track Down the Road from Devil’s Slide.

The best tracks are those where Brozman only plays one guitar. Rattlesnake Blues, the second piece is, in that respect, quite amazing. It’s heavily syncopated with alternating bass and lead notes, and quirky enough that Bob’s wildly gruff vocals don’t clash with the music. There are interesting rhythmic breaks and the sharp variations in intensity that Brozman so efficiently uses live. This sharpness is less tangible on some of the tracks where Bob plays rhythm and overdubs the lead, the rhythm is often a little too complex and atypical not to be intrusive. It strongly diminishes the efficiency of Dead Cat on the Line, for example, the track which opens the record. 

One of the usual limits of Brozman’s solo work is that he has trouble evoking a mood other than exhilaration. He’s amazing at projecting that particular emotion, and all his technique, from the flurry of notes to the neo-Hawaiian high-pitched slides to the sudden rhythmic breaks and changes seems geared in that direction. However, when it comes to suggesting a subtler melancholy, or even downright sadness, these combinations of quirky shifts rarely help. Furthermore, Brozman’s voice, while accurate, isn’t exactly emotional. On the whole, Blues Reflex is no exception, and you shouldn’t expect to be moved to tears or driven towards melancholy listening to this record. That being said, Blues Reflex is probably the most sober of Bob’s solo records, and some tracks are a lot more subdued than what he has accustomed his listeners to. Instrumentals like It’s Mercy we Need and even vocal tracks like Death Come Creepin’ and are actually quite sombre.

Despite these limitations, Blues Reflex is a very enjoyable record with a great sound and an overall joyous mood that may offend those who believe the original material covered here should be played as intended but will dazzle and please those who have no such qualms. It’s more focused and a little more sober than most of his earlier stuff, and while not perfect, if it’s an indication of the directions Bob Brozman is steering towards, it’s also a great omen of things to come.

Purchase Blues Reflex from Amazon.com