Bobby Broom: Keyed Up

  Guitarist Bobby Broom played with Sonny Rollins from 1981-1986 and again from 2006-2009. On record, he’s appeared with organist Charlie Earland, saxophonists David Murray and Eric Alexander, and New Orleans star Dr. John. Broom has also found the time to lead his own groups, mostly in a trio format. Since his 2001 session on Premonition Records, his bandmates have been Dennis Carroll on bass and Kobie Watkins on drums. For his latest project, Keyed Up, Justin Dillard joins the group on piano and organ, fitting in well and thickening the group sound. Broom’s pungent tone and quickly flowing single note runs full of surprising twists and turns are always a delight. For this date, he’s picked some fine material to showcase, with all but one of the tunes written by pianists. In his liner notes, Broom wrotes that the “occurrence of high-caliber pianists who saw something in my playing that caused them to want to support and collaborate with me is a recurring theme in my musical life.” He discusses the role of James Williams, who composed the relaxing ballad Soulful Bill. He was a mentor to Broom, and the reason he got an opportunity to perform with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1980. Curiously, though, aside from this mention in the liner notes, there are no composer credits on the package. Bud Powell’s Hallucinations (a/k/a Budo) leads things off with a potent dose of hard-driving swing. That’s just one of the high points of the set. Another is Horace Silver’s Quicksilver, with a pair of exuberant guitar solos sandwiched around a chorus from Dillard’s piano. One of everybody’s favorite tunes is Erroll Garner’s Misty, with nearly one thousand renditions listed in the online Jazz Discography. Keeping their emphasis on the attractive melody, Broom and crew take it nice and slow. The guitarist solos first before turning the spotlight over to Dillard on piano. Broom then plays a second, more exploratory solo to take the song out. A romp through Herbie Hancock’s Driftin’ has Dillard moving over to organ, with a sound closer to a Rhodes electric piano than a Hammond B-3. It’s great to hear the quartet get into a bluesy groove for Scoochie, a Booker Ervin composition, and the only song here not written by a pianist. McCoy Tyner’s Blues on the Corner, frequently revived since it first appeared on The Real McCoy (Blue Note, 1967), is heard in two takes. The second take finds the band digging into the groove with more authority and grit than on the first go-round, with Carroll and Watkins making the most of their solo spots both times around. Keyed Up is a real pleasure from start to finish. 

Steele Records SR 002/CSM 0119; Bobby Broom (g) Justin Dillard (p, Hammond SKX org) Dennis Carroll (b) Kobie Watkins (d); August 31-September 3, 2021; Hallucinations (a/k/a Budo)/ Second Thoughts/ Humpty Dumpty/ Soulful Bill/ Quicksilver/ Misty/ Driftin’/ Blues on the Corner (take 2)/ Scoochie/ Blues on the Corner (take 1); 57:05. www.bobbybroom.com