If eclecticism equaled commercialism, David Bromberg would be one of America’s biggest artists.
But it doesn’t and he isn’t. And instead, Americana’s best-kept, 50-year-old secret keeps the quality high with Big Road.
Recording with his eponymous Band – Mark Cosgrove (guitar, mandolin, vocals) Nate Grower (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) Josh Kanusky (drums, vocals) and Suavek Zaniesienko (bass, vocals), plus keys, horns, accordion and producer Larry Campbell on pedal steel – Bromberg, himself a multi-instrumentalist, covers the full range of American music in 12 tracks running nearly an hour.
Much of the LP was recorded live in the studio and comes with a DVD of five of those performances. In the between-takes commentary, Bromberg praises Campbell as the only person who understands all the kinds of music they sought to record.
There’s gospel in the a cappella-and-handclaps harmony of “Standing in the Need of Prayer;” big-band country-blues on Charlie Rich’s “Who Will the Next Fool Be?;” Bakersfield-styled country on Bromberg’s “George, Merle & Conway;” a medley of bluegrass instrumentals; and a Rev. Gary Davis soundalike in the form of Bromberg’s solo rendition of “Mary Jane.”
Throughout it all, Bromberg sings like Willie Nelson with a baritone – sporting the same quaver, the same emotional breaks in his voice and the same conviction. This comes especially in handy on the 11-minute “Diamond Lil,” a re-recorded Bromberg composition that bemoans hard living and features a stunning electric-guitar duet between Bromberg and Cosgrove among its many instrumental passages and the same tight vocal harmonies that buoy “Prayer.”
“You don’t mind gettin’ high, boy/but good god, the comin’ down/a man should never gamble/more than he can stand to lose,” Bromberg and Band sing.
Bromberg, 74, seemingly bet it all on Big Road. And the listeners are the big winners.
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