David Bromberg
Try Me One More Time
“The extraordinary folk-blues guitarist David Bromberg has strolled back into the spotlight as abruptly as he resigned from it nearly three decades ago . . . His delightful new solo acoustic set . . . is Bromberg’s first album since 1989. . . . The fluid, orchestral invention of Bromberg’s fingerpicking . . . is in undiminished bloom, invigorating sturdy old blues and ballads . . . A recent surprise is Bromberg’s singing. His old, shaky rodeo-hand yelp – which had its eccentric charm – has settled into a rippling Fred Neil-like baritone that . . . brings warm, reassuring comfort.”
– David Fricke, Rolling Stone |
“Bromberg’s relaxed confidence, both as a picker and a singer, lets him appreciate Robert Johnson’s humor and reveal the pathos in the ambiguity of a song by fingerpicking pioneer Elizabeth Cotton. A master with nothing left to prove to himself or others, Bromberg made this album to enjoy, not to impress. Though, naturally, it accomplishes both. (3/1-2 stars out of 4)”
– Brian Mansfield, USA Today |
“. . . A flawless set of solo country blues performances . . . a jaw-dropping tour de force. Bromberg makes it sound as if it's all in a day's work, telling the stories at the heart of these songs. He knows the characters and articulates their feelings. He alone knows how hilarious Robert Johnson can be. He understands why Dylan belongs alongside the Rev. Gary Davis. It's just Bromberg, his guitar and some old songs, but the level of nuance and accomplishment he brings to the party make his welcome return to recording something of a minor masterpiece.”
– Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle |
“Bromberg’s guitar playing is as agile as ever, and his song choices are astute: tales of death, sex and struggle that sound astonishingly relevant, funny and moving stripped to their essence. But the album’s biggest revelation is his singing. Bromberg’s vocals sound bigger, freer and friskier than ever.”
– Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune |
“The best traditional folk album of 2007 may have arrived early this year. It is hard to imagine a more beautifully played, pristinely recorded album, or songs sung with more heart and soul. David Bromberg’s voice is a little deeper than you may remember it, both in pitch and emotion. It still breaks, quavers and bends in all of the right places but now he lingers just a little longer on the words savoring their sounds and meaning. He sings the blues with the ache of a man that’s been around, and the traditional songs with the wisdom of a man who’s lived with them for most of his life. Bromberg’s trademark finger-style playing has similarly matured. Intricate licks are graceful, bass runs lay down the rhythm and slides bend and sustain to wrest every once of expression from the melody. The songs are mostly traditional with Bromberg’s notes in the album detailing their often twisted pedigrees. . . . This album is obviously a labor of love, as are so many of the recordings on Appleseed, and a crowning achievement in the long career of a true and fine musician. Essential!”
– Michael Devlin, Music Matters Review |
“The masterful acoustic picking on the new record . . . will not, be assured, strike anyone as the work of someone long out of practice. And the singing, well, that’s notably more resonant and full than it had ever been in Bromberg’s big-label youth.”
– Barry Mazor, No Depression |
“The all acoustic contents of Try Me One More Time bespeaks a modern DIY effort and the old ‘make what you need’ ethos. [Bromberg is] still singing and playing stuff by the old masters like Robert Johnson, Rev. Gary Davis, and Elizabeth Cotten, as well as several traditional songs in a country blues style that seems as old as the hills and as immediate as the smell when you open the door and know that you’ve arrived home. Bromberg has always been a fine picker, and he shines on the two spirited instrumentals, the traditional tunes ‘Buck Dancer’s Choice’ and ‘Hey Bub.’ They last less than two minutes each, but the works convey a craftsman’s precision and an artist’s soul. This has always been true of his work. Bromberg understands the importance of not playing too fast and still keeping things moving at a deft pace. That’s a difficult groove for a guitar player to find. . . . Bromberg also takes the other tack on ‘Moonshiner,’ which he performs a cappella. His voice has a grainy timbre edged with the resonance of barely contained laughter, like he can’t believe anyone would ever want to hear him sing. But that gives Bromberg an infectious sound . . . The best cuts are simply the best songs, and they are not all that different from the material he recorded when first starting out. Bromberg superbly covers Dylan’s ‘It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,’ Rev. Davis’ ‘Trying to Get Home’ and Cotten’s ‘Shake Sugaree.’ . . . Bromberg makes you understand the beauty and the aches of being lonely, and the fact that we are each of us all alone even when we are one with the world.”
– Steve Horowitz, PopMatters.com |
“. . . Try Me is a breathtaking work of art from a master guitarist and gifted singer-songwriter whose unfaltering grasp on the traditions of folk, blues, rock and jug band music reveal he’s lost nothing in his ability to breathe new life into all of them. . . . Bromberg’s finger picking and resulting tone are still things to die for, augmented by his folk-ish-sounding, earthy baritone that’s as welcoming as a well overdue summer’s breeze.”
– Eric Thom, Exclaim! Magazine,Canada |
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