Can you share what first inspired you to pursue music professionally? Was it the Sam Hughes music program? Was there a defining moment or experience that set you on this path?
My father and brother played the drums, so I started playing the drums at about 2-3 years old. First, I started playing the furniture, but my folks didn’t like that, so they just let me play the drums instead of beating up the furniture! I was pretty good at drums and even worked professionally four nights a week when I was 13. It was a blast, to say the least, especially at 13 years old playing in bars!
What instrument did you start with, and at what point did you gravitate towards bass? Was bass an immediate passion for you?
I started on drums, but my parents thought it might be nice for me to play a different musical instrument, so they suggested the cello, as it is about as diametrically opposed to the drums as you can get. They thought it would be cool for me as it is also a melodic instrument. Regarding your question about Sam Hughes Elementary School, I played the cello in the orchestra at school. Sadly, I loved being in the orchestra and playing music, but the cello never felt right or natural in my hands.
When I went to Mansfield Junior High, the orchestra director heard me play the cello and came to me one day and said, "Brian, see that big bass over there? We don’t have a bass player in the orchestra. Why don’t you play the bass since we don’t have a bass player, but we have other cello players?" I know he said that because he would rather have one bad bass player than hear me try to saw my cello in half! Because I was a drummer and already had rhythm in me when I picked up the bass, I found that I also had a melody in me as well, but it took the bass to bring it out as I was already playing jazz on drums and now could play jazz on the bass. It all happened quite quickly, and I became obsessed with the bass.
You’re skilled on both upright and electric bass. Do you have a favorite between the two, or does each bring something unique to your musical expression?
Even though they are both basses and provide the same function in music, they are pretty different in sound and vibe. I love playing both because they are all a part of me and who I am, but since I started on the upright bass, it was the first bass in my life, plus the intimacy of the sound and the music I play on it, I have a soft spot in my heart for the upright bass. It can be quite an expressive and passionate instrument, for sure.
Who were some of your early musical influences? Were there specific musicians or bands that inspired your style and approach?
Back then, everyone was better than me, so in a way, they were all influences on me. Tucson was a fantastic place to grow up and live, but I wouldn’t call it a mecca of creative music, especially jazz. Although there was a fair amount of jazz in Tucson and good musicians, for genuine inspiration, I had to listen to records of the greats to be blown away by how good you can be on your instrument. I liked everyone from Buddy Rich, Jimi Hendrix, Stanley Clarke, Jaco Pastorious, all the great upright jazz bass players who inspired me, Tower of Power, Stravinsky, Ravel, Mahler, Bach, on and on and on. The list never ended, as all of them blew my mind!
How did you make the leap from an aspiring musician to a professional one? Was there a particular gig or moment that marked your big break?
That started by accident, literally! My brother was a drummer in Tucson who played professionally all the time. He was a great player. He cut his leg badly on a hiking trip but still had to play his gig that night. The beater on the bass drum pedal bounced back and hit him on the cut on his leg during his gig, and he called home to ask if I could come down and play the rest of the gig for him. I was 12 years old, and in the bathtub getting ready for bed when my parents knocked on the door and said hurry up and get out of the tub and get dressed; you must go play the rest of the gig for your brother as they need a drummer right now! I was freaking out as I had never played on stage before in front of people in a nightclub; I could hardly breathe or swallow as my mouth was so dry because of how nervous I was. Well, I did a great job, and the other musicians started spreading the word that I could play well enough to work even though I was 12 years old. By 13 years old, I was working four nights a week regularly, and I guess the rest, they say, is history. I started working professionally as a bass player at 15-16, and the bass became my focus. It's crazy how things happen in life.
Your career has spanned a wide range of musical genres, from jazz and funk to more experimental sounds. What draws you to explore different musical styles?
Growing up, I was mainly into acoustic jazz and classical music. Both genres can have huge diversity in style and sound, and so much of that music, especially jazz. It is by far the most creative, as it is based on improvisation. I was somewhat of an acoustic purist back in those days. But as I got older and opened my mind and heart to different styles of music, as well as hearing great artists be creative in more contemporary music, I started listening to everything in many different styles. That is why I could listen to and absorb such different artists like Jimi Hendrix, Iron Butterfly, Chicago, Blood Sweat and Tears, Tower of Power, Pat Metheny, Led Zeppelin, and so on and on. That also inspired me to try new things and explore the electric bass more.
What does your touring schedule look like these days? How do you balance the intensity of life on the road with your creative and personal needs?
Since Covid-19 has subsided, things are starting to pick up. I have been quite busy traveling all over the world, with more to come in 2025. I feel very fortunate and blessed to play music, travel, and somehow survive! It’s not as easy and as glamorous as many people think, it is very hard work and at times exhausting, but it is a real blessing to be able to be a musician and do what we do. I take it very seriously and respect it greatly.
I write music everywhere and anywhere. It can be in a car, in the shower, on a plane, or in a store; it doesn’t matter. When it shows up, it shows up. I need to be open, listen, and allow it to come through.
Do you have a favorite place to perform, or is there a dream venue that you’d still love to play?
I have performed in Wein, France, outside Lyon, the most fantastic place I have performed. It is an ancient Roman amphitheater carved into the side of a mountain built in the 10th or 12th Century. It is breathtaking. Most concert halls or big performance venues have a gentle slope so people can see in the back row and are slightly higher than those in front. This venue is much more vertical and quite steep. What makes that so unique and cool is that the distance to the back row is a lot closer than normal for a venue that size. That means you can see everyone’s face and eyes, even way in the back. It’s crazy!
I like striking natural venues like that one. I have never played Red Rocks in Colorado; that is another natural venue that I would love to play.
If you could assemble your dream performance lineup, who would you want on stage with you? Would it include musicians from any particular genre?
That is an impossible question to answer, as there are so many! I would go with late great musicians I would have loved to have played with, even one song. I will never have the chance to play with them, but it would have been amazing to play with artists like Oscar Peterson, Buddy Rich, Jimi Hendrix, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, and on…..
Are there any specific artists or collaborations that have been particularly memorable or that you learned from in ways you didn’t expect?
I have been so fortunate to have played with many great and legendary artists from many genres and eras. Sting, Dean Martin (many years after he passed, I played to his solo voice on a project he sang in the 60s. It was amazing to hear his voice in my ears!) Sarah Vaughan, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, Michal Bublé, Stan Getz, Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, and again on and on. Some of the most important things you learn about some of these artists are how amazing and nice some of them are and how amazing and not nice some are. I think the human lessons of the awareness of “wow, I don’t want to end up like this guy, what a @#$%^&!”. Everyone has a story, and everyone is who they are. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, you see a side of someone you have put on a pedestal because of their artistic accomplishments, and then you see who they are as people. Sadly, you lose all respect for them and cannot listen to their music the same way ever again. We are all the human race and have no real right or excuse to treat people less than they deserve to be treated…..
How do you approach performing in different settings, from intimate venues to large festivals? Does your style or setlist change based on the audience and space?
Interesting question. Honestly, I play only one way: to play to the best of my ability. It doesn’t matter if I am playing for 30 people or 30,000 people, I still play as hard and as honestly as I can no matter who I am playing for. I don’t want this to sound pompous or selfish, but I play for me first. You don’t devote your life to something where you put in thousands of hours of time, energy, and commitment to do it for others. You do it for yourself and hope others can feel or get something from what you share. It, at least to me, is one of the most intimate and vulnerable things I can do: share the most personal part of who I am through my music and instrument.
After years of experience and innovation, what’s next for you creatively? Are there any new projects, instruments, or genres you want to explore?
A brand-new project has just been released by a new group called BPM. BPM stands for Brian, Paul, and Michael. Brian Bromberg, Paul Brown, and Michael Paulo. They are very successful artists/musicians/producers. We just created this new project for fun, and it is starting to take off, which is fantastic! The first single is moving up the charts and is about to break the top ten! This is a very contemporary, accessible project that is also quite musical and has absolute integrity. It is very fun and rewarding.
I am also writing my next contemporary jazz record, which I will record in 2025, and another classic jazz acoustic record that I will also record in 2025. I have decided that I am going to keep recording in both of those genres in jazz because that is who I am. I like to explore and try new things. I don’t like it when every record sounds the same. That has also been a big liability in my career as I have so many different sounding records, but I am being honest and true to myself. I am not one-dimensional; none of us are, so why record one-dimensionally for an entire career? At this stage of my life and career, I will do what makes me happy first, and by the grace of God, hopefully, people will like what they hear...
Brian Bromberg's Vast Discography:
- 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)