New Release: Brian Bromberg: It Is What It Is

August 25th 2009 will mark the release of a new album by Brian Bromberg: It Is What It Is.

The album is sure to be another gem in Bromberg’s thematic collection using both bass guitar and upright bass to give cool jazz melodies and solid grooves. The album will also feature George Duke, Patrice Rushen, Jeff Lorber, Randy Brecker, Eric Marienthal, Gerald Albright, Richard Elliot, Rick Braun, Will Kennedy, Dave Weckl, Alex Acua, Paul Jackson Jr., Dan Siegel and many more.

Bromberg’s take on the project, in a recent interview for AllAboutJazz, is “I write the way I write. I play the way I play. There’s nothing I can do about it!” He follows up with, “I’ve done a lot of acoustic playing lately so I wanted to feature my electric basses more. But I wasn’t trying to make a showy, NAMM show demo kind of record for bass players only – that’s not me. Within the songs and arrangements, I use my various basses in many ways. Since I play a lot of piccolo bass (which is a bass tuned to the register of a guitar) it allows me to play lead melodies and some rhythm groove parts that are quite a different role than what you would normally play on a bass with standard tuning. That helps me express myself in different ways and not have everything I play sound the same. I want the music to stand on its own in song-oriented ways yet also push the envelope as a bassist. The result is very in your face – unapologetically so – with a very discernible level of integrity.”

You can check out a live stream of an exclusive track to the album.

The track list includes:
1. It Is What It Is
2. Love Shack
3. Excuse Me?
4. Life
5. Elephants On Ice Skates
6. The Mirror
7. Sanford and Son Theme
8. Mr. Miller
9. Martinis At The Velvet Lounge?
10. Saul Goode
11. Waiting For You
12. Heaven
13. Slap Happy