Bob Brozman (March 8, 1954 – April 23, 2013) was an American guitarist and

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

Biography

Brozman was born to a Jewish family in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York, and began playing the guitar when he was six. He performed

gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a style of small-group jazz originating from the Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–53), in conjunction with the French swing violinist Stéphane Gr ...

, calypso,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

Hawaiian music The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part ...

, and

Caribbean music Caribbean music genres are very diverse. They are each synthesis of African, European, Arab, Asian, and Indigenous influences, largely created by descendants of African slaves (see Afro-Caribbean music), along with contributions from other commun ...

and collaborated with musicians from India, Africa, Japan,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. He has been called "an instrumental wizard" and "a walking archive of 20th Century American music". Brozman toured often in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. He recorded numerous albums and won the ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print si ...

'' Readers' Poll three times for Best Blues, Best World, and Best Slide Guitarist. In 1999, Brozman and

Woody Mann Haywood Lee Mann (December 30, 1952 – January 27, 2022) was an American guitarist. Biography He was born in New York, where he studied acoustic guitar with blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis from 1968–72. From 1973–78, he continued pri ...

founded International Guitar Seminars, which hosted over 100 students annually at sites in California, New York, Washington and Canada. From 2000 to 2005 his collaborations landed in the European Top 10 for World Music five times. He was an adjunct professor in the Department of Contemporary Music Studies at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, in Sydney, Australia. Brozman played

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

resonator instruments from the 1920s and 1930s. He also used

Weissenborn Weissenborn or H. Weissenborn is a brand of lap slide guitar manufactured by Hermann Weissenborn in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s. These instruments are now highly sought after, and form the base for most non-resonator acoustic lap steel ...

-style hollow-neck acoustic

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conve ...

s. Among his National instruments were a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

version of the tricone guitar, which was designed in conjunction with him in the mid- to late 1990s. This instrument is part of National's range of products. Brozman's book ''The History and Artistry of National Resonator Instruments'', a guide to National Guitars from 1927 to 1941, includes a list serial numbers and production dates. Brozman was a member of R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders from 1978 until his death in 2013.Lynch, Megan
"The Cheap Suit Serenaders,"
AllMusic.com. Accessed Nov. 17, 2019. Brozman committed suicide on April 23, 2013, amid allegations of

child molestation Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (wheth ...

.Palopoli, Steve
"The Dark Side of Genius,"
SantaCruz.com (June 4, 2013). He was survived by a wife and a daughter from a previous marriage.

Discography

* ''Your Pal'' (1977) * ''Blue Hula Stomp'' (1981) * ''Snapping the Strings'' (1983) * ''Hello Central...Give Me Dr. Jazz'' (1985) * ''Devil's Slide'' (1988) * ''A Truckload of Blues'' (1992) * ''Slide a Go-Go'' (1994) * ''Blues 'Round the Bend'' (1995) * ''Golden Slide'' (1997) * ''Kika Kila Meets Ki Ho'Alu'', with

Ledward Kaapana Ledward Kaapana (born August 25, 1948) is a Hawaiian musician, best known for playing in the slack key guitar style. He also plays steel guitar, ukulele, autoharp and bass guitar, and is a baritone and falsetto vocalist. Early life Born on August ...

(1997) * ''Kosmik Blues & Groove'' (1998) * ''The Running Man'' (1999) * ''Four Hands Sweet & Hot'', with

Cyril Pahinui Cyril Pahinui (April 21, 1950 – November 17, 2018) was a slack-key guitarist and singer of Hawaiian music. Biography He was born in Waimānalo at the foot of the Ko'olau mountains on the Hawai'ian island of Oahu. He was the son of the Haw ...

(1999) * ''

Tone Poems 3 ''Tone Poems 3'' is an album by mandolinist David Grisman, dobro player Mike Auldridge, and guitarist Bob Brozman that was released in 2000 by Grisman's label, Acoustic Disc. The album is a sequel to Grisman's albums '' Tone Poems'' and '' Ton ...

'', with

David Grisman David Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acoustic mu ...

and

Mike Auldridge Mike Auldridge (December 30, 1938 – December 29, 2012) was an American Dobro player and a founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. The ''New York Times'' described Auldridge as "one of the most distinctive dobro players in the ...

(2000) * ''Get Together'' with

(2000) * ''Jin Jin/Firefly'', with Takashi Hirayasu (2000) * ''Ocean Blues'', with Djeli Moussa Diawara (2000) * ''Live Now'' (2001) * ''Nankuru Naisa'', with Takashi Hirayasu (2001) * ''In the Saddle'', with Ledward Kaapana (2001) * ''Digdig'' , with René Lacaille (2002) * ''Rolling Through This World'', with

Jeff Lang Jeff Lang (born 9 November 1969) is an Australian guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and music producer. Lang plays various types of guitar, both slide and standard, as well as banjo, mandolin, cümbüş and drums. He is a three-time ARIA Award w ...

(2002) * ''Mahima'', with

Debashish Bhattacharya Debashish Bhattacharya ( bn, দেবাশীষ ভট্টাচার্য, hi, देवाशीष भट्टाचार्य, Devāśiṣ Bhaṭṭācārya, born 12 January 1963) is an Indian classical musician, singer, composer ...

(2003) * ''Metric Time'' (2003) * ''Songs of the Volcano'' (2005) * ''Blues Reflex'' (2006) * ''Lumiere'' (2007) * ''Post-Industrial Blues'' (2007) * ''Kani Wai'', with George Kahumoku, Jr. (2009) * ''Six Days in Down'', with

Dónal O'Connor Dónal O'Connor is an Irish multi-instrumentalist, producer and television presenter from Ravensdale, County Louth, Ireland. He is a member of Belfast-based Irish traditional groups Ulaid & At First Light. Early life O'Connor was born into ...

and John McSherry (2010) * ''Fire in the Mind'' (2012)

References

Bibliography

* Douse, Cliff. ''The Guitarist Book of Guitar Players'', Music Maker Books, 1994, * Gregory, Hugh. ''1000 Great Guitarists. Rock, Jazz, Country, Funk ...'', Balafon Books, 1994. * Larkin, Colin. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Third edition, Macmillan, 1998,

External links

*
Bob Brozman biography
- from his website.
Santa Cruz Weekly article on his death

Bear Creek Guitars Bob Brozman page

Homespuntapes.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brozman, Bob 1954 births 2013 suicides American blues guitarists American male guitarists Linguists from the United States Guitarists from New York (state) Slide guitarists Weissenborn players Suicides in California Jewish American musicians 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American Jews