Saturday night my husband and I saw David Bromberg in concert. Now if you are one of my students, you will likely have no idea who this guy is. In fact, if you are one of my friends or a member of my family, you will likely have no idea who this guy is. I learned of his existence in college when my not yet hubby would play his records late at night. He had discovered him a few years earlier. He plays an eclectic blend of music--bluesy, folksy, jazz. If you know the song Mr. Bojangles, that was one of his hits (although not a song he wrote).
David is a BIG man--tall and bear-like. He reminds me of a colleague, Merril Silverstein, a sociologist at USC. He is an amazing guitar/mandolin/fiddle player. But imagine the incongruity of this big Russian Jew, dressed in a Western style white shirt and dress slacks, playing and singing the blues...If you close your eyes you think you are in some Western honkytonk bar. If you cover your ears, you think you are at some ethnic songfest. It was a great concert, complemented by the appearance of his wife and another member of the Angel Band as backup singers. I liked that the concert was a little unscripted, they hadn't decided on all of the songs ahead of time, and there was some good natured banter on stage.
Great evening..
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