Bob Brozman | |
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Bob Brozman (May 2007)
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Background information | |
Born |
New York City, New York, United States |
March 8, 1954
Died | April 23, 2013 Ben Lomond, California, United States |
(aged 59)
Genres | Blues, country blues, folk, gypsy jazz, calypso, ragtime, Hawaiian, Caribbean |
Occupation(s) | Musician, guitarist, ethnomusicologist, anthropologist |
Instruments | Guitar, slide guitar |
Associated acts | R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders |
Website | http://www.bobbrozman.com |
Notable instruments | |
guitar, ukulele, charango |
Bob Brozman (March 8, 1954 – April 23, 2013) was an American guitarist and ethnomusicologist.
Brozman was born to a Jewish family living on Long Island, New York, United States. He began playing the guitar when he was 6.
He performed in a number of styles, including gypsy jazz, calypso, blues, ragtime, Hawaiian music, and Caribbean music. He also collaborated with musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds, from India, Africa, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Réunion. He has been called "an instrumental wizard" and "a walking archive of 20th Century American music". Brozman maintained a steady schedule throughout the year, touring constantly throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. He recorded numerous albums and has won the Guitar Player Readers' Poll three times in the categories Best Blues, Best World and Best Slide Guitarist. In 1999, Brozman and Woody Mann founded International Guitar Seminars, which hosts over 120 students annually at sites in California, New York, and Canada. From 2000 to 2005 his collaborations landed in the European Top 10 for World Music five times.
He was formerly an adjunct professor in the Department of Contemporary Music Studies at Macquarie University, in Sydney, Australia.
Brozman was well known for his use of National resonator instruments from the 1920s and 1930s and National Resophonic resonator instruments. He also used Weissenborn-style hollow-neck acoustic steel guitars. Among his National instruments were a baritone version of the tricone guitar, which was designed in conjunction with him in the mid- to late 1990s. This instrument is now part of National's range of products.