CD Review - Bob Brozman Orchestra

Lumiere
Bob Brozman Orchestra
(RIVERBOAT/WORLD MUSIC NETWORK)

The weathered hands of guitarist, world traveler and ethnomusicologist Bob Brozman are dipped in gold. He is an alchemist, blending delta blues, West African, Indian, calypso and myriad other styles into voluptuous movements that are progressive but not geeky.

    And that’s just on his solo records. Lumiere, a collaboration between Brozman and co-producer Daniel Thomas, is a virtuous, spiritual quest into eastern music, but with tinges of bluegrass and folk. The collection of instrumentals is, at certain points, taxing, at others, liberating, but in the end, your left agog at Brozman’s shear musicianship, honed to fine edge, ready to shatter your expectations about what world music is, and what it should be.