Album of the Week – Brian Bromberg, LaFaro

While Tucson-born, Los Angeles-based Brian Bromberg has been equally conversant and downright virtuosic on both electric and upright basses, he sticks strictly to the latter on his latest offering, ‘LaFaro’. A tribute to the legendary jazz bassist, Scott LaFaro whose revolutionary contributions to the classic Bill Evans Trio still reverberate to this day, Bromberg’s 28th as a leader shows him in an unadulterated swinging trio setting in the company of pianist Tom Zink and drummer Charles Ruggiero.

On ‘LaFaro’, Bromberg pays heartfelt homage to the virtuosic bassist. The superpower trio of Evans, LaFaro, and drummer Paul Motian were committed to the idea of three equal voices, working together for a singular musical idea and often without any musician explicitly keeping time. Inspired, this ultimately led Bromberg to lead his trio on a gorgeous album, which includes three swinging interpretations of Miles Davis classics, Evans in a Bossa Nova form, a tender rendering of the Evans/Miles Davis classic, “Blue in Green”, and – for sheer burn – you can’t beat the trio’s uptempo swinging rendition of Cole Porter’s “What Is This Thing Called Love?”.

In his liner notes, Bromberg wrote: “I hope you can appreciate the spirit in this recording and the respect I have for Scott LaFaro’s enormous contribution to jazz bass playing and jazz music in general. Thank you, Scotty, for paving the way and opening the door for the rest of us who have dedicated our lives to being a jazz bassist.” LaFaro will be released April 5 on CD, LP, and digital, through Bromberg’s Be Squared Productions label.