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Bassist Dennis Carroll teams up with guitarist Bobby Broom photograph by Lars Bjorn

Bobbie Broom at the Bird

BY LARS BJORN

Chicago guitar master Bobbie Broom visited the Bird of Paradise in Ann Arbor on October 12 with his trio. I caught the first set and was impressed with Broom’s musicality. He carefully built up the tension in his set, from a very gentle “You Stepped Out of A Dream” to the energetic bop standard “Groovin’ High.” Broom listened very carefully to his bandmates, bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Dana Hall, to produce a genuine collective effort. He never rushed things, rather the intensity was turned up one notch at a time on each tune. The highlight was “Together,” one of the more overexposed pieces in the jazz repertoire. Broom gave an astonishingly fresh performance, with masterful delayed beats. He might have picked up some tips on this from his time with Sonny Rollins.