Record of the Month - Classic

Another installment of a disk I have enjoyed over the years. I'm trying to keep the Record of the Month posts to be fairly new releases. Classics are going to be ones that are at least 5 years old.

Like many of my music choices here, so many of them are from unfamiliar artists. I kind of like it that way - for me and for you. I like mainstream stuff, but I like the unknown stuff more...usually. I also hope I'm exposing a few people to underrepresented artists.

Naturally it is with a bit of frustration. How often are my Classic choices out of print or not on iTunes?

David Broza is one of those artists. Sorry about that.

Broza sings/plays in Hebrew, Spanish and English. Usually not on the same disk, but he incorporates those qualities on each disk. Normally his disks are consistent in each of those languages, but the passion is in all of them.

Each of his primarily English disks are good, but if I had to pick one, I'd go with Stone Doors. It's the most accessible of these disks, but it's not the end-all, be-all either. You could make one killer album if you took the best of his stuff and put them on one release.

Still, Stone Doors is good. I love "Nights in Wyoming" and "Painted Postcard" (the latter being the only Hebrew language song on this disk). I like "Because I Love You", "If You Don't Kiss Me" and "I Marry the Bed" too.

Broza is an incredible guitarist - at least live. He's a great guitarist on his recordings too, it is just that sometimes his work gets lost in the "band" feel of some of the songs. The man can really make that guitar talk too - not just the strings, but how he uses his fingers on the body of the instrument.

His guitar work incorporates a lot of Spanish/flamenco style with some traditional Jewish leanings. It's a good combo and it seems to be a natural one, especially with his somewhat gruff voice.

You can find some of his stuff at amazon (probably eBay too), but very little on iTunes, and most of it is all Hebrew there - not that is a bad thing. I've seen him perform shows all in English and all in Hebrew and they are equally as good. If you can get his recorded stuff, I think you'd like it. If you can see him live, I think you'd love it.