Guitarist Kristen R. Bromley releases her 6th album

contents

jazz

Muagsician, Kristen R. Bromley's newest release, features her mainly as a guitar soloist on this 2-disc, 25-track, album. Playing solo jazz guitar requires a great amount of musicianship and is a bit of a magician's trick as well, as it is not possible to cover the melody, the bass line, the rhythmic groove, an improvised solo, and comp the chords all at the same time. So, in part, Kristen has to create the illusion that these things are all there by skillfully intertwining pieces of each of these elements together in a given performance. As a result, you get the combination of a musician and a musical magician – a muagsician – and pure musical magic. The album is comprised of original selections, covers of jazz standards, and some arrangements of traditional folk or hymns tunes. 8 tracks also include some sung melodies, which nicely offsets the solo guitar playing.
Dr. Kristen R. Bromley is a gifted and sought-after instructor, as well as a loved performer and composer. In addition to directing ensembles and teaching guitar and jazz studies courses at Brigham Young University, Dr. Bromley works as a professional arranging/composing, performing, and recording musician, and she is the owner and primary featured artist of Kristen R. Bromley Music, LLC.
Kristen has a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Music Education from Boston University, a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies, with an additional BA major in Family History and Genealogy, from Brigham Young University.

In January 2016, Dr. Bromley suffered a severe break to her left-arm humerus bone, which likewise involved the crushing of her left-arm radial nerve. Despite a very grim prognosis, which suggested that in a best-case-scenario she would regain a very small percentage of the function of her left-arm and hand, Dr. Bromley works as a musician and guitarist today. At the time of the injury, she was given a special priesthood blessing wherein God promised her that because of her faith, she would experience a complete recovery. Truly, this miraculous promise has become a reality. After several months of patience and waiting, she slowly began regaining the ability to move her wrist and fingers, and weeks later was able to start gradually developing her ability to play the guitar again.

In November of 2018, Dr. Bromley recorded a debut album called Simply Miraculous, which celebrated her miraculous return to professional guitar playing. Since then, she has recorded and released 5 additional albums: a) Amazing Grace, which features Kristen playing hymn arrangements as a guitar soloist; b) Bluish Tide, which features Kristen in a jazz quintet setting; c) Finding Fields, which features Kristen in a jazz quartet setting with her faculty ensemble Groove Axis; d) Silent Night, which features Kristen playing Christmas songs as a guitar soloist; and e) Kristen's newest album, Muagsician, which features her mainly as a jazz guitar soloist.

Dr. Bromley is the author of several guitar method books, and runs a music instruction channel on youtube: Dr. Kristen R. Bromley's Online Music Academy. She has toured as a musician across parts of North America and Europe, and has performed at several highly prestigious jazz festivals with her university ensembles, such as the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, the Edinburgh International Jazz Festival in Scotland, the Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival in England, the Marlborough International Jazz Festival in England, the Loulé Jazz Festival in Portugal, the San Sebastian International Jazz Festival in Spain, and the Ezcaray Jazz Festival in Spain.

Dr. Bromley has also performed and presented clinics at Jazz Education Network and International Association for Jazz Education conferences. In 2006 and 2007, she was named the outstanding guitar soloist at the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival. As a scholar, Dr. Bromley has focused much of her research on discovering ways to create more interactive and person-centered educational environments wherein individuals experience whole-person learning outcomes as they grow through cognitive, emotional, and experiential means, develop greater self-discipline, and become more fully-functioning persons. (For more information see Person-Centered Learning in a Collegiate Jazz Combo by Kristen R. Bromley) Kristen loves life, is deeply religious, and truly believes in the awesome power music has to uplift and edify the soul. She has devoted her career to enriching, uplifting, edifying, and inspiring lives through the education, performance, scholarship, composition, recording, and publishing of music.

Tracks, Times:

Disc 1
1."Watermelon Man" – Herbie Hancock (4:59) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
2."Route 66" – Bobby Troup (3:33) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
3."Faith Preceded My Miracle" – Kristen R. Bromley (6:24) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
4."All Blues" – Miles Davis (3:51) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
5."Simply Miraculous" – Kristen R. Bromley (3:07) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
6."Abide with Me; 'Tis Eventide" – Harrison Millard (5:04) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
7."The Girl from Ipanema" – Antônio Carlos Jobim (5:34) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
8."L – O – V – E" – Milt Gabler & Bert Kaempfert (5:34) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
9."Through the Veil" – Kristen R. Bromley (5:16) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
10."Summertime" – George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward (5:28) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley 11."Amazing Grace" – John Newton (8:18) Additional Lyrics by Kristen R. Bromley
Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
12."Lasst Uns Erfreuen" – Traditional (7:24) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley

Disc 2
1."Don't Get Around Much Anymore" – Duke Ellington (4:50) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
2."Rainy Day Blues" – Kristen R. Bromley (5:13) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
3."Cantaloupe Island" – Herbie Hancock (3:50) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
4."All the Things You Are" – Jerome Kern (4:52) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
5."Bring It On" – Kristen R. Bromley (4:23) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
6."Paint Me a Picture My Love" – Kristen R. Bromley (6:10) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
7."Just Walkin'" – Kristen R. Bromley (4:50) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
8."First Vision" – Kristen R. Bromley (7:42) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
9."Quiet Night of Quiet Stars" – Antônio Carlos Jobim (5:49) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
10."So Much Better" – Kristen R. Bromley (3:32) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
11."Winter Sunrise" – Kristen R. Bromley (5:07) Composed and Arranged by Kristen R. Bromley
12."How Great Thou Art" – Carl Boberg (6:43) Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley
13."I Know My Redeemer; He Lives!" – Lewis D. Edwards (4:54)Based on Hymn "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" Arrangement by Kristen R. Bromley

Players, Instrument:
Kristen Bromley: guitar
(and voice on select tracks – Disc 1: 2, 8, 10, 11 and Disc 2: 2, 7, 10, 12)

write your comments about the article :: © 2024 Jazz News :: home page