My response was meant more in the spirit of, "I agree with your point, and yet...I wonder why you felt it necessary to make it in that way (with a negative spin on BB rather than a positive spin on your goals)". In fact, I don't know if BB is "better" than MM5 or not, since I've never heard MM5 play; all I know at this point is that BB can play circles around me.
NHØP isn't my cuppa, but the last thing I would want to do is to bust on him for having a ton of chops. I just don't really see the point, and I can't think of a way to say it that doesn't at least hint at sour grapes.
Yep, I'm a fan, but not a blind one. Most of "Wood II" isn't my cuppa either. But that doesn't mean that he's all flash, or that his playing can be reduced to and summarily dismissed as "Van Halen chops on upright". I've done a few lifts of Brian's stuff, and to me, they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that, "chops oriented" or not, the man knows how to play changes when he wants to, and he ends up playing lines that many horn players would envy. He does certain things that I might choose not to do, or not do as often, if I had the ability to do them in the first place. And like many others, I like the way higher string height feels and sounds. But in spite of all of that, I do feel that Brian has raised the bar a bit in some ways, and I would like to give him props for that at the same time as others are expressing their slightly less than complimentary opinions (which they also have a right to do). I'm attaching a lift of Brian playing on "Dolphin Dance", in case anyone would like to argue that Brian can't play over difficult changes.
So sure, speak your mind about what you like and don't. And if you feel the need to say something negative about a player in print in public, be prepared for others to speak their minds as well.
Nobody ever said he can't play over changes! There's no doubt that Bromberg plays great solos--he obviously has a great command of bop language and some modern stuff too, and can execute some ridiculous stuff. The thing he does that bothers me is that right in the middle of a great bebop line, he starts play some hair metal tapping stuff! While that's cool in a certain context, what would you think Wes Montgomery or Sonny Stitt did that? I think it sounds out of place. I really appreciate the Dolphin Dance transcription, and I'll definitely check it out, but just by glancing over it I can see that he does exactly what I'm talking about during the G pedal section.
He's a monster player, with incredible chops, his sound appeals to a lot of people, and he's a killer electric player, but like you said about NHOP (by the way, how did you get the / throught the O?), he's just not my cup of tea.
