Long Way from Here

AMG Review of Long Way from Here

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

David Bromberg basically gave up his recording and performing career at the start of the 1980s, but in 1986 his old label, Fantasy Records, released this album of odds and ends recorded between 1976 and 1979. Since odds and ends are what Bromberg specialized in, the result was as good as any of his albums, beginning with a paean to marijuana ("The Viper"), followed by one to drinking and sex ("Loaded and Laid"). Those jazzy live tracks typically were followed by studio recordings of meticulously played acoustic ballads before Bromberg and his band returned to San Francisco's Great American Music Hall for concert staples like "Suffer to Sing the Blues" and "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor." It was enough to make you wish he'd perform a little more often.