KOREY BRODSKY

KOREY BRODSKY
CRUIZIN’

No Label
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Korey Brodsky is a talented young flatpicking guitarist and mandolinist from New England who makes a strong debut with his first recording, Cruizin’. The title-track is one of four original compositions included here, and can best be described as a driving fiddle tune. “Dragonfly” and “Catching Grapes” are the sole tracks featuring his mandolin work, and have more of an easy loping quality.

By no means is this a guitar-centric recording. When Brodsky is not playing the mandolin, that chair is quite ably filled by Jesse Brock, with Ron Cody playing some fine banjo. Brodsky seems content to just be a part of the band that he has assembled, along with fiddler Kalia Yeagle and Rick Brodsky on bass.

Not every young musician gets to have a singer like Jonathan Edwards come in and reprise two of his older recordings, “Choices” and “Girl From The Canyon,” indicating that Brodsky has a sensitivity to supporting a good song. He also pays homage to the standards from a variety of traditions, ranging from bluegrass (“Big Sandy River”), swing (“Lady Be Good”) and, with a very understated solo guitar rendition, Celtic music (“Skye Boat Song”).

All in all, Cruizin’ is a nice showcase of a young talent with well-honed guitar chops and decent compositional skills. It also indicates his willingness to work within the context of a group and a song, and this CD should provide thirty minutes of evidence that we’ll be hearing much more of this fine player in the very near future. (facebook.com/thekoreybrodskyband)HK