David Bromberg

This is David Bromberg's first studio album since 1990's Sideman Serenade. A multi-instrumentalist, Bromberg sticks to an unaccompanied acoustic guitar for all but two a cappella tracks. The effect is the Bromberg album that Rick Rubin would have produced: simple, sparse, and self-assured.

A collection of 16 blues and folk tunes -- one original, several traditional, and the rest by writers like Dylan, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, and Reverend Gary Davis -- the album displays Bromberg's own stylistic touches, including interjections of humor wherever he sees fit. With masterful fingerpicking and slide work, Bromberg reworks Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" into more straight-ahead blues. Johnson's "Kind Hearted Woman Blues" and Davis' "I Belong to the Band" are also standout tracks.

Overall, Try Me One More represents a welcome return to record for a distinctive performer.