When a 20-year-old Bobby Broom debuted on the GRP label as a leader in 1981, it signalled a star was on the rise. The guitarist joined Sonny Rollins’ touring band the same year, and was on the saxophonist’s No Problem album, alongside Anthony Williams and Bobby Hutcherson. Since then, the Chicago-based musician has combined playing with education, and Broom is now more ‘side-man of note’ than ‘lead figure’. His two five-year stints perking up Sonny Rollins touring band stand out, (he appears on a couple of the saxophonist’s Road Show volumes), and his playing with David Murray and Charles Earland is equally of note. This album showcases his all-round experience and expertise on a set of 1960s and 1970s pop covers, supported by his regular organ trio and, on some tracks, added percussion, plus somewhat muffled brass and strings. Broom is the major soloist – organist Paterson and vibist Justin ‘Justefan’ Thomas have only cameo roles – and the arrangements only have him in mind. Broom’s elegant phrasing and clarity make each melody sing, and his stylish solos are rooted in George Benson and Grant Green. The slinky opener, The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’, sits well on a mid-tempo groove, ‘Summer Breeze’ is genial, ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ moody and ‘The Guitar Man’ cheerful and bright. But the songs need something more to make them stand up as instrumentals. You miss the pathos and anger that Bobby Gentry brought to ‘Ode to Billie Joe’, even though Broom’s solo cruises to a brassy finish and call-and-response guitar and brass can’t compensate for The Temptations voices on ‘Get Ready’.