Tom Browne: Magic (1981)

Like Roy Ayers, Patrice Rushen, George Benson, and George Duke, Tom Browne is a perfect example of a jazz musician who switched to R&B and was lambasted by jazz snobs for it. As jazz's hardcore saw it, the trumpeter was a sellout -- a gifted Clifford Brown disciple who was shamelessly wasting his chops playing commercial music. But commercial music isn't necessarily inferior to jazz, and the fact is that much of Browne's soul/funk output was excellent. While jazz snobs dismissed Browne's third album, Magic, because it contains very little jazz, the Dave Grusin/Larry Rosen-produced LP has a lot going for it from a soul/funk standpoint. The only cuts on Magic that have anything to do with jazz are the sensuous quiet storm instrumental "Night Wind" and a lush Grusin arrangement of Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child." This is an R&B album first and foremost, and those who admired Browne for his 1980 hit "Funkin' for Jamaica" also admired such Magic cuts as the funky "Let's Dance," the Earth, Wind & Fire-ish "I Know," and the addictive funk hit "Thighs High (Grip Your Hips and Move)," all of which feature vocalist Toni Smith -- a passionate, Chaka Khan-influenced belter who had been featured on "Funkin' for Jamaica." While jazz snobs would be better off passing on Magic, R&B fans will find a lot to admire about Browne's third album. ~ Alex Henderson

Japanese reissue of the jazz/R&B artist's 1981 album for Arista. K2 24 bit mastering.

Tracklist/Personnel:01. Let's Dance [5:29]
Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals – Kevin Cummings (2)
Piano [Acoustic] – Terry Burris
Electric Piano [Rhodes], Clavinet, Backing Vocals – Cliff Branch, Jr.
Electric Bass, Arranged By, Backing Vocals – Sekou Bunch
Trumpet, Arranged By – Tom Browne
Lead Vocals – Toni Smith
Synthesizer [Obx] – Dave Grusin
Written-By – Sekou Bunch
Percussion – Crusher Bennett
Drums – Gregg Barrett (2)
Horns – Bob Franceschani, James Stowe, Tom Browne

02. Magic [4:27]
Electric Piano [Rhodes] – Bernard Wright
Electric Bass – Sekou Bunch
Trumpet, Arranged By – Tom Browne
Electric Guitar – Bobby Broom
Lead Vocals – Cliff Branch, Jr.
Written-By – Clifford Branch, Jr.
Tenor Saxophone – Robert Franceschani
Percussion – Crusher Bennett
Clavinet, Synthesizer [Obx] – Dave Grusin
Piano [Acoustic], Arranged By – Cliff Branch, Jr.
Drums – Buddy Williams
Backing Vocals – Toni Smith

03. I Know [4:45]
Electric Bass – Marcus Miller
Electric Guitar – Jeff Mironov
Written-By – Tom Browne
Percussion – Crusher Bennett
Piano [Acoustic], Electric Piano [Rhodes], Synthesizer [Obx], Arranged By – Dave Grusin
Vocals – Toni Smith
Drums – Buddy Williams
Horns – Bob Franceschani, James Stowe, Tom Browne
Trumpet, Vocals, Arranged By – Tom Browne

04. Midnight Interlude [5:16]
Electric Guitar, Arranged By – Grisha Dimant
Electric Piano [Rhodes], Synthesizer [Arp String Ensemble], Arranged By – Dennis Bell
Piano [Acoustic] – Bernard Wright
Electric Bass – Sekou Bunch
Drums – Howard Grate
Lead Vocals – Pat Windham
Written-By – Claudette Washington, Dennis Bell, Grisha Dimant
Percussion – Crusher Bennett
Clavinet – Dave Grusin
Trumpet – Tom Browne
Backing Vocals – Claudette Washington, Dorothy Terrell, Lynette Washington

05. God Bless The Child [5:04]
Trumpet – Tom Browne
Piano [Acoustic], Arranged By – Dave Grusin
Written-By – Ira Herzog, Billie Holiday

06. Night Wind [6:30]
Electric Bass – Marcus Miller
Drums – Buddy Williams
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Jeff Mironov
Flugelhorn – Tom Browne
Written-By – Dave Grusin
Percussion – Crusher Bennett, Larry Rosen
Electric Piano [Rhodes], Piano [Acoustic], Arranged By – Dave Grusin

07. Thighs High (Grip Your Hips And Move) [4:39]
Music By – Tom Browne
Piano [Acoustic] – Bernard Wright
Electric Bass – Sekou Bunch
Drums – Buddy Williams
Electric Guitar – Bobby Broom
Lead Vocals – Toni Smith
Trumpet, Arranged By – Tom Browne
Electric Piano [Rhodes], Synthesizer [Obx] – Dave Grusin
Percussion – Crusher Bennett
Clavinet – Cliff Branch, Jr.
Lyrics By – Dave Grusin, Sekou Bunch, Toni Smith
Backing Vocals – Babi Floyd, Cliff Branch, Jr., Frank Floyd, Sekou Bunch, Toni Smith

08. Making Plans [4:02]
Piano [Acoustic] – Terry Burris
Electric Bass – Sekou Bunch
Vocals [Vocal Group] – Cliff Branch, Jr., Kevin Cummings (2), Sekou Bunch, Tom Browne, Toni Smith
Piano [Acoustic], Timpani, Arranged By – Dave Grusin
Electric Guitar – Kevin Cummings (2)
Trumpet, Lead Vocals, Arranged By – Tom Browne
Written-By – Ronny Pace
Percussion – Crusher Bennett
Drums – Gregg Barrett (2)
Horns – Bob Franceschani, James Stowe, Tom Browne

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Tom Browne: S' Up (2010)

Consider the songs in our hearts that inspire us toward uplifted continence;  melodies that ring out in a manner that is soulful ... even funky!  Now think of an artist;  an artist who George Benson describes as "joy filled in expressiveness" and "believable in any musical style," topping the jazz and adult contemporary / R & B charts with his kickin' trumpet and rich jazz melodies.  That artist ... is trumpeter Tom Browne.

Browne began to carve a path for his musical future early on,  studying via scholarship under Murray Karpilovsky (principal trumpeter with the NBC Orchestra directed by Arturo Toscanini.)  A student at the co-joined High School of Music and Art / Performing Arts in New York  (renowned courtesy of the motion picture entitled "Fame,")  Browne became a regular on the New York jazz scene and had the fortune of learning first hand from masters like Jimmy Nottingham, Richard Williams, Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard.  Browne soon played his first pro level performances as sideman to jazz greats Weldon Irvine and Sonny Fortune for which he earned domestic and international recognition.  It was no surprist that Downbeat Magazine would single out his "warm trumpet" during the review of Fortunes' 1976 "Infinity Is" album.

Then in 1978, Browne led a traditional jazz quintet at the Breezin' Lounge, an uptown New York nightclub indirectly affiliated with George Benson. Through contacts made by Jimmy Boyd, Bensons' former and Brownes' subsequent manager, Browne was offered several solo recording contracts and ultimately signed with Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen on the newly formed GRP Record label.  There he recorded six solo projects including several hits.  His debut release "Browne Sugar" (1979) dominated the jazz charts for many weeks while "Love Approach" (1980) and "Magic" (1981) each earned gold album status and spawned hits like "Funkin' For Jamaica," "Thighs High" and "Secret Fantasy."  Browne went on to win prestigious Billboard honors of Best Instrumentalist, Best Jazz Cross-Over, Best Jazz Artist-Trumpet and Best Jazz Solo Album.

In 1986, Browne opted for a label change, primarily because his new found walk as an evangelical Christian redirected much of lyrical expression found in works on the previous labels. A recording was produced for Malaco Records that reflected his inner spirit. That CD was called "No Longer I."

While still performing, Brownes primary career path shifted towards another love; commercial aviation.  Browne flew for many years as a charter and airline captain, most recently with a FedEx Feeder Company on ATR72 and Fokker F-27 aircraft.

Tom Browne re-emerged in a solid recording career  in 1994,  recording for the Hip-Bop  Record Label.  There, He released his first in a series of recordings for Hip Bop entitled "Mo' Jamaica Funk." Subsequent releases for the label include "Another Shade of Browne" which features him in a "straight-ahead jazz" setting with Ron Carter, Idris Muhammad and Billy Childs (1996) and "R & Browne" (1999) which received outstanding "Jazziz Magazine" reviews.  Tom performs here with label mates Lenny White and Michael Urbaniak.  In 2003, Hip Bop  released "The Tom Browne Collection" which let the listening  audience know that Browne is doing well and playing better than ever!

Today, Tom Browne can be found on tour as a solo act with group, or packaged with artists like Roy Ayers,  Wayne (Jazz Crusaders) Henderson regularly. 

His new CD entitled "S' Up" features Fred Wesley and Groove Collective and was released  August 31, 2010.

Tracklist:

1. Lament
2. Freeway
3. T's Groove
4. Rolling
5. I'll Be There
6. Miss Mary
7. From Above
8. Three Chords and the Truth
9. (East) Kakalak Swang
10. When Will They Learn...
11. Soul Strut

Personnel: Onaje Allan Gumbs, Spaceman Patterson, Bill Ware, DJ Logic & Groove Collective, Pablo Vergara, Jay Rodr, Fred Wesley, Tom Browne, Jay Rodriguez, Al MacDowell, Gensi Siriasi, Chris Theberge, Chuggy Carter, Barney McAll

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Fuse One: The Complete Recordings (1989)

Fuse One were a group of Jazz musicians who collaborated for two albums released on CTI Records.

Both albums were produced by Creed Taylor. The first album was arranged by Jeremy Wall of Spyro Gyra and the second by Leon "Ndugu" Chancler of Weather Report.

Membership was not concrete, but included Tony Williams, Joe Farrell, John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell, Lenny White, Paulinho Da Costa, Ronnie Foster, Stanley Clarke, George Benson, Todd Cochran, Jorge Dalto and Eric Gale.

The liner notes to their debut album thus described the group: "Fuse One is conceived as a forum in which major contemporary musicians perform according to their own musical disciplines and without the constraints that accompany leader responsibilities. Each player brings in new compositions and ideas".

Tracklist:

01 - Ronnie Foster - Gran Prix
02 - Wall, Jermey - Waterside
03 - Stanley Clarke - Sunshine Lady
04 - John McLaughlin - To Whom All Things Concern
05 - Jeremy Wall - Double Steal
06 - John McLaughlin - Friendship
07 - Stanley Clarke - Taxi Blues
08 - Ndugu - Silk
09 - Stanley Clarke - In Celebration of the Human Spirit
10 - Ndugu - Hot Fire
11 - Ronnie Foster - Sunwalk

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