Tom Browne

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 instrumental 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 classically 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 surprise 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 Browne’s 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.
Arista Records (then the financial “purse strings” of the GRP projects) dictated moving Browne further into the Rhythm and Blues market, and Dave Grusin /Larry Rosen were replaced by producers hired directly by the parent label. The later recordings of this period lacked the heart of the GRP/Browne affiliation, and the public knew it! Ultimately, Browne left Arista Records in 1986. He recorded only one additional album (on Malaco records) throughout the remainder of the eighties; an album, which reflected his inner spirit as a Christian. That album was entitled “No Longer I.”
Although still performing on occasion, Brownes career path shifted towards another love, commercial aviation. Browne flew for many years as a charter and airline captain, most recently for a FedEx Feeder company.
But although the business had left a repugnant aftertaste, the love of music was still in Toms’ heart. Surprisingly to him, there were numerous record executives who understood exactly what had taken place and still believed in him. It was with this blessing that Browne released his first in a series of recordings for the Hip Bop label in 1994 with several CDs following in yearly succession throughout the nineties. Brownes' subsequent releases for Hip-Bop 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 performed through this period with label mates Lenny White and Michael Urbaniak. Hip Bop recently released “The Tom Browne Collection” letting the mid first decade twenty first century audience know that Browne is doing well and playing better than ever!
Today, Tom Browne can be found on tour with Boney James, Roy Ayers and Wayne Henderson regularly. We can expect new music from him by the fall of 2008.
From the heart of Tom, thank you all for supporting this music that we have come to love called .... jazz!
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