Final "Don't Tell 'Em, Just Show 'Em Summer Concert of 2017

You know how WE do it, bringing RnB, Soul, Ol' Skool, Jazz and Edutainment Flava... The Good Stuff!!!

The final "Don't Tell 'Em, Just Show 'Em (10Sep17) Summer Concert Series with Trumpeter, Soul/Jazz/Jazz-funk singer, and songwriter...

Thomas Fredrick Browne bka Tom Browne

He rose to prominence first through his early work with Sonny Fortune, and scored two major hits in 1980 and 1981: the No. 1 US Billboard R&B single "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" and the No. 4 US R&B single, "Thighs High (Grip Your Hips and Move)". Later in 1982, he released a minor hit called, "Fungi Mama (bebopafunkadiscolypso)" which was also recorded on the Arista record label. It reached number 58 on the UK chart.

Born October 30, 1954, in Queens, New York, he originally was a piano player who already had piano lessons at the age of 11. But inspired by his collection of jazz records he later changed to trumpet. Originally interested in classical music, he discovered jazz while in college in the mid-'70s. He worked with Sonny Fortune, recorded with Lonnie Smith, and then signed with GRP. Although influenced by Freddie Hubbard and occasionally recording a hard bop number, most of his output during that era was clearly geared toward the marketplace.

His first gig was in the Queens' club, The Village Door and in 1975, he landed his first professional gig with Weldon Irvine. From here he played with Sonny Fortune and Lonnie Smith and was later introduced to Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen at GRP Records via Earl Klugh. Grusin and Rosen signed him to GRP Records and Browne broke onto the music scene in 1979 with an instrumental jazz fusion album titled Browne Sugar. As a student of New York's High School of Music and Art, he became a regular on the New York jazz scene.

In 1978 after he played a NY uptown club affiliated with George Benson, he was offered several solo recording contracts and ultimately signed with GRP becoming a familiar figure on the R&B charts during the 1979-1989 period when he was recording pop-oriented material for GRP and Arista.

His first real breakthrough came in 1980 with the release of the self-penned "Funkin' For Jamaica (N.Y.)", taken from his second album "Love Approach". The single hit number one on Billboard's R&B chart for four weeks, and was also a big hit in Europe. It featured the lead vocals of Tonni Smith. This smash hit is" still a favorite among dance DJ's around the world!

Continuing his association with the record producers Grusin and Rosen, his next album was "Yours Truly" (1981). The album included the songs "Fungi Mama" and "Bye Gones". After signing directly with Arista, the album "Magic", was released in 1981. Magic yielded the song "Thighs High (Grip Your Hips And Move)", which peaked at #4 on the R&B charts in the USA. Later, he progressed into an electro style of jazz with "Rockin' Radio" from a 1983 album of the same name.(which also included a final GRP production "Brighter Tomorrow"). In 1984 he recorded a final Arista album "Tommy Gun", which featured Siedah Garrett singing lead vocals and was produced by Maurice Starr.

In 1984, he had a collaboration with "Fuse One" and he recorded their "Ice album." Fuse One was a group of jazz musicians who collaborated for two albums released on CTI Records and one album released on GNP Crescendo Records. The liner notes to their first album described the group thus: "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."

The albums Fuse One and Silk were produced by Creed Taylor. The first album was arranged by Jeremy Wall of Spyro Gyra, the second by Leon "Ndugu" Chancler of Weather Report and the third by David Matthews.

Membership was not concrete, but included Tony Williams, Joe Farrell, John McLaughlin, Stanley Turrentine, Wynton Marsalis, Larry Coryell, Lenny White, Paulinho Da Costa, Ronnie Foster, Stanley Clarke, George Benson, Todd Cochran, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Tom Browne, Dave Valentin, Jorge Dalto, and Eric Gale.

He also recorded with Roy Ayers on "Goree Island", taken from his "In The Dark" album. He moved to Malaco Records and performed a large amount of session work. In 2000, he re-recorded "Funkin' For Jamaica (N.Y.)" on Jazz FM's 101 Eastbound compilation album, alongside with fellow jazz artist, Bob Baldwin. The track re-utilized the vocal skills of Tonni Smith (featured on the original).

A commercial pilot, he largely dropped out of music by the late '80s, but came back in 1994 with a recording for Hip Bop in several settings that included the credible jazz CD " Another Shade of Browne".

His Jazz, R&B, Crossover Jazz, Hard Bop, Jazz-Funk, Jazz Instrument,

Trumpet Jazz and Funk discography include:

Browne Sugar (GRP, 1979)

Love Approach (GRP, 1980)

Magic (Arista, 1981)

Yours Truly (GRP, 1981)

Rockin' Radio (Arista, 1983)

Tommy Gun (Arista, 1984)

No Longer I (Gospel) (Malaco, 1988)

Mo' Jamaica Funk (Hip Bop, 1994)

Another Shade of Browne (Hip Bop, 1996)

R 'n' Browne (Hip Bop, 1999)

The Tom Browne Collection (Hip Bop, 2003)

S'Up (Jazz Funk, 2010) 

Brother, Brother (Jazz, Funk, Soul, 2017)