Donald Brown - CAUSE AND EFFECT (Muse, 1991)

[JSngry]

Anybody heard this one? I found it used a while back, finally got around to listening to it, and it's quite nice. Sort of a "Strata-East" vibe to a lot of it, w/the emphasis on cultural pride. Besides Joe (who's in good form), it's got James Spaulding, Steve Nelson, Ron Carter, Kenny Washington (Carl Allen on some cuts), and occasional percussion, narration, & vocals. Produced by Don Sickler, recorded at/by RVG.

Nothing earth-shattering, but far from the retro hard bop I was half expecting either. Brown wrote some really nice, non-cliched pieces here, and with a band like that, they get played quite nicely. He himself gives a good showing too.

I bought another Brown Muse date, PEOPLE MUSIC (feat. Tom Harrell & Vincent Herring), and was a bit let down by both the writing and the playing in comparison to this one - not as much meat, although there were enough moments to make it an "ok" listen.

So what's the deal w/Donald Brown? I know he's from Memphis, played w/Blakey for a bit(?), and now resides back in his home town. He's batting .500 w/his recordings so far (for my tastes, at least), and I'm wondering what else he's done that's in the vein of CAUSE AND EFFECT, if in fact he has done anything else like this.

BTW - those "just before the fall" Muse dates can often turn up some pretty interesting performances by people like Gary Thomas, Kenny Garrett, Geri Allen, Cindy Blackmon, and others. Guess the albums didn't get wide distribution due to the label's impending collapse (or maybe the whole LP?CD conversion bizness, I dunno), but I see them in cutout bins in spurts. Worth a gamble, a lot of them are - nothing "major", but some good music neverthenonetheless.

Edited May 17, 2004 by JSngry

[Eric]

Big Donald Brown fan here. I would agree that his Muse records run from merely "nice" (and I would agree that "People Music" falls into that group) to excellent.

Post-Muse, he put out 5-6 records on a French label, Space Time. AMG lists some of them ... I prefer the group records (Enchante, Wurd on the Street) to his solo/trio stuff. On balance, these are probably stronger than the Muse sides. Plus, you get to hear Manny Boyd, who I always enjoyed on those 70s Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note records.

On the Muse side, Car Tunes is also a keeper.

I really like his writing - hits a vibe with me. He does seem like a spiritual guy and it comes through on his records. Definitely TDWR ...

[relyles]

I own Sources of Inspiration with Gary Bartz and Eddie Henderson on LP. I have not listened to it in a long while, but I recall enjoying it overall. Not essential, but some decent spots by Bartz and Henderson.

[Joe]

EARLY BIRD on Sunnyside is rather nice. More Steve Nelson, some fine kinky playing by Donald Harrison, and Bill Mobley (lovely tone).

Anyone, how is the date with Alan Dawson on Evidence?