Trumpeter Maurice Brown

[JSngry]

Heard him the other night on Fred Anderson's BACK AT THE VELVER LOUNGE, and very much like what I heard from him. Would be interested in hearing what he's got going on, and if he is in fact a voice to keep an ear on.

[sal]

He's BAAAAD! I last saw him play last August at the Jazz Fest. He was involved in an onstage jam session with Ira Sullivan, Ron Blake, Bunky Green, Dana Hall and a bunch of other cats. He plays with FIRE! Reminds me a bit of Lee Morgan in his attack, but he has a unique style of his own. Borders a bit on avant-garde. After the Dave Holland Big Band show I headed to the Jazz Showcase and saw Maurice show up there for the after fest jam sessions, but the line was too long and I couldn't get in.

I'm not sure what he's got going on right now....I think he resides in Wisconsin and comes to Chicago periodically. But from seeing him play that day I'd say he's definitely one to listen for.

Edited June 4, 2004 by sal

[JSngry]

He's BAAAAD!...He plays with FIRE! Reminds me a bit of Lee Morgan in his attack, but he has a unique style of his own. Borders a bit on avant-garde.

Thanks, Sal!

Yeah. On the Anderson side, he suggested a Donald Ayler who could fluently negotiate changes (and don't get me wrong - I LOVE Donald Ayler, but harmonic acuity is not the first thing that pops into my mind to describe his playing, if you know what I mean...).

[Larry Kart]

I heard that same Jazz Fest jam session set and thought Brown was kind of jive but also felt that it wasn't a setting where you could be sure about anything.

[JSngry]

Hmmmm... conflicting opinions...might need some more recordings to come to a clearer opinion....

Delmark?

[Rob C]

I heard that same Jazz Fest jam session set and thought Brown was kind of jive but also felt that it wasn't a setting where you could be sure about anything.

I saw it too, and thought he was pretty exciting. Also with Roscoe Mitchell's big band!

[montg]

Here's a thread about Maurice Brown:

maurice brown

[jazzmessenger]

I saw him with many other young trumpet players who Marcus Belgrave gathered for Detroit Jazz Festival last year. It was unbelievable to see so many talented players, but to me, Maurice Brown was the best of the bunch. His playing was so fiery.

Following are some of the photos I shot during that show:

JazzReview.com Photo Gallery 1

JazzReview.com Photo Gallery 2

[montg]

A new website and a new CD:

mauricebrown

I'm curious if anyone has heard the CD yet. I can't tell much from the sound samples.

[James]

I'm *really* hoping I can catch this cat at The Jazz Bakery in L.A. in the midde of this month.

[cannonball-addict]

Wouldn't it be nice if all jazz musicians got this kind of coverage.

Concert Review

mm

[Rob C]

I saw Maurice Brown for a second time this weekend, this time with Earnest Dawkins' New Horizons band (which I really liked, and I'd describe as a freer Jazz Messengers, more or less). Anyway, it's confirmed. This guy is the real deal. I think he's going places, because not only is he technically superb, and also really creative, but he's quite a showman. That's the killer combination, IMO, for making it outside the usual jazz subculture that everyone on this forum belongs to.

Anyway, I'm really curious to hear thoughts on his CD....

[montg]

Anyway, I'm really curious to hear thoughts on his CD....

Me too! Anybody???

[cannonball-addict]

The only one who has expressed a "dissenting" opinion is Larry and he's a critic. Y'all gotta remember critics from that generation can be very harsh. They've listened to a lotta shit and seen the best guys play and therefore only the best of the best even get a nod let alone a compliment.

That's one problem I have as a writer. I don't feel comfortable calling a guy on his/her shitty playing unless they're an established "player" like Diana Krall. This culture in criticism of bashing a guy thinking perhaps the bashing will help his self-confidence to eventually become a better player is really not cool.

Matt

P.S. I realize I am leaving myself wide open here for a flame war but I mean what I said.

[pryan]

Larry's a damn fine "critic", IMO. An extremely eloquent writer as well. A younger writer like myself can only aspire to reach the level that Larry has attained. BTW, he did justify his criticism; perhaps you should read his post a little more carefully.

Edited November 27, 2004 by pryan

[Larry Kart]

Don't assume that because I'm from "that generation" I've got a grudge against youngish players. Yes, the whole Wyntonian Era left me cold, or even (to be honest) indignant, but right around town (i.e. Chicago) right now there are a lot of interesting/promising youngish guys (mid-20s to mid-30s, with a few past that) and a real scene (with places to play) that furthers sharing of ideas, growth and individuality. Some names: altoist Aram Shelton, cornetist Josh Berman, tenorman Keefe Jackson, drummer Tim Daisy, bassist Anton Hatwich, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, altoist/tenorman Davis Rempis, clarinetist James Falzone, bassist Jason Ajemian, bassist Jason Roebke, trombonist Jeb Bishop, guitarist Jeff Parker, cellist Ken Davis, guitarist Matt Schneider, drummer Frank Rosaly et al. And most of those players are also composers and/or they think compositionally. I'm excited.

[cannonball-addict]

What can I say? I impressed.

However, do not limit yourself to Chicago (or NY or Philly or Seattle for that matter). All these places have a scene where ideas are being shared). It seems like everyone who is from Chicago and has written for Downbeat in the past, has a blindfold on when it comes to young guys not from their city. With the net and places like AAJ and JazzReview (though the level of writing may not always be on par with Larry Kart and Dan Morgenstern), its possible to know about these cats and even hear them. But who knows, maybe I spend too much time on it....

[cannonball-addict]

Do people agree that there's an unfair Chicago bias in Downbeat?

It is less severe now than it has been in the past but I think it's still there.

[Larry Kart]

Don't doubt that there are plenty of good scenes and good youngish players elsewhere; I mentioned Chicago (while making an arguably self-serving point) because that's where I live, and it's the scene I can partake of whenever I decide to leave the house, so I've gathered a fair amount of follow-your-own-nose info on it. On the other hand, I would be surprised if the communal vigor of the current Chicago scene wasn't something special -- from the communal vigor point of view, it reminds me (minus the presence so far of such immediately/lastingly towering figures as Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams, etc.) of the early days of the AACM.

Can't comment on Down Beat's "Chicago bias" because I don't see the magazine very often. Of course, Chicago is the mag's home town, and one of its prominent contributors, John Corbett, has played a producer/promoter role over the years in the Vandermark-plus-lots-of-European-visitors scene that sort of flowed into the one I'm talking about (Rempis, Bishop et al. have been Vandermark sidemen). FWIW, Vandermark does nada for me.

[John L]

The Chicago scene is certainly something special. I make sure and hear Chicago musicians whenever I can when they come to town. We have had the pleasure of having the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in Washington a few times in the last few years (with Ari Brown in place of Joseph Bowie). That kind of music just drives staight into your soul, and makes so much else in the jazz world seem rather artificial.

[JSngry]

Do people agree that there's an unfair Chicago bias in Downbeat?

Actually, I think there's a New York bias in the rest of the American jazz press, like it's still the center of the jazz world or something. Dream on. In New York, if you're lucky, you can hear Joe Lovano. In Chicago, it's Von Freeman. Take that, extrapolate it outward, and case closed afaic.

New York's still the center of the jazz industry, no doubt, but I'd venture to say that you could hear more interesting music on a regular basis more frequently elsewhere these days, and Chicago would definitely be towards the top of the list (and quite possible at the top of it) of places to do so. Although "interesting music" means different things to different people, so let me say that what I hear coming out of NY for the last decade or two very often doesn't qualify. But that's just me.

[Trumpet Guy]

I saw Maurice Brown for a second time this weekend, this time with Earnest Dawkins' New Horizons band (which I really liked, and I'd describe as a freer Jazz Messengers, more or less). Anyway, it's confirmed. This guy is the real deal. I think he's going places, because not only is he technically superb, and also really creative, but he's quite a showman. That's the killer combination, IMO, for making it outside the usual jazz subculture that everyone on this forum belongs to.

Anyway, I'm really curious to hear thoughts on his CD....

I bought Maurice Brown's " Hip To Bop" yesterday. I'm enjoying it. He can definitely play and is someone to listen for.Rob C seems to have nailed it as he does leave some nice space. Yeah, chops and sound are quite nice. Definitely a soulful player. Not much "avant garde" on the record though. He really reminds me of Roy Hargrove with some "hipper" lines. One cut w/ wah-wah trumpet is cool. Some of the "soul" ballads are not my cup of tea, but I think this CD could appeal to more than the "hardcore" jazz fan. There's hardcore mainstream Jazz here too--nice tune based on Herbie's "One Finger Snap". The band sounds excellent--players from New Orleans I don't know of.

Maurice is the other trumpet player on Hargrove's "RH Factor"...

[minew]

Brown has set up shop here in New Orleans for the last year or so with a regular gig at jazz-hot-spot-turned-tourist-club Snug Harbor. In the front bar, you can sus out the show on the tv monitor and sound system. I was lured there by the Anderson CD but on the night I went Brown was doing just straight-ahead with some smoothish stuff mixed in (complete with Brown-induced audience clap-alongs). I declined to pay the cover.

[minew]

Do people agree that there's an unfair Chicago bias in Downbeat?

Actually, I think there's a New York bias in the rest of the American jazz press, like it's still the center of the jazz world or something. Dream on. In New York, if you're lucky, you can hear Joe Lovano. In Chicago, it's Von Freeman. Take that, extrapolate it outward, and case closed afaic.

New York's still the center of the jazz industry, no doubt, but I'd venture to say that you could hear more interesting music on a regular basis more frequently elsewhere these days, and Chicago would definitely be towards the top of the list (and quite possible at the top of it) of places to do so. Although "interesting music" means different things to different people, so let me say that what I hear coming out of NY for the last decade or two very often doesn't qualify. But that's just me.

Couldn't agree more about Chicago. I live in New Orleans where there's plenty of live jazz on offer. Of all kinds. But it's when I go to Chicago once or twice a year (to visit in-laws) that I really start drooling over the music schedule (often a month or so before we go). I usually find I'm physically and financially unable to make every show I'd like to see. Regular performances of Freeman, Anderson, Drake, Vandermark, Ewart, et al, and that's not counting who might be passing through town.

In contrast, last time I was in NY in September (granted it was a two-night early week stay) I had trouble finding a gig that was worthwhile. I strongly considered the VV orchestra but ended up hanging out at the late-nite Japanese snack bar all night. Cheaper and maybe more fun.

I know it's not always like that but if I'm gonna hop a plane somewhere for jazz, the first fare I'm gonna look up is Chicago. (Who'm I kidding - I've got a 19-month-old and another coming in 4 weeks.)

(Speaking of which: what will probably be the last Drake-Zerang solstice shows at Links Hall ever are scheduled for Dec 18-19-20. All at 6 AM. I won't be able to get up there this year but anyone who can should for a potentially life-changing experience.)

[cannonball-addict]

I just heard Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble on their recent Delmark CD, and I was really impressed by Brown again, who blows some serious music. Dawkins is also intensely passionate and expressive especially on alto.

I'm sure this CD has been discussed elsewhere. There's one tune on it that features everybody soloing that sounds like a Blakey cover or something dedicated to Blakey but this band is killin.

I can't wait for the next time I go to Chicago - only been once and I was little.