Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Trumpeter, Educator Jim Rotondi Dies at 61
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Drummer Justin Brown’s leader album features two keyboardists.
(Photo: Hadas)The electro-funk fusion album Nyeusi (Biophilia) marks drummer Justin Brown’s debut as a bandleader, but he’s no newcomer. The 34-year-old has spent about two decades cultivating his reputation as a first-class jazz musician.
By the time he graduated from high school, Brown was a veteran of both the Grammy Band and the Brubeck Institute. He forsook a free ride to The Juilliard School to tour with saxophonist Kenny Garrett and trombonist Josh Roseman. A few years later, he began working regularly in bands led by trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and pianist Gerald Clayton, both childhood friends. He was runner-up in the 2012 Thelonious Monk International Drums Competition, and since 2014 he has been the drummer for genre-busting bassist/vocalist Thundercat.
“It’s his curiosity and his commitment to the craft,” said Akinmusire, explaining why he’s worked with Brown for so long. “Every time we play together, he brings something new.”
What, then, took so long to record the debut?
“I guess my frame of thinking with anything is just patience,” said the bicoastal Brown, speaking by phone from the Bay Area. “I was writing songs here and there, and taking the opportunity to perform as a bandleader in places like [New York’s] Jazz Gallery. But it was something I didn’t want to rush, because I’m still learning throughout the process.”
Nyeusi (Swahili for “black”) includes 11 original compositions written during the past 10 years. Much of the album—featuring Jason Lindner and Fabian Almazan (both on keyboards), Mark Shim (electronic wind controller) and Burniss Earl Travis (bass)—was recorded in 2015. One of the album’s two non-original tracks is a version of Tony Williams’ 1971 tune “Circa 45,” while the influence of hip-hop is obvious on tunes like “Replenish” and “FYFO,” and interludes “Waiting (DUSK)” and “At Peace (DAWN)” skirt the avant-garde.
Just as he exercised patience in completing Nyeusi, Brown is in no particular hurry to follow it up. Instead, he said, his next step will be “becoming a better human. I want to help us come together and help one another, you know? A better human and a better musician: I’m just trying to do my part.” DB
Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.
Jul 9, 2024 11:35 AM
Jim Rotondi, a renowned hard-bop trumpeter, composer and educator, died suddenly on July 7 at a hospital in France. He…
Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!
Jul 11, 2024 12:23 PM
The incomparable Charles Lloyd swept the 72nd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll, becoming the first artist ever to earn…
“Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”
Jun 4, 2024 12:21 PM
Sitting with Don Was is a comfortable and unhurried exercise. He may seem slightly reserved at first, but ideas and…
The Century Room in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was born in 2021.
May 21, 2024 12:58 PM
Players got to play. It’s long been a part of jazz history: When there’s a venue vacuum, when there are fewer…
“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.
Jun 11, 2024 12:31 PM
Italy’s Umbria Jazz Winter is one of those rare annual festivals that not only coincides with a major holiday —…
