This is The CO-OP – conceived and recorded back in the wild and wooly mid-oughts. The Brown Bros. brought 5 elite musicians together and asked each to bring 1-2 original compositions. After a day’s worth of rehearsal, we went into the studio for 2 days @ the now defunct Clinton Studios in Hells Kitchen NYC. We recorded in their live room (wow what a room) and were truly pleased with the output. Jeremy Pelt did triple-duty as a player, composer and producer, and Steve Mandel recorded the sessions.
The music sat on the shelf for the better part of a decade until the Brown Bros. finally pressed the record.
You can now listen to this record pressed on some phat and lovely vinyl, and also on all digital platforms globally. We invite you to take 40 minutes out of your busy day to do just that.
Thanks for reading.
Yours in Music,
Arvin Suback (of the fighting and writing Suback clan), October 13th, 2017 – somewhere in NYC
Bruce Springsteen presents a real conundrum for lyrics obsessives. He’s not quite the poet like Dylan, Van or Costello nor the wry workingman and arch character builder like Randy Newman or Mose Allison. He rocks hard but is basically an earnest soul revue live act. Perhaps as much as anyone though he’s carved his own space, filled by virtuoso guitar, taskmaster band leading and a work ethic which sustains rather than drains pure artistry. Happy birthday Boss. The Brown Brothers love you.
Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos died last week. Ramos was a world-championship featherweight boxer active in the 50’s and 60’s who started his professional career at the age of 15. He was born and then raised dirt-poor in Matanzas, Cuba in the 1940’s. Ramos stood just shy of 5 feet 5 inches, but he hit as a mule kicked – hard.
In 1958, Ramos beat his countryman, Jose “Tigre” Blanco by a brutal knockout. Shortly after the match, Blanco died of a brain hemorrhage.
Fast-forward to March 21st, 1963, Dodger Stadium, Elysian Park, Los Angeles – the world featherweight title match: Sugar Ramos v the 4-year defending champ, Davey Moore. Moore was widely thought of as one of the top pound for pound fighters of his day, and as evidenced by the venue, boxing was a big deal in 1963 America.
Moore got the better of Ramos in the early rounds, battering the Cuban with heavy artillery, but Ramos kept his composure and knocked Moore out in the 10th. Moore was able to leave the ring under his own powers, but slipped into a coma shortly thereafter and then passed at a local hospital. Word has it that Moore hit his head on one of the ropes surrounding the ring (and the below video appears to corroborate this), and that at the time, those ropes were not padded. Word also has it that Ramos, ever the mensch, was present at the hospital post Moore’s death and was absolved of responsibility by Moore’s widow…
Ramos continued to fight until retiring in 1972 – a true warrior and a gentleman as the story goes, and was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.
The 1963 fight and subsequent death of Moore was immortalized by the great Bobby Dylan at the height of his folk phase with the song “Who Killed Davey Moore” which asks lots of questions but doesn’t take a firm point of view on the actual culprit. Here’s a link to that song along with a video of Moore v Ramos from that fateful nite.
It’s too easy to go through the motions after a certain age. You know what you have to do and your energy for things you want to do wanes. That’s why here at Brown Brothers Recordings we like to block out parts of each day to do absolutely nothing except think of things we want to do. We make as big a list as our imagination allows. We almost never actually do anything from the list but when we do it provides a nice balance to crushing adult obligations.
Oh the drawing above is by Steven Mandel, about whom most of what you want to know is available on his various social media feeds @stevenmandel
One of the fascinating things about jazz is how many musicians master it’s difficult techniques and become among the best players in the world on their instruments only to toil in relative obscurity to musicians with not a tenth the talent in other genres. Today we present exhibit a: Mr. Mundell Lowe of Shady Grove, Mississippi. Mumdell is an absolute whiz on guitar and he played with some of the all-time greats from Yardbird Parker to Sarah Vaughan to Barry Manilow but we bet you’ve not heard of him as much as thousands of 3 chord rock stars. And that is one of the great pleasures for those of us who love jazz: most people will never appreciate a Mumdell Lowe, like a secret you can tell and still keep.
It has been suggested in the Brown Brothers echo chamber of power that our dated, daily posts don’t attract enough clicks, the lifeblood of website survival. The author of such titular non-titillation countered that consumers are smart enough to appreciate the daily content with understanding and enjoyment but best of all appreciation that a record label cares enough to consistently inject a shot of diversion into dreary days. Indeed this struggle, which mirrors the zeitgeist, is another skirmish in the perpetual war of style versus substance. We trust you visitors to this site to think about things like dates-as-titles, songs of the day and their relation to posts’ pics. We trust you not to pass us by for lack of catchy text titles. In turn we ask you to trust us that we are giving you authentic content from our soul. Such content is all of a piece and ranges from our products for sale –conveniently linked above and made with a figurative mixture of blood, sweat, tears and passion–to our website posts, to our coming series of “Brown Brothers Presents” live shows. To paraphrase a Brown Brothers leading lyrical inspiration:
some posts are better than other posts
some months of posts are better than other months of posts
Keep coming back and we will keep trying our best, each and every day.
She’s Powerful and Majestic, an eternal reminder of the absolute dominion of Mother Nature over mere mortals like ourselves. The Falls of Niagara would wipe out the world’s strongest man, annihilate the most powerful army, she takes no prisoners…
For the adventurous traveler, the Falls are not the only highlight of the region; for sure they’re the money shot of the Niagara River, but venture out a bit and find some natural greatness. The Upper Niagara River looks like some prehistoric perfection, and feeds the falls as it rushes downstream. The output of the Falls creates the Niagara Whirlpool along the Lower Niagara River. From the NY side you must visit Whirlpool State Park and observe the unbridled speed and destructive power of the Whirlpool Rapids. Legend has it that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the “daredevils of the rapids” challenged these raging waters by swimming, riding in barrels and navigating in boats – many paid for their bravado with their lives….
Today’s Niagara Falls tourist scene is decidedly bent towards the Canadian side of the Falls – more touristy, louder, and more obnoxious than the somewhat subdued NY side, it’s still worth a visit to experience the endless kitsch built up around the beautiful Falls, but as always, we recommend exploring deeper than most tourists ultimately do…
If the world doesn’t end before January 22-24, 2018, there will be a series of shows unlike any other at NYC’s famed Blue Note Club on West 3rd Street in Manhattan, NYC, USA, Earth. On those days, across two sets per night, every musician who has recorded for us and sister label J.M.I. Recordings are invited to contribute to bringing both labels’ catalogs to life. Even at this early date The Co-Op‘s master vibist Warren Wolf, Jr, is confirmed to produce the proceedings together with J.M.I. linchpin and keyboard deity Ray Angry. Ali Jackson and James Carter from Gold Sounds, Jeremy Pelt from The Co-Op, Willie Jones III and Ben Williams from J.M.I. label debut Steve Wilson Sit Back, Relax & Unwind and Myron Walden from J.M.I.’s forthcoming Ray Angry One lp are also confirmed. Return to this site for updates and offers surrounding these shows. That is if we all survive until then.
An incredible (we think) composition by Jeremy Pelt, and an all-out aural assault by the brilliant CO-OP quintet. Native Son is a track that should have made the LP, but didn’t. We’re still not sure why it didn’t, but either way, here it is in all it’s electric glory – please gorge on it as you wish.
Today at BBR we hail erstwhile label collaborator Wycliffe Gordon on his 50th birthday.
Wycliffe didn’t record on our Gold Sounds project but he may as well have been the 5th member of the quartet that did, popping up more than once to play live with Mssrs. Carter, Chestnut, Veal and Jackson. Not only is Wycliffe the best trombone player in the world for our money, but a super nice guy. Once at a concert at Columbia’s Miller Theater he told a roomful of people about a short encounter with a Brother which made our day. His playing, deeply steeped in New Orleans first line feeling, never fails to move us. His technique is so masterful he can coax sounds from his horn that alternatively sound like a bird chirping or a willow wailing. One of the proudest moments in label history was when 5 tracks of trombone coalesced into The Co-Op closer “Okay”. Wycliffe, in his characteristic modesty, didn’t highlight the genius of that composition and let us name the tune, which we did with oxymoronic humor. Wherever you are today Wycliffe, Brown Brothers Recordings can only hope they are celebrating your half century mark with all the people and things you love and deserve. We can’t wait to hear you play live again, we can’t wait to hug you again. Love,
Brown Brothers Recordings 