Brown Brothers Recordings

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,

The Brown Brothers.

Once there was a way,

to get back home again.

Once there was a way,

to get back home.

Sleep, pretty darling do not cry,

and I will sing a lullaby.

When a loved one dies, where do you put all that love you previously expressed in words and actions?  It doesn’t end but there is no sentient being on whom or which to lavish it.  This Memorial Day weekend we at Brown Brothers Recordings remember the ones we’ve lost, cherish the ones we still have and remind ourselves that everybody hurts, and music can heal, even for just a short time.

the local food craze continues to hit new heights in popularity.  we at brown bros. have been on this bandwagon with fervor, for many, many years.  why you may ask?

heavily processed and fake foods have been around for a while now – they too, have been growing in popularity.  the average American is overweight and a large % of our pop is obese.  exercise for most has gone the way of the dodo, and the sheer addictiveness of even the worst types of foods (fast and processed foods primarily) has made us fat.

these thoughts have been well chronicled over the years, so why are we bothering you with them?  not really sure actually, but next time you have a chance to visit your local farm stand or green market – take it.  take it to the fucking bank.  produce dug by hand with some dirt on it, just harvested fruit, fresh caught and killed animals (sorry for all you vegs out there), crazy ass honey and maple syrup, and so much more.  a cornucopia of perfection.  can you taste the difference? oh 110% you can.

this stuff is expensive as well.  super expensive.  but think about the cost of that $1 food item you can be eating at the fast fooders – how do they kill a chicken, ship it, and then dress it up on a burger, all for $1?  the economics do not work.

some will say that people are living longer than ever, they are indeed.  big pharma can keep us alive despite our best efforts to kill ourselves.  sedentary and obese and smoking them cigs – rolling around in an electric cart, etc.  big pharma’s great talent is to push survival.

here’s to hoping that this post doesn’t come across as too grim.  we really set out to add some green market inspiration to yer day – then wound up spewing bile.  just visit the green market today/tomorrow/this weekend.  shop till you drop.  then drop us a line and tell us how it was.

much love and stay close to the earth y’all,

brown brother universe

we have love for music,

we have love for visual art,

but most of all we have love for each other,

way down in our heart

That heart was beating fast yesterday as we completed the first Brown Brothers Recordings visual installation on the corner of Roebling and Broadway at the Brooklyn exit from the Williamsburg bridge. Check it out and marvel at the handiwork of Mike Anderson, collage artist par excellence and proud member of Brown Brothers Recordings since the early days.

Did you ever wonder why the best musicians in the world perform live mostly in noisy clubs with service-people flitting about and taking food and drink orders while other, less musically demanding forms of music are typically performed on luxurious stages focused primarily on the acts?  Us too. We’re looking to break that silly rule. Watch this site for updates on how we intend to do it.

Why is top class jazz mostly played live in noisy clubs while rock, pop and other live music gets performed in beautiful theaters?  Watch this space for updates as regards how BBR plans to change this insipid practice.

Herman Brood was a Dutch rock n’ roller and painter sometimes called the only rock star born in the Netherlands.  He was also a drug addict who killed himself by jumping off The Amsterdam Hilton.  At his best he was very good. So good he inspired artists like U2 and Black Francis, whose excellent tribute album to Brood, Bluefinger, is our favorite rock album of the ‘aughts.

One of the most beautiful things about vinyl Lps is that they allow space for great visual art. Think of a great potential mate.  You may be compatible in every way but if he or she has no face would you be attracted enough to investigate?  Digital music has no face.  As for the sound quality, we’ll leave that discussion for another day but for now here is the diptych collage created by BBR visual guru Mike Anderson. Mike used the above to create the lp art for The Co-Op.  Stare at the above photo for a few minutes. Bewitching, no?

Once upon a time a jazz record label thought so highly of its records and consumers it made a beautiful case to hold them. We want to get back to that time. We’re working to make our discography case-worthy.  Please listen to The Co-Op and the forthcoming BBR and JMI lps and let us know if you would buy a case from us.