Brown Brothers Recordings

BBR piano week goes to church with today’s entry, none other than the Nutman himself, Baltimore’s own Cyrus Chestnut.  Since the late 1980s Cyrus has been spreading musical magic around the world from behind his pianos. His style seamlessly mixes blues, gospel, soul and be-bop and his recordings and performances radiate warmth, empathy and plain old love. Little known fact: he wants to play Yankee Stadium.  Self-aggrandizing fact: his performance on our Gold Sounds album is our favorite example of his brilliance among many others. Congrats Cyrus, you’re the penultimate star of piano week.

Jeremy Pelt has elevated himself into history’s ranks of great trumpeters with a healthy dose of talent, hard work and an unswerving belief in the power of music.  His one-release-every January pace of the last few years is admirable and his work on our The Co-Op lp sublime. He’s also a helluva nice guy. You made it Jeremy-you’re today’s BBR trumpet-week featured player.

You wondered if we forgot? Nah.  John Coltrane concludes tenor week-which has now stretched into tenor fortnight. Anything anyone says or writes about Trane is meaningless because more than any other musician-jazz or otherwise-you can’t capture him in words.  You feel him through your ears. Thanks for following this tenor-a-day thread with us. We’ve loved it so much we’re moving to alto sax tomorrow, then trumpet, then piano, then bass, then who knows what. See you there.

Gustav Vigeland was one of the greatest and most prolific sculptors of all-time.  The Norwegian did most of his work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was the driving force behind one of the most beautiful parks you’ll ever have the good fortune to visit, Vigeland Park in Oslo : http://www.vigeland.museum.no/en/vigeland-park

Was he a Nazi sympathizers?  Some say he was, and if so, fuck him.  Either way, his work is absolutely jaw dropping….

 

 

This is where the magic happens. Vinyl lp pressing at its finest. Pallas.

to toil away at the righteous stone

moving bridges so others may cross

for little money and even less gratitude

ostracized by friends and family

until sickness and a lonely death

you tell me now

what’s it worth to you

on second thought just save your breath

no matter what you say

i will persist

and always insist

and never ever ever desist.

At one point in history CTI Records made a leather-looking, repeating logo-patterned, briefcase-style case to hold lps. We’d love to revisit that point.

The fine, independent documentarian/cinematographer/editor Basia “Barbara” Winograd has been with BBR since the beginning.  Her videos are an integral part of both Gold Sounds and The Co-Op albums. We first met her when she was an M.F.A. student at Columbia University. That memorable meeting was held at V & T Pizzeria.

Adrian Belew said The Talking Heads were the hip soundtrack to the 1980s.  Shockingly enough they’re still hip but they’re no longer just a soundtrack. They’re the whole movie.

This is the inside of Sweat Records in Miami, proud supporter of the Co-Op lp and today’s Brown Brothers retailer of the day.  Say his to Jason and Emile for us when you check out with your copy of The Co-Op.

Traveling salesmen are critical to humanizing a company’s products and ethos and here at Brown Brothers we have one of the best in the world. David M. Elkins is a man men want to be like and women just plain like. If you buy music you will forever cherish the day this beautiful soul comes-a-calling. It doesn’t hurt that he also owns our company and is selling music he helped create and believes in with all his heart. Long may you run Mr. Elkins.

This is the live room at the now-defunct Clinton Recording studio, where The Co-Op was recorded.  It has been written that it was the largest of its kind in Nyc, used for orchestras in the past. The ambience in the room was unbelievable and a big contributor to the lp’s glorious sound.