Why make records?

2 days ago I woke up and had that 10 seconds of bliss before all that craptastic anxiety poured on in and forced it's evil hand. "What the fuck am I going to do today to make my life better? I need a better job! Shit, I'm nervous about this and that and I have to do this and that and I should do this and that!"

Those evil shoulds and have to bits. Jive.

I made a plan. "The only thing that needs to happen is I need to commit 2 pieces of music to my new solo album, one that I needed to write, the other is already done I just need to capture a good take of it. I'll break for lunch at 3 and go to a local art gallery and look at whatever is there." Simple plan, part of my KISS scheme= Keep It Simple Sexy!

The first piece is difficult. It's intense. I was full of anxiety anyway. Impossible to play an intense piece well if I'm tense. Yeah, sounds counter intuitive but that's the truth. Being tense and making intense music just doesn't work. So I lit 3 candles and turned off all the lights in my room, dressed the part and did 4 takes. Got one I'm happy with. After that the song that needed lyrics, the words came to me in about 10 minutes. It's good, I really dig it. But I was still full of anxiety. Got the record done and took my break after contacting a friend about mastering etc.

Then those evil voices came in. They start right away. "It's not good, your fingerpicking sucks compares to John Fahey, you can't really sing." Then the worst of the evil comments: "What's the point. There are so many acoustic records made no one will care!"

I've learned not to listen to this mental jive but it still does hurt. I took my break, got a couple tacos from the Los Morelos Taco truck on North 7th and Bedford, a chocolate bar from Foodtown and I went to my gallery Still full of anxiety......

The work in the gallery was from 2 artist, a painter and a sculpture. Nothing that blew my mind though I liked the sculptures, they were fun. When I left I got about 2 blocks away and realized something. I had left all my troubles and anxiety at the gallery. I felt completely free for a bit. I knew it was temporary but something became so clear. This is the point. This is why we make art. It's simply to be of service. If this work could sooth my soul for a short while, maybe what I have to offer can sooth anothers soul.

I can't actually think of a better reason to follow through and make a record than that. World needs soothing. Glad to do my part.

Holding back

I don't understand what is happening with music today. I see a lot of talent being held back intentionally. A lot of fear. I know the passion is there, please reveal it.

When I had the Evolutionary Jass Band going my intention was to become a better sax player. That was it. We made some good music but I was often frustrated with our creation. It was perhaps a matter of that intention, it sets a limit to what I wanted to do. It's like with my business, Leighton Audio. I made an intention for it to bring in $1000 a week. What happened? I brought in exactly $1000 a week average and could not seem to to better. Some weeks much less, others only slightly more. What if I set my intention differently? It became a difficult cycle to break. It was hard for me to take the Jass Band to the next level perhaps cause I set a level in the first place!

In Jackie O I was at a real crossroads with music. I had left the 90's funk zone and made the first honest music of my life with a band called Visitors. I felt free. Then I moved to Portland. I'm not sure that was a great move. I was faced with a scene that confused me, different language, different set of rules*. Jackie O helped me process that. I needed to answer 'what do I even like about making music?' I just saw too many bands that lacked inspiration or energy so I went from playing straight music to playing 2 notes for 45 minutes at a time. My old friends were baffled. I was uncomfortable but knew I was going sane slowly.

Now in music I just want to kick ass. Show up 110% and let it fly. Ill become the musician I need to be with this attitude. Nothing standing in my way shall be an obstacle. I'm happier than ever with the music I'm creating. And really, I'm not serving this world by giving back to it anything less than all of me, for the world has given me everything I need. It's a state of praise and thanks.

We are a funny lot here in the U.S. We don't like to make waves. Be honest. Did another gig tonight where I heard from several people "Sounded Awesome Dude" from the next band. How would you know? You weren't even in the room! And yes, it's a small room and I'm good with faces so please, just tell the truth!

And that's a part of it. I wonder why it's so difficult to tell the truth. It actually takes less energy to be honest. It takes less energy to play a show and reveal your truth. It takes more energy to hold your passion back. It takes more energy to lie. So please, let's get on with the show already. And show up and reveal yourself.

JB

*A word about Portland. I'm not writing this to bash Portland or the scene there in the 90's. Just need to acknowledge my experience of it. I love and miss alot about Portland especially the people. I was just used to something else. Portland gave me a lot of beautiful gifts, I just didn't really feel safe to be myself ever, didn't 'fit in'. It's all good. That is why one leaves. And when I left things had changed. I think the scene there now in my opinion is much more what I needed. Of course, this may all be a matter of growth and perception. I wasn't as open in '95 as I am now and that was a part of the problem. So, love to Portland, love to the 90's, and thanks to this life. It's all good baby!

1946 Epiphone Spartan

This guitar is my main squeeze. I spent 20 years trying to find the right archtop and when my playing was ready it walked into my life. These are smaller bodied guitars, I think 16". No tubbiness to the sound and tons of VOLUME! I've played a $10,000 L-5 from the 30's that just didn't do it like this guitar does. Other super expensive guitars as well don't hold a candle to this one. I think old Epis are the best value on the market. Built in NYC!

https://soundcloud.com/jef-brown/swingtron

https://soundcloud.com/jef-brown/cardomom-instrumental

Best thing about a great instrument for me is they tell you the song, it just pours out.
I'm one blessed guitar player! JB

Faith

About 2 weeks ago I decided after a rather painful conversation to stop taking gigs as an unpaid hired gun. My biggest anxiety is that myth saying "you won't play if you decide to stop playing for free!" That's a lonely way to be.

But what's so awful about being alone? Really.

The morning after I got offered 2 gigs. The last question I asked about 6 hours later was do these gigs pay. The response was 'sure, whatever, it's rock, we split the door that's how it works.'

Really? Is that how some of my friends have swimming pools and NO DAY JOB?

I don't buy this logic. I think it's the death of us. I've been saying this for 25 years now and things still haven't panned out.

So I asked for some money and got turned down humanely. Dude just couldn't do it. Cool. You know what? I need the time to focus on Gospel of Mars and my solo record. I don't need to go to rehearsal and get resentful for no money.

Next day got asked to do another. I said no. No pay, no play. And the following day, same thing. Kinda painful, lonely and that feeling of 'I'm being a dick, how dare I ask these underpaid artist to get paid???? WHO THE HELL DO I THINK I AM?????"

Well, lets see. The sound man gets paid well. The video maker, the producer, the stylist. Everyone gets paid except for the actual people making the music. What's wrong here?

Well, the sound man ask for money, the producer ask for her needs to be met, so does the stylist, so does the video maker.

There's this narcissist in me that wants to be approved, loved perhaps. That's the part that always gets me in trouble. As a hired professional I'm not being paid to be loved, I'm being paid to leave after giving a night or 2 of great service. I don't need to make the boundaries unclear with insecurity and approval seeking. The actual me needs support, financial support. It's that simple. I love to work, I love to give service, I love getting paid. If you need my opinion I'm wearing a producer hat. Pay me for that and I'll be of great help.

I met a producer in Los Angeles once on a benefit job. He told me something I'll never forget. He said he gets asked daily by artist to review their demo and give some pointers. He replies "sure, would love to listen! My rate is $1000 an hour." People usually scoff. He said "So if I give this guy advice and they follow it and they make a hit and earn 10 million bucks do you think they'll remember to pay me anything?" Point taken. This man values his TIME. I dig it baby.

My life is rich and busy. I'm not getting any younger. I need the time to focus on the music I'm making every day now. I like doing support gigs, I actually just can't give away my time for free any longer.

So why is this post called faith? 3 days ago I got offered $100 to play some acoustic music for an hour at a wedding. I've been told that by saying no to unpaid opportunities I say yes to those that do pay. Self love pays. $100 to show up for 1 hour, play some music and leave. That's faith at work. An affirmation to a new way.  I can do this, I am worth it. We can do this. We are worth it.

Love, JB

So, I've parted with my childhood axe

At the beginning of this summer I went on a trip with my friend and boss to buy a collection of guitars upstate. When I first walked in my head was all full of old crappy assumptions. New wife, she wants him to get rid of his toys, that kind of unkind material. Nothing real, just me making a hurtful image out of my own hurt. This cat was a Beatles fan and was about the same age as Paul. He had a collection of guitars that blew me away, all Beatles style. It was an emotionally painful change. A blind man could see that. And I empathize with both this fellow and his wife.

As they were making the deal I got into a conversation with his wife. She is a spiritual shrink and a psychic. It took me 30 seconds before I felt a wave of joy and some tears, she is exactly the right person for this mans life. Took no convincing. We talked about isolation and letting go of the past to make room for the present. She figured me out in less than a minute saying "you have gone through a painful shift about 2 years ago is what I see" Yup. I hit my bottom in Los Angeles around then. Ego smashed to pieces. She also said this summer will be financially challenging, difficult but "don't scare for nothing" she kept saying. "Just do your work, clean your house cause your life is about to take off!"

I have no doubt she is right on point. No doubt.

I came away convinced it is time to part with my childhood black Stratocaster. Lovely guitar. But it represents a person who no longer lives in this form. It represents that 14 year old Jimi fanatic who bought 100 bootleg recordings and did his best to be someone else. It represents that 22 year old that bought this guitar to achieve a dream in a material form, that guy my friends from long ago are comfortable with, the young man who played louder than necessary with the dreads and who attracted a bunch of female attention. It represents a young man who didn't know who he was who was trying desperately to be cool. It represents a big fish in a small pond destroying his own chances at success.

Best Stratocaster ever but I played it so little after I decided to be myself.

The strange thing about fanatics and worshippers is they wind up depriving themselves and wind up poor and rather dirty. I've said that before. And, that was me. I couldn't see it, but that was me.

Funny thing is when I was a kid I had this dream of moving to New York and I played a big ol' archtop with flatwound strings making some rather wierd and wonderful music. Composing, playing, enjoying this life. That's happening. Today was the best day of my life. I like that trajectory. I like being me. When you are young it helps to have a hero perhaps, but it hurts to become that hero. If I go out and play baseball as Jef Brown, I won't hit anything, but if I pretend to be Jackie Robinson, I'll hit a home run. I may even get the same bat he used. That's fine until you get your own bag together. What you don't want is to stay stuck in that illusion.

So, I've parted with my childhood axe, or better yet, parted with my childhood. I feel really good about it. I don't miss it yet, maybe I will, maybe I won't. I don't miss my youth either though. I appreciate my past but don't miss it. And I'm glad someone else will be able to enjoy that old guitar.

JB

Showtimes. How long do you enjoy playing?

I read an interview once with Gore Vidal where the reporter asked "Where are all the great writers today?" and Gore asked back "where are all the great readers today?"

While I agree with neither statement, there are great writers today, we may just not see them cause we compare to the past all the time, and great readers? How are we to know what is in another's mind? But I do think there is validity to both statements as well.

I was once at a concert in Portland watching the guy who wrote Louie Louie. I got into a conversation with a young man about music. We talked a bit about the length of shows. Myself? I would love to play 2 or 3 sets a night if I can. Music gets really interesting if you play and play and play. I had just seen Mahmoud Ahmed in a warehouse in Portland play 3 one hour and twenty minute sets. The energy in the room was higher at the end of the night than at the beginning. It ended past 3am. Now that my friends, is a show. I saw a friend perform last year at The Knitting Factory. She had just gotten a writeup in Pitchfork saying hers was the album of the year. Packed house, she was headlining. 22 1/4 minute show. Disappointed audience. Lotta moans and grumbling.

So while myself and this young man were talking I made the point that our grandparents partied way harder than we know how to. The music they dug, those bands worked. Duke Ellington, Basie, Chick Webb, Trane (he was known to play until the sun came up!), the attention span must have changed over the years for us in the United States. (Yeah, Mahmoud Ahmed is Ethiopian. There were about 12 hipsters there including myself and 200+ Ethiopians and Somalians eating up every lyric!)

So why the change? I said to the young man, "well think about it. Think about the first 18 years of your life. 1st grade through 12th. Your time is compartmentalized. How long is the average class? How long is the average musical set? At first you are into it, by the 40 minute mark you are WAITING FOR THE BELL TO RING! Ding, class dismissed, NEXT!"

I myself have done enough rock shows with 5 band nights where there is anxiety about getting enough bodies in there to get paid. This doesn't make for great bands or great audiences and certainly doesn't make for great experiences. What to do? I think saying no to opportunities that don't pay is a great start. You don't need the publicity a Monday night at a dump can give you. Shoot higher. Shoot for the stars you may hit the moon. Shoot for the treetop you may hit a window! Next is really work on the vision you have for your group. If you are satisfied playing 22 1/4 minute sets and that is what your audience can handle, great! Don't change a thing. But if you aren't start working on how those needs will be met and be vigilant. What kind of venues do you need to play in to be happy. What do they feel like etc.

More later!

It's getting hard to earn in music these days with (fill in the blank)

 I often hear "it's hard these days" when it comes to making money in music, selling product etc. I don't know about this. I think it's noisier today with all the internet stuff and digital downloads, yes, but the life for musicians has never been easy. 100 years ago Jelly Roll Morton went from purely live performances to making piano rolls to 78s just to keep food on the table. He adapted. It wasn't easy. Eventually only his negativity destroyed him. 300 years ago musicians were the lowest of the low, that isn't the case anymore but I think we still believe that in ourselves down deep. It isn't at all true, never was.

All we really can do is make the best music we can and be creative about getting it out there. One of my dear friends has made a million a year scoring films. We both dropped out of college at the same time. What is his secret? He goes to parties. shakes hands and makes connections. It's that willingness to do so. You can be Beethoven with a Reverbnation page, a myspace, facebook, soundcloud, a bandcamp, but if you aren't willing to show up and meet and greet, nothing will happen.

I've never gotten a job with a resume. All this social media, they are like resumes. Kinda lazy. They get thrown in a pile and forgotten. Every job or gig I've gotten has been through walking into a place and saying: Hey, my name is ______, and I'm your new guy, here's my music.

The music business has always been in a state of change since day 1. The only constant is making an actual impression.

JB

GOspel Of Mars live at Stanhope House in Stanhope New Jersey 7/13/13

The Stanhope House is a roadhouse that features blues and jazz mostly though tonight it was hip hop and free jazz. Cannibal Ox rocked the other room filling in our quiet passages with "Let me see your hands!" 2586 times while we played, kinda like one big happy 2 room mash up.

A young man took pictures of my saxophone up close and said to a patron he saw Jesus in my horn. Yeah, Stanhope House was built in the 1700s. Lotta ghost there, maybe even a holy ghost.

Can't wait to return. One of the best gigs I've had in a long time.

Mailing list

One of the oddest problems many of us musicians have is the resistance to self promotion. I don't understand this yet I have this problem as well.

Last year Gospel of Mars did a great gig at Zebulon with the Lawrence Clark trio. I learn alot from playing gigs with better players than I, but this night what really impressed me was watching Lawrence walk around the room with a clip board after his set and talk to every person in the room (with warmth and a smile!) and ask if they would like to be on his mailing list. I would never have thought about this had I not seen it. I played with Lawrence in Washington Square a few weeks later. I watched him approach lunch eaters in between songs with a cloth bag for money and that clipboard for emails, again using a gentle and warm approach.

I think the block comes when we think we are being invasive or pushy like a sleazy used car salesman with a pencil moustache and Marlboro mouthwash breath. There is no truth there, we needn't see self promotion this way at all. People want to see your performances! And in this noisy world with social networking and so much grabbing our attention, people want warmth, a smile and to be approached by another actual human being.

I did another gig this winter as a hired saxist for this fellows band. Nobody came. I insisted on being paid, it was time and energy spent so I got my fee. I asked him "what do you do to promote your shows, you do have 4 albums under your belt so you have been doing this for a while right?" His response killed me. "People have been giving me their info for the last 10 years and I usually just throw that info out!" I replied, "you do see that this isn't sane do you? You do see this as an insult to your fans right?"

10 years of gigging, 15 people at your gig. Why bother? And that's with 4 bands on the bill who are hoping that the other 3 will bring in more people. 10 years of people giving their info and the response is like "piss off, you don't really like my music anyway!" 10 years of people giving you their email is a lot of people. Why reject that? Some wierd pious "I'm not a capitalist, I am above that behavior" jive? Why reject a good thing?

So those gigs were months ago and I've only started to use Lawrences approach. I've collected 10 this week alone and will be giving those folks a shout when I book the nex gig. It'sa good band and these folks want to hear more.

A good friend said to me "have you ever signed an email list after a set when it's sitting there next to a pile of merchandise?" Gotta admit the answer is no I haven't. Gotta strike while the iron is hot. Have a friend walk around with that clip board during your set and do that job. And when the set is over don't do like I used to do and hide out, approach people. Sure someone is going to say no or "I never sign list" like 1 cat said to me the other night, but a whole lot more will say yes and want to talk to you. Take the praise, you've earned it!

JB

Gospel of Mars at Silent Barn 7/10/13.

Played Bushwicks very own Silent Barn Wednesday night, thanks to all who showed up, thanks to Sarah Halpern for putting together the event as well. I enjoy nights like this. Started out with Jeanne Liotta showing some lovely films, the last of which was a film about the moon. Perfect way to launch our set.

I love playing shows like this. The room has a great lively acoustic sound, the audience had great attention. It's easy to be of service when the vibe is this good! Sarah is a dear friend from Portland who used to take lessons from me. She's been making films here in NYC for the last 7 years and it's been great to re-connect. That's how things happen. It's all about connection. You never know where you may end up, but if you are in the arts, chances are a friend is in the town you land in. The world gets smaller the bigger it gets. I like it

The Keepsies!

Here's a session I did last year with my man Austin Brown. Playing sax and doing backup vocals. Really love these guys sound and ideas, classic and immediately WARM. Really grateful to have been a part of this session. Enjoy! Buy their tracks!!!!!

http://thekeepsies.bandcamp.com/

Oh, and that's my man Jason Kelly on drums, one of the finest.

Nice footage of Gospel Of Mars at Spectrum, 6/12/2013

 We really enjoyed this performance. Hope you do too. Beautiful space on Ludlow Street.

http://vimeo.com/68329276

Sustain

Music, art, love, business, raising a family, these don't work as a popularity contest, they are an endurance race. It takes daily sustained action to do anything well.

I've given up my rehearsal space which is a good thing. As a saxophone player the city of New York is a great practice space with 8 1/2 million potential viewers. I've traded up. My old space, I walked in and there was a pile of amps on the floor that looked like a trash heap. Couldn't do it anymore.

Tricky part is getting in front of people and practicing. I've always lived the 'musician as solitary creature' myth. Nonsense. Practicing in front of people for an hour is the equivalent of practicing in a box for 10. It's not difficult to master scales, arpeggios, learn tunes. it is difficult, at least for me, to connect with people.

I read a great article with Joe Lovano and Lou Donaldson in the Oregonian. They were both asked about practicing. Joe gave a beautiful though long answer about balance and spontaneity, Lou however, kinda nailed it. "Man, I'm trying to practice less so I can get worse on my horn, that way I can connect with the people better! All these kids coming out of these schools, get them on the bandstand back in the day and we'd throw them off before the chorus was over playing all that school jive!"
I dig that.

I admit since giving up my space I've fallen off the band wagon in my practice routine. Have hardly touched my horn though i have been writing and playing guitar. I start feeling wrong when I don't practice that horn, start getting irritable and resentful. I played for an hour and a half tonight, learned "Brilliant Corners" by Monk and right in this moment I feel serene again. I'm a better horn player than I was yesterday and better than I think I am overall. It's easy to lose touch with that and start beating myself up for not working. Just an hour can reset the batteries.

And by the way, right now Ike Quebec is THE MAN!!!!

Love, JB

Weekend at Glasslands 4/20-4/21/13

Did 2 shows over the weekend, first with Bob Jones and his Golden Tones, second with Divining Rod.

I like Glasslands. Nice venue, nice people. Both shows I think we really brought our A game. I'm too lazy tonight to write much else except come see us! I like this phase cause whatever I'm involved in it's joyous. Bob has created the most fun cover band ever. I actually enjoy the material. We can play anything we want to. He's writing some great songs as well and has a really pretty voice.

Divining Rod, we make the dark material. Heavy. But we always have fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHxUgbuPVA8&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdvZRAi0CQ

This is an old show with Ann Hairston on the drums.

Yup, I like psych guitar....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceu072PZRDY

Enjoy!

JB

Music and spirit

Been writing a demo a day. Keeps my mind functioning. Really into acoustic guitar these days, tired of all that sound from my amps.

Wrote this one about the war:

https://soundcloud.com/jef-brown/flowers-for-afghanistan

No, it's not political. I don't dig on politics.

My new favorite person to hang out with said one day: "once you can see how ridiculous everything is, you can be okay." I get that completely. I love that. You can mess with the world with this attitude.

Did this one the other night. Yeah, I like Django but I don't fancy buying a Selmer guitar.

https://soundcloud.com/jef-brown/central

Inspired by sitting in Central park last Wednesday in the sun. Lots of energy, lots of laziness.

This one was inspired by a friend. I like her, I like this song.....

https://soundcloud.com/jef-brown/marta

Gettin' my new age on with this piece.....

https://soundcloud.com/jef-brown/fields

Life after rock clubs? Maybe I'll start playing for yoga studios. There's a zillion different paths to the promised land. Played a rock show last night. A lot of chunder in the street. Yoga studios smell nicer.

Bob Jones and his Golden Tones, Lit Lounge 4/12/13

We played a great 1/2 hour set the other night, opening for 3 other acts. We're a lounge act, not a rock band but we're getting the word out so we played this gig. What went well is we were told we had a 1/2 hour to do our thing so that's what we did. Professional. No complaints, no indifference to time. And we killed it.

The group is starting to gel, that feels good. It's worth it playing with people who care.

The Lit Lounge has a great cavern feel about it. In 25 years of playing rock clubs I gotta say I'm tired of it so I'll focus on the positives. The sound guy was good, only mildly grumpy, did his job well. Over the years the bathrooms have improved, they have a lock on the door, big improvement over the old days. I used to hate even going to clubs, total lack of privacy, total lack of self respect. That's gotten better.

One of the other acts did everything one really shouldn't do on a bill with 4 bands. They spent more time than we had to play just setting up, played terrifically out of tune and continued to drag on well overtime leaving the poor group that was playing last no time for their set at all. Time indifference. 1/2 stack in a room the size of my bedroom, no stage presence, easily one of the worst groups I've ever seen. I don't get it. "Can we play 2 more?" You are already 20 minutes over your time, spent about 20 minutes tuning and never achieved that. Step down, go home and practice, you'll get better. It's disheartening to share a bill with such bands.

Over the years I've seen passion in rock n' roll turn into 30 somethings saying "hey let's play rock star!" It's a bummer. Get your ego out of there and your heart in there, PLEASE. We all need to express ourselves, hats off to you for showing up, now figure out what it means to be pro.

The second act was good, the unfortunate headliner I didn't see. They were backstage discussing that they should have said yes to taking the third slot they were offered. Rule of thumb. On a 4 band bill of groups that don't know each other, never play last. Always fight for a better slot. You are worth it right?

JB

Nothing to gain, nothing to lose.

It's only those moments where there is awareness that we have nothing to gain and nothing to lose that music happens. That moment where you lose yourself. I think maybe this is just a way. A way of life that is. I've had moments where I vanish completely, but these are rare. All that chatter in the mind, all that worrying if the audience is into it or not. I like making music that people like, but no longer care if anyone likes the music I make or not. I trust that whatever message is coming through it will reach those who need that message, and those that don't will tune in somewhere else.

All are welcome here.

I'm taking this approach to promoting as well. I have nothing to gain or lose by asking for a gig, asking for money, asking for support. Sharing music is an offering. It can be accepted or rejected. That part is none of my business.

Once the note leaves my horn it's out there. It has it's own energy, thoughts, desires, fears. I have no control over that note. I like this. It's honest. It's truth. And truth has no path.

xoj

Creative space

I'm at this crossroads in my life again. I have a practice space, it's really cheap and I use it in the mornings. The room itself is beautiful, I realize I'm really lucky to have it.

Yet, it's still hard to really dig it. It's a shared space and it's filthy, smell of stale cigarettes, broken equipment everywhere, my amp got damaged last week. There's no use in trying to clean, it'll be a pile again in a week.

I just moved to a new apartment. It's clean, smells nice and I can't wait to get to work setting up my living space. I feel this creative life really taking off just being in my new room.

What is it about so many of us musicians that keeps us in such voluntary squalor? I'm in recovery on the subject, my life was cluttered with wires and busted amps for years. I understand that it need not be this way too. We don't need to surround ourselves with ugliness.

It's in my vision to rehearse in the sunshine. I've been rehearsing in basements, sometimes cold and damp, unhealthy and always ugly, for most of my life, like music is something to be ashamed of so it needs to be literally underground with the dead. Distress is boring. Distress is soooooo 1983.

Yet the practice space I'm in has nice light, windows etc. Fill it with darkness? Odd yet so common amongst us.

Self respect? Self love? I no longer get it. We can do much better.

JB

Steven Kelley Denman, drummer.

In May of 2010 I moved to Los Angeles. That's a tough town to show up in with little plan for what you want to do. Glad I did it though. I spent the summer of 2010 jobless for the first time since I was a teenager. Happiest I had been an a while too.

When I move to a new place is when I'm the most open. I haven't formed my limiting habits yet, the reptilian brain doesn't quite have it's chokehold yet. I started putting ads on Craigslist and answering them too, just to try something new.

One Thursday evening I was sitting at my friends place in Beverly Hills playing my 20th game of scrabble that day when the phone rang. It was Steven Denman. He saw my ad on Craigslist and said "man I read your ad and couldn't understand anything it said so I figured you were the right person to call!"

We spoke for 2 hours till my ear was burning. I said "well Mr Denman, sounds like we gotta meet. You up for playing tomorrow?" He said yeah. So next day, Friday night I went to his place in Hollywood. We played in his apartment. I'm amazed the neighbors didn't blow up. We knocked the walls down. Some of the most connected music I've ever done. At one point he screamed and said this is what he needed to do and had been looking for for years now. My feelings exactly.

We recorded a bunch at my friends dance studio Pieter in Lincoln Heights. Here's a bit of us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhe261bgMIQ

https://soundcloud.com/denbro

We barely scratched the surface of what we could do before I left Los Angeles. Steve really helped me take my playing to the next level, get over my nerves and share 100% honestly. That's what happens when you associate with honest people, you give up hiding. Not sharing truthfully lead me to a full nervous breakdown, which you get to witness in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4MDnAsiY7I

That may have been the most psychedelic performance I've experienced. House show, everything was in slow motion. Crash, burn, survive. I decided to leave LA a few days later.

I'm eternally grateful for Steven and his wife Rachelle. A bright ray of sunshine those folks are. I miss them both.

JB

Gospel of Mars 7/16/2012, Zebulon

https://soundcloud.com/gospel-of-mars/gospel-of-mars-live-zebulon-7


This summer my friend Daniel Higgs hosted monday nights at Zebulon in Brooklyn for the month of July.

One of those nights was my birthday. I figured what a better opportunity to give birth to a new sound than on this special day.

I was slated to play solo, which I like to do but decided it was in my best interest to ask my friend Aaron to play as well, I need connection and wanted to see what we could do. We could do whatever we pleased it turns out.

"What's free jazz?". That's what I wonder.

It's amazing how time ceases to be when playing. I didn't have any idea of what happened that night except that we played and the audience loved it, the venue loved it and we got asked back to play as often as we could. That always feels good. Glad Patrick recorded it. This became our first CDR release.

JB

Carnegie Hall

I moved to NYC November 7th 2011. 5 months later in the following March I played in front of 3000 people at Carnegie Hall with TV on the Radio. Where else in the world can this kind of thing happen? I love this city.

Best part for me was it felt so, normal. I can just do that and not think about it. The show was a benefit with rockers playing music by the Rolling Stones. We played "You can't always get what you want" with a full childrens choir on stage.

What's it sound like? Like you are living and playing inside the greatest stereo ever with all those voices around you. Heavenly. I like a classy room.

Then the next day happened. I was no longer a star, just me, a living practicing musician. I went to my job and continued on. I love it. That's the best part of this journey. Events like this happen and all I have to do is show up, do service and say thank you. I played bass, well.

JB

I just need that one last piece of gear......

"I just need that one last piece of gear and then I will finish this album!"

No, you don't need that one last piece of gear to finish the album, you just need to finish the album. It's just that fear of failure fear of success song and dance, nothing more. It's scary releasing work, and really if it weren't then the work isn't good. We're afraid of criticism, afraid of responsibility if we get asked to really do something.

I've seen people do this for 20 years. That album was done 19 years ago! No joke. Get it done, get it out. We have no control over the results anyway, someone will think your work is horrible, another will think it's genius. We can't please everyone and nor should we try to please everybody. That's a great way to lead a dis-honest life.

So, leave that piece of gear to someone else, and get your music out in the world.

JB

Magnatone Varsity

You live in NYC? Nothing beats a little 4 watt tube amp for recording in your apartment. This lil' feller is the heart of my amplified sound. I put a line level off the speaker to be able to drive larger amps.

Here's a little sound sample, it's ll over the lead guitar track and the higher rhythm tracks:https://soundcloud.com/jef-brown/lonely-lonely

It's basically really similar to an early Champ, one 6SJ7 pentode tube in the preamp, one 6V6 power tube and one 5Y3 rectifier. Single 8" Jensen speaker. The sound is on the darker side of the spectrum, which I like. I use this amp on small room gigs as well.

I did a gig once with a fantastic keyboard player who is known for throwing guitar players off the bandstand. They compete with her volume and register. She was amazed that I didn't do that, step on anyones toes for that matter. Part of that is this amp, the rest is just musical maturity. Listen! Listen! Listen!

Guitar players are notorious for playing too loud. I've been there, done that and don't care to be that guy any more. I like my ears! I like my audience! I like playing with other people! Your tone is the first impression anyone gets about you. I know an amp starts to sound best when you turn it up. That's why I like this amp so much, I get my sound and don't kill anyone in a small room. If I need to go big I plug it into whatever house amp the club provides.

In NYC you don't want a big amp, it's easier to roll with something fun and small. I like it here.

JB

Rehearsal

Our group, Gospel Of Mars at this moment only gets to rehearse once a week, Sunday nights around 8:30pm. Every week I look forward to this small chunk o' time, I get to work stuff out in a supportive environment and play my horn which is always a good thing. Really, I could do this all the time and want more but this is what we have available at the moment.

Part of the vision is to have daytime rehearsal, evenings are tough since we all work day jobs. I do get a good nap in before I head to this rehearsal.

The other night Bob said "If rehearsal sounds good we're doing something wrong." I like that. I go to rehearsal to do my best solving problems, not to enjoy what I've already accomplished and rest on my laurels saying "man I'm awesome!"

Rehearsal test patience. I may start to solve a problem in my playing or in the music and the solution may not come for a year. If we persist it does show up, but we really have no control as to when or what it will look or sound like.

I play with other people because it beats my ego to death. I choose to accept my fellow players choices and frankly, whatever they choose winds up being way more interesting than if I forced ideas or decided to play all the parts myself.

I am blessed.

It's funny too. Performances are teaching moments as well. If I have a show and I walk away saying "yeah we really brought our A game!" and someone hands me a recording, it's not uncommon for me to listen to it later and be totally bored. "Wow, we really were afraid tonight, what a bunch of wank! We didn't try anything!" is what I hear. On those nights where I walk off stage saying "oh man, got some work to do, I'm really not that good, I should give up and let the pros play blah blah blabby blah" I may listen back and hear some really compelling music. The reason, it was terribly uncomfortable, we were reaching higher than we can actually play.

That's the spirit. Always be out doing last week.

I do my best to get at least 2 hours of practice in a day. My best practice sessions are BORING, not unlike meditation. Right now I'm working out of Jerry Bergonzis 'Pentatonics' book. I know better than to expect results until at least 6 months down the road. Literally when I show up for rehearsal I can't remember any of the material and that's okay. I remember the spirit of it and reach for it, that's enough for now. It won't sound like music for a while.

Same with licks. I've been working some Sonny Rollins licks into my playing. They are only starting to sound like music and that's been almost a year of trying them on.

If that's what it takes, I'm happy to keep showing up.

JB

Thoughts on GAS, (Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

We live in the information age. I think this is a terrible state of affairs. Online forums etc make choices harder, not easier. We could learn to trust our gut and save alot of time and money. I know few musicians who don't chase the perfect instrument around and settle.

I went insane in the mid part of the last decade. I was buying and selling and trading saxophones. I went through over 40 tenors. Underneath all of that was this insane drive to sound like someone else. I was on Sax On the Web forum constantly and once I started clocking my hours spent i forced myself off that addiction. What was I chasing?

I have some terrific instruments. My guitars are first rate. I can play my ass off. I toured Europe in 2002 with a busted Peavey Bandit. I got my sound, no problem. Every night at midnight it would die. I'd kick it and it would get me through the end of the set. Not once did I miss my super awesome amps I have at home cause I was focused on making the best music I could and sharing that with the audience. That's what it's all about, doing service. Music ain't about me!

When I first started on guitar my purchase was this easy: I like Jimi Hendrix. He played a Strat, I want one. My only choices were new or used (I wanted used, it was much cheaper), and the color (black like the one on Band of Gypsys!).

My father loaned me the $389 I needed to buy a horrific used '78 stratocaster with the stipulation that I had a year to learn it or pay him back.

I went to town on that guitar, in a year I got pretty damned good.

2 years ago I worked at GIANT GUITAR STORE. I had a customer, a well dressed lawyer type who wanted an Epiphone Les Paul. It was to be his first guitar. He was around 40 and wanted to learn something to relax with. Trouble was there are about 40 different models of the Epiphone Les Paul to choose from. He came to me completely sad and frustrated. He spent hours 'researching' his purchase and came no closer. The poor fellow started crying. There was little I can do but empathize. Who the fuck needs 40 different models of anything? The saddest part was he bought nothing and he perhaps forgot how to trust his gut.

I work at Southside Guitars now. It's amazing how much I see people try a guitar, really connect with it, start making music then go home to 'research' on gear crap .com. You know when one falls in love. they go home then someone who goes with their inherent feelings, the gut, comes in and buys it. Customer #1 comes back with all the information and it's too late. Why do we do this?

When I had my amplifier shop I'd notice this trend. People would drop in with some crappy vintage amp that is supposed to be the ticket to Hollywood according to gearcrapwastetime.com. I'd see the same type of amp 3 times in 2 months and they got the info from researching the internet. Bad information. I know they had that streak of doubt but didn't listen. There goes another $500.

Some of my best paying customers would have me put 1 capacitor in their amp per week following some 'tone gurus' trend. It would make a difference, yeah, but I'd sometimes ask "do you really think John Lennon gave a crap about what capacitor was in his amp? No, he was too busy writing and sharing music!"

Sad state of affairs. Weapons of Mass Distraction.

My sax teacher, WC Cage had one horn he bought in 1948 and played until he left planet Earth in 2009.

He encouraged me to find the tool I need and stick to it like a stamp till the damned letter arrives. You'll have a much harder time making music if you're constantly looking outside for that perfect sound.

As a horn player last summer I stopped caring about my sound. I surrendered. And then I started to sound good like I knew I could.

JB

Thoughts on teaching music.

I'm currently accepting guitar and bass students. I love sharing what I have been so generously given by teachers, this journey and life in general.

One day when I was working at Old Town Music in Portland Oregon a young guitar player asked me a question. "Hey do you think I should get guitar lessons?" I replied "do you think you need them? Do you want guitar lessons?" He says "I think I could use them, I've hit a wall, but my friends say it will stifle my creativity". I replied "if you think you can grow from some lessons, and your friends are discouraging you from exploring that, then you need new friends. Nobody should hold you back."

This was the late 90's, kind of a dark and awkward era for guitar. The 80's were excessive, gymnastic playing, bad hair etc. The reaction was the Grunge scare of '92. No chops. But really, alot of those bands could play really well. By the late 90's it was just plain lazy.

But his friends had a solid point too. If you get the wrong teacher that can be a damaging relationship. A good teacher, you know it right away. Go with your gut. Is this guy trying to recreate himself or herself or are they listening to your desires and needs.

A good teacher provides structure, not a box. A good teacher loves to share his or her knowledge, not pound into your psyche. A good teacher knows their own strengths and weaknesses. For a while I had 3 students that wanted to learn Mississippi John Hurt style fingerpicking. I don't do that. I love that music but that's not in me. I referred them happily to other colleagues of mine who have a passion for fingerpicking. The students that stayed on learned a lot cause they were interested in what I have to offer and we got along well. It was always fun!

And fun is what life can be and as much as I don't like the word should, it's what life should be!

I wonder what that kid did. I have a feeling he got really good. He was hungry, that a blind man could see.

JB

Thoughts on writing and improvising.

I've always been a writer since day 1. Sure i wanted to learn how to play songs, that's a natural part of the process but really the music I liked the most was messy. You didnt know who was playing what in the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix sounded like 3 guitar players when he was playing live and once I discovered my moms Billie Holiday collection I had to learn how to make music that was that free yet that focused.

My brother Mitch and I taught each other how to physically play our instruments. He played bass, I played guitar. We had a teacher who shared a book of scales with us and from that point forward we made up songs in the moment. I couldn't be satisfied playing the same thing every day even if it's the same song, it needs to be alive.

One day, and yeah this is a typical story, there was this fine classical piano student in my high school. He was in the bandroom practicing during lunch. He was a stuffy aristocratic kid who took his weekly lesson all the way in Philadelphia. I happened to be in there playing some guitar and he asked what I was playing. I said I was just making it up which was true. He looked astonished and asked how do I do that? I asked him how does he do what he does? He blew us all away doing what he did.

To me what I was doing was easy. Lazy even, natural as the sunset.

Yet when this guy played it was music as well, lively, spirited, felt spontaneous. I don't see too much of a difference. Music is either something I like or don't like. Genre doesn't matter. It amazes me when I hear a good musician who can't improvise or write. Every day is an improvisation. There is little difference between cooking and making up a song. Too much salt and it's too salty, too much of one note and you naturally want to move.

It's no different than anything really. I couldn't do sports well cause I simply didn't wish to suck at something for a very long time. I played with terrible rhythm for a long time until I played well, it just took commitment. Writing is the same. You just have to be willing to write a lot of awful material before a gem appears. The Beatles wrote a lot of terrible songs we hopefully will never hear.

I couldn't deal with the rigors of classical music. Took some classical guitar lessons and my teacher, Bruce Casteel saw that I didn't have a genuine interest. The great thing was this allowed me to be his guinea pig for all of his ideas on improvising. We'd spend the hour playing ragas, developing techniques to play modal music. Sometimes the lesson was a walk in the woods.

I did 2 years at Berklee College O' Music in Boston. After 2 years I realized I was getting more out of studying with Bruce than I was in college. I couldn't let my folks spend all that dough any more so I left and went back to him. I have no regrets about that. Find a guide on this journey and you'll places you never imagined.

1936 Buescher Aristocrat tenor sax

Yes! This is my baby. I bought it from my friend Peter Deley in Portland Oregon. I've been playing sax for about 15 years now and made the switch to Buescher about 2 years ago.

What took me so long? The first time I ever saw one of these I knew it was for me based on the cool engraving alone, but I went around the world first with Conns, Selmers, Martins etc. Mainly Conns. Part of it is we live in a noisy world with the internet, forums etc etc. The question gets asked frequently "what famous person played one of these?" Tough to answer. Most famous guys played Conns, Selmers, Kings and today Keilwerths and blah blah blah. That noise gets in the way of my gut, which never lies. Too much information is a bad thing it turns out, but now I feel at home with my choice of horn. If that's what it took on this journey, so be it.

I once had my uncle play this horn. He's been playing his Mk 6 Selmer since his Conn was stolen in NYC in the early 60's (no my uncle is not Dexter Gordon! People stole saxes in NYC as well as France!). After 10 minutes he said "Man I could get to love this horn, just gimme a couple weeks on these keys! It's so ORGANIC, not like my Selmer".

He went on to say how he'd never considered a Buescher cause when he was playing alot more you had to have a Selmer and the Bueschers were already considered to be a 'student' horn.

Organic is how I feel about this horn. I can sing into it. it can do whatever I need it to. it doesn't have a voice of it's own, I get to do that.

I currently use 2 mouthpieces, a recent Otto Link Super Tonemaster doctored up by Ed Zentera. This covers my rock gigs. really it can do anything but I like the rubber Link I have for my own music. Occasionally I use an old Woodwind Steelite for when i want a swing sound. Those are great pieces.

I think these horns get a bad rap. I've played many that were poorly setup, even in high class stores catering to pros. Try one in great shape and be surprised. They can be disorienting at first cause they appear small but the sound is huge when you get used to them.

They built stuff this well in the Depression, that blows me away!
This horn can do any gig. Can't say that for most other horns I've played and owned.
What were they thinking in 1936?

I like that I spend my day psyched about playing this horn. I want to get up early to go practice. A good instrument makes you wanna play, a bad one can make you wanna quit. Every day I find a new thing I can do with this horn, it challenges me. Has good resitance.

JB

Gospel Of Mars, Dark City, Nehedar live at Fontanas 2/20/13

(photo: Joel Friedrich)

This was a funny show. I played double duty this night playing sax for my friend Emilia Cataldos group Nehedar then closing the show with my dear Gospel Of Mars.

I like shows like this with an eclectic mix of bands. I couldn't imagine the fans of the other groups would like us too much but some were blown away. We started our mailing list tonight.

This was one of the coldest nights of the year, ill attended so i'm grateful for all of those who did appear!

I felt like this was the first night we really started to flow as a 3 piece. We played well, the trust for the moment is really starting to appear. I like building music on simple riffs, something years of playing in Jackie O Motherfucker really taught me. We can get really stretched out and if we get lost and uncomfortable any one of us can play one of those simple riffs, or agreements, and we find out way to the next scene. We took our time as well. Music when played with an open heart bends time. 2 minutes can feel like an hour and an hour can seem like 3 minutes. That's what is happening in the music now.

Fontanas is a nice place to play. I'd like to play there again. It's a classy room for a rock club. I don't much like playing rock clubs for a lot of reasons but this place, the soundman was first class, he took special care of us and really showed he cared about his job. That makes all the difference. I want to work with him again.

I am a blessed man.

JB

1958 Fender Jazzmaster

This is my main guitar. I like a big sound on whatever I play and this has that going on. Best whammy on the planet too. Bought this one about 13 years ago in Portland Oregon.

Here's a recording I did with this guitar. Drumming is Sara Lund, she's the bomb!

https://soundcloud.com/charm-world/in-your-heart


I find this guitar to be at home in just about any situation. Much darker sounding than my Strat, has a very woody quality to the sound. I modded a couple things, the saddles are brass made by my friend Eric Patton in Portland Oregon and I had the pickups rewound by Fralin, more windings than usual. I also change the pots to 300k, the originals are too bright for my liking.

At one point in history this was just a used guitar. Things were fun then. You bought a guitar and made it yours. These things are silly expensive now so I'd feel wierd about changing one up.

Prince broke Captain Kirks old Epiphone on the televison last week. I felt bad for the owner, that was a dick move, but after having been in the vintage guitar business for so long and dealing with so many obsessive people, the kid inside my heart laughed and said "awesome".

JB

Billie Holiday

If I have any aspirations as a musician, it's to sound like Billie Holiday on whatever I am playing. She had a 10 note range. She knew the power of limits in that, you are limitless in your capacity to melt hearts.

I was concieved to a Nina Simone record, live at Carnegie Hall. She's in my blood.

I have high standards.

When I hear Billie in my car, which is where I listen to music (89.9 wkcr baby!), time simply stops. Sometimes here in NYC I just need to pull over and let the song finish. Sometimes I just need to be late. That's the gift she keeps on giving me.

JB

1969 Fender Stratocaster

I'm going to go ahead and try this talking about gear bit early on so I can get it out of the way! Pictured here is the instrument that has been with me the longest, my trusty '69 Stratocaster. I bought this in Baltimore 1990. Yeah, it's just like the one Jimi and Gilmour played, a rare Maple Cap model. I was an obsessive Jimi hendrix fan as a teenager, by the time I was 17 I had amassed 40 records of his, mostly bootlegs. Thank goodness I have a streak in me that get's really bored and I moved out of that phase and got into "what did Jimi listen to?" That led me to Muddy Waters and Rashaan Roland Kirk.

That phase is gone but this guitar remains. I don't play it much anymore outside of recordings, truth be known I've been a bit of a hipster in a past life and the Strat isn't exactly hip. In fact for a while it was damned embarassing to have a Strat. You know, those award shows with Clapton and countless other geezers playing Strats in the television. It looks like 6 dudes with their pants down! And they all sound so bad to me.

But......this instrument is just so good, that's why I keep it around. And gotta admit as far as electric guitars go Fender nailed it with this model, nothing does what it does as well as it does. Heck, listen to Buddy Guy. Strat and amp, that's it. You don't want any pedals when the universe is at your fingertips! I think that's my favorite part about this guitar, the name. Stratocaster. Leo liked the future, liked possiblilty. After being in my life for 23 years I still haven't found all the possibilities this guitar offers me. And when I do play it live I'm in love again.

When I bought this guitar it was just a used guitar, not 'vintage' so it was cheap. I had Fralin rewind the lead pickup so it's good and hot. That lead pickup can simply dissappear and I don't like that, I like mids.

I'm over the hip phase so it's making the rounds again, don't care what is cool and what isn't. Hipsters are pretty uptight. Maybe the proper term can be Uptightsters.

JB

Bob Jones and his Golden Tones, 3/16/13 Cameo Gallery

  Saturday Bob introduced his new project to the world, Bob Jones and his Golden Tones at the Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn. We mostly play covers, Kinks, Delphonics, Shadows, really whatever we feel like covering and having a good time with. I've played in cover bands before but none this enjoyable. Well, okay playing with the Miss U's, a Rolling Stones Cover band in Portland was tops especially cause if we played too well we weren't doing it right.

In this group I'm doing double duty, sax and guitar. It's fun shifting gears like that. What I like the most about this project is the material and how open Bob is to trying new things out. We'll be playing in different venues, this was a rock club so loud is ok, we've got some restaurant gigs coming up where we'll need to be mellow, I like that. And there's even rumblings about playing a wedding soon. I've had the good fortune to play weddings with my own groups and look forward to doing this.

Playing covers is a challenge. Those who know me know I ain't the smoothest cat in town. This is a lounge act so smooth is crucial to sounding good. I played well this night partly cause I decided at points to be Maxwell Davis on some songs or Grover Washington Jr on our Delphonics cover. When I'm in doubt on stage i do what I do when I'm playing baseball which I'm pretty lousy at. If I'm Jef Brown at bat I won't hit anything but if I pretend to be Jackie Robinson, I'll hit a home run. I've done this before. It's that act as if thing.

Looking forward to the next one!

Gospel Of Mars live on the Rockaways!

Last summer we had the good fortune to play a beach party at an outdoor spot on the Rockaways. On the lineup was Kyp Malone and his group Rain Machine, Ka and North America.

It was our second gig as Gospel Of Mars, just a duo with myself on sax and Aaron Moore on drums. And we weren't called Gospel Of Mars yet, just, um, Jef Brown at that point!

We arrived and I can only speak for myself, I was scared to death. There is always that moment where you say, 'shit, this is not our audience'. Panic attack. We are on first. The sun is shining and my mind starts judging the audience and becoming vicious. I am scared. These folks will want to kill us for what we are about to do.

Why do i play with Aaron? He's a positive force. He says to me "we play our instruments well so let's just do whet we got to do!" That helped me get back to reality, quick. Music isn't about me, it's about doing service and being honest doing that service.

So we just played, wasn't our best performance, we were rather timid but that's what the moment dictated. The end of the show, well a lot of folks really enjoyed it.

We may need to accept that our music can reach more people than we think it can.

A baby kept smiling at us. When a child understands the music, you are doing the right thing:

(Photos: Frankie Rose)

(Poster by Kyp Malone)

Be well, JB

Please allow me to introduce myself...

  Hi there, my name is Jef Brown. I'm a musician living in Brooklyn, New York. I've been making music for most of my life and this blog is about my experience as a musician.

  I'm currently working with 3 bands.

 Gospel of Mars with drummer Aaron Moore and bassist Bob Jones. This is my main project, the one I dedicate the most energy to. It's about pure creative expression doing our best to be the best players and writers we can. I mostly play tenor and soprano sax with this group, occasionally playing guitar as well. We are a new group and are expanding, looking for more contributors. I feel excited about this group every day and know I am blessed to work with such talent. We are an odd group, some would call us jazz but most jazz folks would think that's blasphemy. I like that. We have no category, yet....

  Divining Rod with my man Miyuki Furtado on guitar, drums and vocals. I play guitar with this group. Classic psychedelic sound, noisy and fun. I love working with Miyuki cause he builds a structure through song, then sometimes abandons that on the bandstand and we just take off. I love playing with people that take chances, this is why we've been friends for 23 years now.

  Bob Jones and his Golden Tones. This is a cover band led by.... you guessed it, Bob Jones of Gospel of Mars. He plays guitar and I play mostly horn and some guitar. Gotta say, the songs may be simple but playing smooth and lounge style is really challenging! I'm blessed to have Bob as a friend and collaborator. We go back to our days in the Evolutionary Jass Band and it's always fun on this journey. We just started playing out and I never thought I would enjoy being in a cover band but this is a blast!

My history as a musician goes back a long time. I was a long time member of th group Jackie O Motherfucker and helped lead the Evolutionary Jass band. I recored, produced and wrote for both bands.

I've also been on countless records that I honestly didn't keep track of but here are some of note:

David Sitek, Maximum Balloon (Saxophone)
Lykkie Li, I follow Rivers remix by David Sitek (Saxophone)
Kyp Malone (saxophone)
Jackie O Motherfucker:
Flat Fixed (guitar)
Fig 5. (guitar, sax, clarinet, producer, engineer, writer)
Liberation (guitar, sax, clarinet, producer, engineer, writer)
Wow (guitar, sax)
Majic Fire music (guitar, sax, clarinet, writer)
Evolutionary Jass Band:
What's Lost (sax, engineer, writer, producer, guitar)
Pure Light (sax, engineer, writer, producer)

There will be more as I remember them!

The purpose of this blog is to write about music, my experience with it, keep my projects public, you know, just to share about this journey. What works, what doesn't, the business side, spiritual side, some stuff about equipment for the gearheads out there. And really it's to keep a focus on being a working paid musician in this wonderful world, it's the greatest life I could have chosen and I enjoy it!

I'll be sharing links to music I'm working on, have released and music I just plain like and wish to share. Perhaps you will want to share to!

(Photo by Dazjal Zoll)

More soon!!! Jef Brown