Thomas Brown – Masquerade
Thomas Brown – Afro-Latin Percussion (Discussion + Demonstration)
Thomas Brown – Dance
Thomas Brown – Mardi Gras
This album came my way via Cool Chris, but based on the handwritten price on the inner sleeve, I suspect it might have originally come from one of DJ Shadow’s storage sales at Rappcats. Not a ton of info on Thomas Brown, and from looking online, it appears that (at least as a leader) he only released albums on Golden Crest, which would seem to be more of an educational type private press, given the lack of a back cover & the pasted inner photo of Brown, but from the other releases that are known, seems like they may have branched out a bit further from that niche.
In the notes it mentions a couple of other albums by Brown, but there’s nothing online connected to them. I have the sneaky suspicion that those others might be even better than this one, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. The playing on this album is quite good and while I normally don’t dig this type of instructional thing, I actually found Brown’s discussion of the various percussion instruments, as well as their place in Afro-Latin music (with a strong emphasis on the African origins of the rhythms explored here) to be inciteful and useful. I wish his vocal explanations had been recorded separately from the instrumentals, since, in a very professorial fashion, he ends up just yelling over the musicians as they play, but such is the vibe.
And when the band just plays, as is the case on the group’s cover of Leon Russell’s “Masquerade,” plus originals like “Dance,” and the album’s closer “Mardi Gras,” it’s a solid sound. Doesn’t really seem like a lot of people are up on this album, but I dig it, and I suspect you would as well, and so here it is. Enjoy!