Tom Browne

Born in Queens, New York, Tom Browne established himself at the end of the 1970s in a crossroads of jazz, funk and R&B, driven by a trumpet playing that was smooth and direct, designed as much for improvisation as for groove. After stints alongside Sonny Fortune, he launched his solo career with Browne Sugar in 1979, and reached a wide audience with Love Approach in 1980, which contains Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.), an emblematic track of his trajectory, followed in the same period by Thighs High (Grip Your Hips and Move). In the 1980s, Tom Browne evolved his music between jazz-funk, boogie, urban soul and the early days of smooth jazz, with clean brass lines, danceable rhythms and writing that remained anchored in clubs as much as in the radio circuit. This orientation is reflected on Yours Truly and Magic in 1981, then on Rockin’ Radio in 1983 and Tommy Gun in 1984. The rest of his career sees him continuing between instrumental funk, contemporary jazz and gospel or soul flavors on No Longer I in 1988, Mo’ Jamaica Funk in 1994, Another Shade of Browne in 1996, R ’n’ Browne in 1999 and S’ Up in 2010. Tom Browne remains associated with this distinctly New York encounter between electric jazz and Afro-American dance music.