Dean Brown: Global Fusion on Acid

AAJ: Yes, I have that record. Really great stuff.

DB: Oh man, and that song "Be Careful With a Fool." That has to be one of the greatest guitar trio performances in the history of blues. It's a slow blues but the phrasing sounds like Coltrane or something. Yeah, Johnny Winter is very special to me.

AAJ: You might appreciate then that the one time I saw him, he wasn't on the bill. I had gone to see Edgar Winter.

DB: Oh, and Johnny sat in?

AAJ: Yeah, about halfway through the show Edgar Winter says something like, "A lot of folks have been asking about how my brother Johnny is doing. Well, he's still alive and well. In fact he's right here." Johnny Winter came out and just fried the place. It was even more impactful as a surprise, not knowing he would be playing that night.

DB: Sure, sure, sure. Yeah, it's going to be special when that happens. You've heard me play a lot, but if I didn't know me (laughing) and I heard me play, I would immediately think that this guy listens to Johnny Winter. I don't have the chops that he had. But I get the fire and intensity that he brought and exuded.

AAJ: Shifting gears, I wanted to ask you about your mom, who I understand was a big band vocalist of some note.

DB: Yes, that's right.

AAJ: Who did she sing with?

DB: She sang mainly with Tommy Dorsey.

AAJ: Well, that's about as big as it gets.

DB: She also sang with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, and also with Jimmy Dorsey. Her career became more of an avocation after she married my dad. My dad was in the military so we moved around a lot. She would still do gigs but they had to be based around where we were living at the time.

AAJ: Thanks for that glimpse of the past. I know with the pandemic it's difficult, but what do you have to share about the reasonably near future?

DB: Well, first there is the Baked Potato gig we talked about. I'm thinking that I will record and perhaps have a live record or at least an EP out of it. Like I said before, it will be mostly new music.

AAJ: Oh, that's cool that you will be recording that night.

DB: Yeah, I hope to. But don't hold me to it. We are still looking into the feasibility of it and just how that will work. I am planning on releasing new music one way or another. I have another project that was supposed to happen last April, well actually two Aprils ago. Now it looks like it will be this August. I'm referring to what I am calling Dean Brown's Summer of Love Evolution. We are taking a bunch of music from the late sixties and early seventies from the rock and pop world. Back then there was a lot of cross pollinating of music between different genres. Rock musicians were experimenting with jazz and jazz musicians were improvising with some rock.

AAJ: Yeah, right about the time fusion started.

DB: Exactly. We will be doing songs for the most part that people will recognize. A song like "Aquarius.," and stuff like that. I've rearranged them to fit this ensemble, which is my old cohort from New York Schuyler Deale on bass and Keith Carlock on drums. I'll have Randy Brecker on trumpet and Eric Marienthal on saxophone. Mino Cinelu on percussion and the great Jim Beard on piano. I'm sure you are familiar with him from producing so many of Mike Stern's records. He also has been playing with Steely Dan for a while now, and of course has his own body of work. I have Deveron Patterson, who is the son of the great jazz organist Don Patterson. Devron will be playing keyboards but his primary role will be to sing. He is a very fine vocalist. Honey LaRochelle is the female vocalist. She and I met while we were both playing with Roberta Flack. That, by the way, was one of my favorite gigs to do ever. Roberta Flack is everything. She is kind of like Nina Simone 2.0. She's an American treasure. Honey was one of her vocalists and she is just incredible. More recently she has been performing with jazz guitarist Jonathan Butler. Another really good player. He's another lefty isn't he?

AAJ: Hmm... you know I'm not really sure on that one.

DB: I think so, But anyways we will be premiering the Summer of Love Evolution at the Berks Jazz Festival in Pennsylvania on August 20th. We are putting a lot of energy into the project and it's one that I would really like to get recorded. Everybody is really excited about doing this and working together.

AAJ: That sounds like a really good project. Hearing songs that you are familiar with in a new context is kind of the best of both worlds. You have that sentimental attachment but at the same time you are experiencing a new vibe with new interpretations. Something to look forward to and a positive note to wrap things up with. We've exceed the two hour mark so maybe I should let you go and get on with the rest of your day (laughing).

DB: Well, I really appreciate you letting me rattle on for a while (laughing). Music is a passionate topic for me. I enjoyed our conversation very much.

AAJ: Well, I enjoyed talking with you today, Dean. I look forward to seeing you at the Baked Potato.

DB: Yeah, that's going to be fun playing for a live audience again. I'm sure we will chat some more that night.