Subject: GRUVASYLUM Fri @ Gypsy Co-Op Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2005 23:00:20 -0400 From: The BROWNMAN Organization: Brownman Music Inc. -- http://www.brownman.com To: Brownman's Big Ass Mailing List Hey gang, And a big welcome to all those new on the Big Ass Mailing List... it's been a whirlwind summer of touring with multiple groups... been across Canada twice, into the U.S. and through South America... and now I'm finally back in Toronto for a while. While out there I've met a ton of you, all in varying degrees of derangement and lunacy, yet all unified in your support of Brown musical visions... so regardless of whether we met after a post-performance accosting or whether I helped administer your meds - I deeply and humbly thank you for the support... and hope to see you soon. ======================================================= GRUVASYLUM @ Gypsy Co-op - this Fri Aug 5 ======================================================= Sooo - this is just a quick reminder to the List (now a teaming 3,500 of you... perhaps a party at my house for B.A.M.L'ers is now officially out of the question) to let you guys know my jazz-hip-hop crew GRUVASYLUM featuring one of the most conscious freestyle rappers this country has to offer - Enlight - will be performing at the Gypsy Co-op Fri Aug 5 as part of their jazz groove series. Hope to see you there! Brownman & GRUVASYLUM "hip-hop with a jazz ideology" http://gruvasylum.brownman.com @ Gypsy Co-op, 817 Queen St. W. (W. of Bathurst), Toronto 10:00pm 416-920-5593 opening band: Word People Part of the "Gypsy Co-op Jazz Groove Series" Please call for cover charge info http://www.toronto.com/profile/147799 ======================================================= TRINIDAD INDEPENDANCE DAY CELEBRATION - Wed Aug 31 ======================================================= Forty-three years ago, on Aug 31, 1962 the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago became independent within the British Commonwealth. On Wed Aug 31 2005 - to celebrate T.T.'s Independance Day - I'm going to be directing the TRINIDAD BACCHANAL ALL-STARS through a night of island-jazz jump-up madness. The All-stars are a collective of the top Trinidadian and Caribbean musicians in the city performing inspired and energized modern genre-twisting forms of island music - mixing jazz and urban ideologies with Calypso, Reggae, Soca, Rapso & Chutney. I'm quite honoured to be in charge of this one... the cross-section of talent is staggering More info on the show: http://bacchanal.brownman.com Mark Mosca - steel pan (Trinidad - from Canefire) Brownman - trumpet / musical director (Trinidad - from Cruzao) Marcus Ali - alto sax (Trinidad - from Marron Matizado) Enlight - rapper (Trinidad - from Gruvasylum) Amina Alfred - vocals (Trinidad - from "Kink In My Hair") DJ S-LUV - turntablist (Trinidad - from Pocket Dwellers) Eddie Bullen - keyboards (Grenada - Juno award winner) Dane Wedderburn - bass (Jamaica - from Chiva) Larnell Lewis - drums (St. Kitts - from Jully Black) ======================================================= FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES - every Friday in Sept ======================================================= FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES returns to the Trane Studio every Fri in Sept!!... For 5 fridays in Sept I'll be leading 5 different all-star ensembles through 5 different historic eras of jazz for which Miles Davis catalyzed & immortalized with his presence. Some of the country's finest jazz musicians will comprise each group - changing members each week - focusing on a different era of Miles' life. I can't begin to tell you how large an undertaking it is to pay homage to jazz's greatest, most towering figure... and how intricate each show will be to try and encapsulate each Milesean era's ideologies adequately. We all hope we do this legend's work justice. Take a look at the press release to see all the stellar musicians involved over the full five weeks: http://www.brownman.com/PressReleases/FiveWeeksForMiles2005.html Fri Sep 02 - Week 1 - "Young Miles" - The Bird Years Fri Sep 09 - Week 2 - "Birth Of The Cool & Kind Of Blue" - Post-Bop Miles Fri Sep 16 - Week 3 - "Plugged Nickel" - The Shorter Years Fri Sep 23 - Week 4 - "From Bitches Brew to Tutu" - Electric Miles Fri Sep 30 - Week 5 - "Doo-bop" - Had he lived... ======================================================= MEDIA ======================================================= Both Jojo Chintoh from City-TV and Mo-D from Omni-TV have graciously done profiles on aspects of my brown life soon to be aired (and hopefully neither will air the "shower curtain series"... or the "tequila chronicles"). Please watch the Gig Schedule for more information on their respective air dates. The Omni-TV short interview airs on Mon Aug 22, 11:30pm and re-airs: Tues Aug 23, 10:30pm & Sun Aug 28, 8:30am & 6:00pm. For those that would like to see my mother yammer on endlessly about my childhood (dear god) - a documentary that I do not fully endorse was recently screened at the Toronto Film Festival entitled CRUZAO. Sadly - the film-maker set out to show my musical journey from CRUZAO (my 5-man chordless latin-jazz group) to CRUZAO GRUPO MONSTRUSO (the 15-man monster) and the trails and tribulations of mounting the primordial 2004 premiere of that large ensemble at the Distillery Jazz Festival - and failed miserably. If you're interested in that journey - you're better off callin' me up and asking "hey brown - how was that?"... cuz this movie has barely a thing to do with said journey... but those of you who just CAN'T get enough of the Brown Parents - this is a good chance to listen to them tell tales about my childhood (oh boy)... see pictures of me in diapers... hear my rappers talk *A LOT* about hip-hop in Canada... and NOT see nor hear any mentions of the journey the documentary was SUPPOSED to be about. Oh yeah - there's nice shots of us rehearsing in my basement... oh and me in my car. Is it wrong to give a documentary about myself zero out of five stars, or am I morally obligated to at least give it a one... cuz it was about me? ... Argh. (There is one redeeming quality about this documentary -> the movie climaxes with great concert footage of one of the strongest tunes that night and the 15-man monstrosity is absolutely dazzling... the highlight of the footage being a 3-man cypher battle of verbiage between rappers Enlight, Phatt Al, and N.I.Gel ... 3 of this country's best conscious freestylers). http://monster.brownman.com (<- MP3s from the concert online!) ======================================================= UPCOMING http://www.brownman.com/GigSchedule.htm ======================================================= Sat Aug 05 - GRUVASYLUM @ Gypsy Co-op Thr Aug 11 - ELECTRYC TRIO @ Supermarket, Toronto (10pm) Sat Aug 13 - ALI BROS @ Lorraine's (midnight!) Sun Aug 14 - NICK ALI TRIO @ Amis du Jazz, Port Perry (8pm) Fri Aug 19 - CHIVA @ Red Guitar Arthouse Cafe, Toronto (9pm) (same day) - DJ+HORN (Brown+Rad) @ Laurentian Room (1am) Thr Aug 25 - CHIVA @ Supermarket, Toronto (10pm) Fri Aug 26 - NICK ALI TRIO @ Old Mill, Toronto (7pm) Wed Aug 31 - TRINIDAD BACCHANAL ALL-STARS @ Lula, Toronto (9pm) Fri Sep 02 - FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES - week 1 @ Trane Studio (9pm) "Young Miles" - The Bird Years Sun Sep 04 - MARRON MATIZADO @ SAV party (T.B.C. - 7pm) Mon Sep 05 - BROWNMAN 7 @ Toronto Island Jazz Fest. Fri Sep 09 - CHIVA @ Ryerson College (2pm) (same day) - FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES - week 2 @ Trane Studio (9pm) "Birth Of The Cool & Kind Of Blue" - Post-Bop Miles Sat Sep 10 - NICK ALI QUARTET @ Guelph Jazz Fest - Manhatten's (8pm) Fri Sep 16 - FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES - week 3 @ Trane Studio (9pm) "Plugged Nickel" - The Shorter Years Fri Sep 23 - FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES - week 4 @ Trane Studio (9pm) "From Bitches Brew to Tutu" - Electric Miles Thr Sep 29 - Latin night @ JAZZ BY GENRE Festival (T.B.C.) Fri Sep 30 - FIVE WEEKS FOR MILES - week 5 @ Trane Studio (9pm) "Doo-bop" - Had he lived... Fri Oct 21 - MARRON MATIZADO @ Old Mill, Toronto (Special Presentation) DEC: Nick Ali & CRUZAO was honoured to have represented Canada at the Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba last Dec 2004. We have been asked by Chucho Valdez to return again this coming Dec! ======================================================= A THANK YOU ======================================================= I wanna end, yet another epic mailout, with a thank you to my new super-hap'nin' publicist Sebastian Cook for his creative mind and inspired assistance. Watch for his website to go live soon - http://www.IdeasInCommunication.com And to you nutjobs who made it all the way to these words... I can't help but be impressed by those who read these mind-dumps down to the end. I should start giving away candy or something to those that do. Mmmmm... candy... ======================================================= Be well you monsters! And please come and say hi if you come to shows... I love meeting all you kooks... this list houses more crazies than 1001 Queen St. W.... and I wouldn't have it any other way. *grin* Big love y'all!!! A'ight... I'm out. Peace. - Brown ---- If there's a heaven, they must have one hell of a big band... ---- brownman@brownman.com 416-738-9449 (24 hr number - leave message and I'll be paged) The BrownZone : http://www.brownman.com Gig Schedule : http://www.brownman.com/GigSchedule.htm NEWS: CRUZAO asked to represent Canada again at 2005 Havana Jazz Fest!