Kenneth Brown - 3 Down (2017)

Knoxville, TN based drummer, educator, composer, he wrote six of the tunes here, and band leader Kenneth Brown, son of jazz visionary pianist Donald Brown is set to release his debut CD 3 Down on Space Time Records. Born into a musical family Kenneth's household was filled with music led by his father and later his brother Keith also a pianist. It was also during this same time period that Kenneth starting to gain exposure to all kinds of music which has always paid big dividends.

By the age of four Kenneth was already playing drums and within a couple more years was studying piano “to gain a harmonic foundation in the music." With lots of practice and informal playing by the age of 14 Kenneth had established himself as a working musician and has since maintained a steady career within the genres of jazz, R&B, blues, funk, and rock with performances with David "Fathead" Newman, Curtis Fuller, Steve Nelson, Warren Wolf and Greg Tardy to name a few!

His performance background in those varied musical settings along with his musical influences of Prince, Elvin Jones, Stevie Wonder and Tony Williams to name a few has prepared Kenneth Brown and readied him to record 3 Down!

Prior to recording his debut CD Kenneth has appeared on recordings with Ravi Coltrane, Wallace Roney, Kenny Garrett and Donald and Keith Brown to name a few!

While 3 Down Kenneth has been able to infuse elements of some of his other musical influence's and has created a sound that's musically interesting with diversity while being cohesive and prov-active!

A great example of the “infusing" of elements is the R&B song Weak the hit by 90's group, SWV. Led by Ashlee Varner's very jazzy but tender lead vocals, brother Keith Brown adds a very appropriate talk box solo that works wonderfully in this context! That's proceeded by a very lyrical and inventive Will Boyd soprano solo and then Jamel Mitchell adds a soul filled tenor solo. Kenneth Brown could have laid back and played pocket but instead he's extremely adventurous and progressive here and its in-creditable!

TRACKLIST

01. Grovin' (feat. Greg Tardy, Jeremy Pelt)
02. Better Late Than Never (feat. Greg Tardy, Jeremy Pelt)
03. Weak (feat. Will Boyd, Ashlee Varner, Jamel Mitchell)
04. Interlude 1
05. Scenic Route
06. Back Then
07. It's Cool (feat. Greg Tardy, Jeremy Pelt, Ashlee Varner)
08. Interlude 2
09. Encounters Behind the Gate
10. It Could've Been the Blues
11. 3 Down (feat. Jeremy Pelt, Greg Tardy, Ashlee Varner)
12. Interlude 3
13. In a Sentimental Mood
14. Some Place Familiar
15. Interlude 4