Tom Browne - Magic (1981)

Japanese Import

This album is the third release from trumpeter/pilot Tom Browne and the follow-up to 1980's Love Approach which spawned his biggest hit, Funkin' For Jamaica (N.Y.). It contains a nice blend of styles including R&B, smooth jazz, funk, dance, ballad, plus a jazz standard. More commercial R&B than jazz, I'm sure Browne was often accused of selling out but no matter - I dig the thing, especially what was side one (tracks 1-4 here). Released on Arista/GRP before GRP brokeaway from Arista, this album was produced by the G and the R: Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard Top 200: #37
• Billboard Jazz: #2
• Billboard R&B: #5
• CashBox: #32
• CashBox Jazz: #2
• Rolling Stone: #29

Tracks: The album starts off with three Earth, Wind & Fire-styled R&B tunes Let's Dance (#69 R&B), the title cut, and I Know and they're all good tunes, particularly those with vocals by Toni Smith. Smith also provides vocals on the laid back Midnight Rendezvous, which sounds a lot like Rise from Herb Alpert, right down to the rhythm arrangement complete with handclaps (except for the fact that Browne can play circles around Alpert. And does).

Then things get varied on what was side two. There's a gorgeous instrumental take on God Bless The Child where Browne gets to stretch out a bit over Grusin's lush arrangement. It's beautiful, tasteful, and painfully our of place on this album. This is followed by a Grusin original, Night Wind, which sounds like any Grusin tune of the time - a soundtrackish smooth jazz tune with lots of strings and Fender Rhodes. I wouldn't have minded a whole album of this stuff but we just get the one before switching to full funk mode for Thighs High (Grip Your Hips And Move). The most obvious successor to Funkin' For Jamaica, this fun, suggestive romp peaked at #4 R&B, #25 Dance. The final tune is an plodding ballad with vocals by Browne himself and a baroque soli on overdubbed piccolo trumpets - an odd choice indeed. I played piccolo trumpet with limited success some 30+ years ago and will readily admit it is a very difficult instrument to play so I can't blame Browne for wanting to show off a little. Nevertheless, I usually stop the disc after 7 tracks.

All three of these guys play on this album;
also Marcus Miller and Bobby Broom

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Around the time this album was released in 1981, I was only a freshman but travelled with my high school varsity speech and drama team to Texas A&I University in Kingsville for a speech tournament. I received an "excellent" recognition certificate for my performance in interpretive prose reading, but more importantly, I spent that Friday night away from home with high school classmates in the Corpus Christi area at some dumpy beachfront motel (everybody go ho-tel, mo-tel. whacha gonna do today?). Good times. I don't know about these days, but back then, getting the school to pay for overnight lodging for students was rare (not to mention a logistical nightmare as far as chaperoning and curbing typical teenage behaviors, particularly near a moonlit beach). Since Devo's song Whip It and the iconic brown bottle of Vidal Sassoon shampoo remind me of that trip, the above tale doesn't have much to do with this Tom Browne album other than coincidental timing, so never mind. As you were.