No tunnel vision here, Maurice Brown is not stuck in traffic on the road to different." Blessed with a fat sound, impressive facility, and a keen sense of the blues in pursuit of the infectious rhythm, Maurice Brown is a bit of a throwback to what used to be referred to as soul jazz" 21st century edition. Last night at the Kennedy Center Jazz Club the latest incarnation of Maurice Brown showed impressive evolution and a successful endeavor at balancing creativity with a real desire to connect with his audience.
As opposed to the kind of coolly aloof, hipper-than-thou posture of too many of his peers, Brown was intent on engaging his audience not only through his infectious music but also with a kind of joie de vivre in his between tunes patter and intros that indelibly strenghtens that artist/audience bond. The subject was Browns well-crafted new record The Circle of Love (Brown Records). His crew included tenor man Derek Douget (bout time his potent sound was displayed outside of New Orleans!), energy source Chris Rob on piano, rambunctious drummer Joe Blaxx, and bedrock bassist Solomon Dorsey. Did he connect with this DC audience? The line to buy CDs and get Browns autograph after the gig was prodigious. Dont sleep on Maurice Brown (mauricebrown.net).