Tom Browne

Tom Browne (born October 30, 1954, Queens, New York ) is a jazz trumpeter who rose to prominence first through his early work with Sonny Fortune, and scored two major hits in 1980 and 1981: the #1 R&B single "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" and the #4 R&B single Thighs High (Grip Your Hips and Move).

Career
Browne originally played piano, having taken lessons from the age of 11. Turning to the trumpet, inspired by his collection of jazz albums, his first gig was in a Queens' club, The Village Door. In 1975, he landed his first professional gig with Weldon Irvine.

From here he played with Sonny Fortune and Lonnie Smith and was later introduced to Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen at GRP Records via Earl Klugh. Grusin and Rosen signed him to GRP (via Arista Records) and Browne broke onto the music scene in 1979 with an acclaimed instrumental jazz fusion album Browne Sugar, although this was not released in the UK. His first real breakthrough came in 1980 with the release of the self-penned "Funkin' For Jamaica (N.Y.)", taken from his second album Love Approach. The single hit number one on Billboard's R&B chart for four weeks, and was also a UK Top 10 hit. It featured the lead vocals of Tonni Smith.

Continuing his association with the record producers Grusin and Rosen, his next album was Yours Truly (1981). The album included the songs "Fungi Mama" and "Bye Gones" After signing directly with Arista, Magic, was released in 1981. Magic yielded the song Thighs High (Grip Your Hips And Move, which peaked at #4 on the R&B charts. Later, he progressed into an electro style of jazz with "Rockin' Radio" from a 1983 album of the same name.(which also included a final GRP production "Brighter Tomorrow"). In 1984 he recorded a final Arista album Tommy Gun, which featured Siedah Garrett singing lead on the leading moment "Secret Fantasy", and was produced by Maurice Starr.   Also in 1984 he recorded with Fuse One on their Ice album.

He also recorded with Roy Ayers on "Goree Island", taken from his In The Dark album. Browne moved to Malaco Records and performed a large amount of session work. In 2000, Browne re-recorded "Funkin' For Jamaica (N.Y.)" on Jazz FM's 101 Eastbound compilation album, alongside fellow jazz artist, Bob Baldwin. The track re-utilised the vocal skills of Tonni Smith (featured on the original).

Albums

 * Browne Sugar (GRP Records; 1979)
 * Love Approach (GRP; 1979)
 *  Magic (Arista Records; 1981)
 * Yours Truly (GRP 1981)
 * Rockin' Radio (Arista 1983)
 * Tommy Gun (Arista 1984)
 * No Longer I (Malaco Records; 1988)
 * Mo' Jamaica Funk (Hip Bop Records 1994)
 * Another Shade of Browne (Hip Bop 1996)
 * R 'N' Browne (Hip Bop 1999)