Primary Instrument: Drums
Percussionist and composer, Jaimeo Brown, began his drum career at age 16, growing up in the San Francisco Bay area with a rich musical heritage on both sides of his family. He tagged along with his father, bassist Dartanyan Brown, and mother, pianist and woodwind specialist, Marcia Miget, as they performed all over the country with the National Endowment for the Arts as jazz artists.
He has since performed all over the world with a wide range of musicians including Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Wynton Marsalis, Kaamal (aka Q-Tip), Carl Craig, Kenny Garrett, Geri Allen, Steve Turre, Pharoah Sanders and Bobby Hutcherson, with whom he established his national reputation at 19 years of age.
Greatly inspired by the Gees Bend spirituals of Alabama, he brings their music and artwork to light in the upcoming debut album of his band, “Transcendence.”
“I focused on the Black spiritual as the root of the material because of its raw unfeigned expression,” said Brown. “Hope is in abundance in these spirituals.”
The innovative album weaves a tapestry of African-American spirituals, along with East Indian concepts, electronic textures, acoustic jazz and blues.
“For this project, I dug into my experience of the blues,” said Brown. “The blues to me is a separate musical language that is infinitely deep.”
Transcendence is a project that expresses his experiences living in NY for the last 14 years. The songs express his worldview and his own spiritual awakening. Being inspired by the Gees Bend spirituals of Alabama, he wanted to bring light to their music and artwork. He focused on the black spiritual as the root of the material because of its raw unfeigned expression. One may have the best musical education in the world and not be able to express any emotion through music. He intentionally chose not to use a lot of chord changes and odd time signatures to make the point that powerful music comes from the heart not just the intellect. Hope is in abundance in these spirituals.
“Transcendence” also includes guitarist and Soundscape artist Chris Sholar and saxophone titan J.D. Allen. In addition, the album includes special guests Geri Allen, Falu, and Marisha Brown. His father, mother, sister, and daughter can also be heard on the album.
In addition to his own CD, he recently finished recording his fifth CD with tenor saxophonist Greg Tardy, produced music on Geri Allen’s last CD – “A Child is Born,” and recorded on Joe Locke’s newest CD. Brown also contributed program material for a PBS original production of Ralph Ellison’s “King of The Bingo Game” under the baton of San Francisco bassist and composer Marcus Shelby. He is currently representing the United States as a Jazz Ambassador through Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, performing and educating various audiences from around the world. He is also already working on a second “Transcendence” album and putting together another group called “Living Hope.”
