Baron Browne
Obituary
March 5,
1960 – September 2, 2021
Written by Michael West
Baron Browne, a bassist who was an important
figure in the jazz world, died early on the
morning of September 2 at his home in Randolph,
Massachusetts after a long and courageous
battle with cancer. He was 61.
Browne was
profoundly accomplished in a variety of styles,
enabling him to work with a diverse cast of
musicians, from Tom Jones to Brian McKnight to
Andrea Bocelli. However, he made his most
indelible mark in the realm of jazz-rock-fusion.
Over a four-decade career, he built a resume
that included recording and touring work with
violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, drummer BillyCobham,
vibraphonist Mike Mainieri and saxophonist
Walter Beasley. He was also a frequent
collaborator with drummer Steve Smith, a member
of three of Smith’s bands, including his
acclaimed fusion band Vital Information.
“Baron’s extreme versatility and seasoned
professionalism made him my first call bass
player
since 1998,” Smith said in a
statement. “When I knew Baron was on the gig, I
could relax and
knew he would take care of
business…. Each night he would spontaneously
create new bass
parts that were
compositionally correct and funky as hell.
“His personality was dynamic, his sense of humor
infectious, and everyone that knew him loved
him.”
Browne’s easy sense of humor was
something of a calling card for the musician.
“Always had
me cracking up,” said
Boston-based vocalist Lydia Harrell. “He made
wedding reception gigs so
much fun….I still
to this day remember all of the quotes he would
play within other songs and
the silliness he
would bring.”
While his prowess kept him
in high demand for touring projects, Browne also
maintained a
lower-key local presence,
working with a band called Night Shift on
wedding gigs in the greater
Boston area.
When his death was made public, tributes to
Browne poured in across social media. “We lost a
great musician and one of our best friends,”
wrote Ponty on his Facebook page.
“The most
underrated bassist in history,” wrote guitarist
Dean Brown, a bandmate of Browne’s
with Billy
Cobham. “A brilliant musician and a dear
friend.”
Baron LeRonn Browne was born and
raised in Brunswick, Georgia. His interest in
music began
as a child, when at age seven he
began learning to play his uncle’s drum kit. He
also took piano
and guitar lessons, but by 13
had discovered that his real love was the bass
guitar.
In 1978, Browne matriculated at
Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music,
where he spent
a year before beginning a
full-time career as a professional musician with
then-Boston-based
guitarists Bill Frisell,
Mike Stern and future Tonight Show bandleader
Kevin Eubanks. In 1982,
he made his first
recording, Mudd Cake, as a member of trumpeter
Tiger Okoshi’s band Tiger’s
Baku.
Then, in 1983, he was hired into Jean-Luc
Ponty’s band. He toured the world with Ponty
several
times, making five albums with the
violinist (1985’s Fables, 1987’s The Gift of
Time, 1989’s
Storytelling , 1996’s Live at
Chene Park and 2015’s Better Late Than Never
with Ponty and Yes
lead vocalist Jon
Anderson). At the same time, he was working with
the legendary drummer
Billy Cobham, with whom
he recorded twice (1985’s Warning and 1986’s
Powerplay).
In the 1990s, Browne entered
perhaps his most diverse period, during which he
toured with Tom
Jones, Brian McKnight and the
R&B band Exposé as well as with Ponty and
Beasley. He joined
the fusion ensemble Steps
Ahead, a loose collective of “all-star” fusion
players centered around
vibraphonist Mike
Mainieri, in 1992. As the decade progressed, he
also worked with another
vibraphonist, Gary
Burton, in his touring band; and, beginning in
1998, with drummer Steve
Smith in his band
Vital Information. Smith was so impressed with
Browne’s abilities that he
would also employ
the bassist in his acoustic ensembles Buddy’s
Buddies and Jazz Legacy —
putting Browne into
three very different musical contexts. He
excelled in all three.
“Baron impacted
the sound and direction of all of my groups and
played on twelve of my
albums” Smith
affirmed, adding that Browne was his favorite
bass player. “Baron had a wideranging musical
scope. He was deeply funky, adept at
straight-ahead swing, R&B, rock and roll
and
Latin music.”
Although he had a strong
charisma to go with his formidable musical
ability, Browne preferred
to work as a
freelancer and a sideman, both on records and in
touring bands. Offstage, Browne
was a very
private person who preferred to spend his time
between gigs quietly at home with his
wife of
20 years, saxophonist Gail McArthur-Browne, a
teacher at Berklee College of Music in
Boston. An avid golfer, he and Gail regularly
played with musical friends Ray Greene, vocalist
for the band Santana, and Cape Cod Jazz Festival
director Bobby Talallah.
In addition to
his wife, Browne is survived by his mother,
Beverly Maddox, and her husband
James; his
father, Donald Browne, and his wife Carolyn; a
sister, Daun Brown and her husband
Landis
Brown; half-brother, Brandon Browne and his wife
Brittney; a nephew and three nieces.
On his
wife’s side, Browne is survived by his
sister-in-law, Lynn Brown, and her husband
Gerry;
three nieces and a grandniece.
He is also survived by legions of colleagues,
friends and admirers of his superlative musical
legacy.
In lieu of flowers,
Browne’s family requests that memorial
contributions be made in his name to the
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund
(P.O. Box 849168, Boston, MA 02284-9168), or to
the Berklee College Emergency Fund (921 Boylston
Street, Rom 500, Boston, MA 02215). |
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