Jazz jam with Brownman Ali tonight

Now based in Toronto, he is heralded as “Canada’s preeminent jazz trumpet player” by New York’s Village Voice magazine and is an iconic name in the Canadian jazz community.

After recently being awarded a prestigious composition grant by the Canada Council for the Arts, Brownman has journeyed to his homeland in search of inspiration for new material for his 15-man latin-jazz big band Cruzao Grupo Monstruoso.

He leaves the island just before Carnival starts for other touring obligations, however, thanks to the Jazz Alliance of Trinidad and Tobago, local musicians will have an opportunity to see and play with this international jazz superstar in an informal jam session tonight at the LiveArts Bistro in Port-of-Spain.

Brownman will act as host for the evening, with the house band being supported by noted Trinidadian jazz drummer Sean Thomas, president of the Jazz Alliance. The Jazz Alliance has made the evening a free event, open to the public, and encourages all to swing by.

This will be a rare opportunity for Trinidadian musicians to interact and spend time with this highly acclaimed artiste, who spent four years touring the world as the featured soloist with hip-hop legend GURU (of Gangstarr fame) before his unfortunate death due to cancer.

“It just made sense to me”, states Brownman. “I haven’t been on the island much and after I got this grant, wanted somewhere to hole up where I could focus on writing. Trinidad seemed the natural choice”. When asked why not a full concert while here he states, “there just wasn’t time to organise a full performance, but Sean thought a jam would be a great way for everyone to meet up and just hang. In New York, that’s how everyone meets each other and how musical comradeship is formed - at jam sessions”. Look for some of the local jazz stars to show up.