What can I say? It was an absolute treat to hear one of my music icons, Tom Browne, play his repertoire, including songs from his albums dating back to the 1970s. Yes, I’ve been singing those tracks from the age of 15, and know every rift and inflection, as if I’d written them myself.
The legend himself is humorous, stylish, charismatic and not forgetting handsome. He plays and jokes around with his audience, and you can see that when he is performing, he’s having the time of his life. Then, the trumpet comes out, and that’s when things get serious, and the talent shines through. As if all of those attributes were not enough, he is also a pilot, yes, you heard me correctly, a pilot, who flew medical supplies around the country during the dreaded COVID era. It does beg the question, how does he find the time to be this fabulous? I digress.
It is so fulfilling when you go to see your music icons and legends perform, those who you have supported for decades, and they sound as good live as the vinyl you’ve been playing for 5 decades. He also brings his wife everywhere with him, even if not in person, but in his heart, as he pays reference to her, in one way or another, throughout the show, which is beautiful.
He naughtily toys with the audience, as if the show could end, without “Funkin for Jamaica” being blasted. Could you imagine the outrage, outcry and upheaval? There would’ve been mutiny, an uprising, a riot.
Though I have interviewed him a couple of times, we have never met in person. I also interviewed his vocalist, Soul Emotive – Vanessa Bright, whom I’ve also never met.
Much laughter and deep conversation about the direction of music and plans to do this all over again were made.
To see him at the institution known as Ronnie Scott’s was a particularly special experience. If you are a real music aficionado, and you have the opportunity to see Tom Browne live, then, as they say, get there if you can he surpasses all expectations, and you won’t be disappointed.
