ARRANGER, COMPOSER, CONTRACTOR, COPYIST, CORNET, FLUGELHORN, PERCUSSION-LATIN, PRODUCER, SEQUENCER, SYNTHESIZER-KEYBOARD, SYNTHESIZER-WIND
Heralded as “Canada’s preeminent Jazz trumpeter” by NYC’s Village Voice, Brownman Ali – born on the small Caribbean island of Trinidad, & schooled in NYC – is a multiple award-winning NYC-schooled protégé to his teacher, Grammy-winning trumpet legend, Randy Brecker. He tirelessly leads 8 unique ensembles of his own including the internationally acclaimed, National Jazz Award winning, Miles Davis influenced BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO, and the multi-award-winning CRUZAO latin-jazz quintet. All these ensembles record under Brownman’s own much lauded BROWNTASAURAS RECORDS label, established in 2009. In high demand in the studio world with over 400 CD appearances to date, Brownman delivers stylistically authentic horn playing over a wide range of styles from bebop to hiphop having worked with the likes of Guru’s Jazzmatazz (replacing Donald Byrd in that primordial ensemble), Jay-z, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Missy Elliot, Quincy Jones, Paul Simon, Nelly Furtado, Mingus Dynasty Big Band, Gary Bartz, Chucho Valdes & far too many more to name here. He is considered to be one of the most unique and provocative improvising trumpet players in the nation today and is widely regarded as a vanguard for the evolution of Jazz in Canada. A highly decorated player, his awards & accolades include 2 National Jazz Awards (with 11 nominations over the years), Montreal Jazz Fest’s “Grand Prix Du Jazz” award, a CBC Galaxie Rising Star award, a SOCAN composers award, an International Independent Music Award for “Album of the Year”, 5 Toronto Independent Music Awards for “Jazz Artist Of The Year” (11 nominations), an International Independent Music Award, 6 Global Music Awards, a Black Canadian Award nomination for “Jazz Musician of the Year”, an induction into the WHO’S WHO IN BLACK CANADA, a Caribbean Music Award nomination, a BRAVO! channel documentary on his life, was a Semi-Finalist in the USA Song Competition & a Finalist in the International Song Competition, NOW magazine naming him “Toronto’s Best Jazz Musician”, CBC Radio Canada named him “one of the most recorded trumpet players in Canadian history”, NPR in New York calls him “the new standard in electric jazz”, the Trinidad & Tobago Consulate General awarded him with a citation for being a “Distinguished National of Trinidad” and he has been listed by Air Canada as one of the “Top 10 reasons to visit Toronto”.
