Pianist Brown Again Taps Into a Broad Musical Range of Interests

Jazz pianist Vernell Brown Jr. was only 18 when he recorded “A Total Eclipse,” his 1990 debut album. There he was, playing alongside such illustrious veterans as saxophonist Ernie Watts, bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Stix Hooper and trumpeter and A&M; Records co-founder Herb Alpert.

This was some heavy company for any young musician. But the record was designed to introduce listeners to Brown’s playing and his already broad range of musical interests. And producer Hooper, a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, provided the appropriately diverse backdrop, flavored with soul, pop and blues.

For the new “Stay Tuned,” set for release Feb. 4, Brown has chosen a similar if more aggressive route, playing with his own band rather than another all-star cast. A few tracks even feature vocals, with lyrics by Will Jennings. And inevitably, Brown said, he felt freer to express himself musically.

“You’re always searching, you know, treading the waters,” Brown said. “And I had a chance to find what I like the most, especially after playing the tunes from the first record live. We had a chance to develop a certain style, so I was really sure of the direction I wanted to go into.

“In the future I can sense even more fire, more aggressiveness.”

This element was developed largely during the past year working with his quintet, he said, bringing to the music a “more spiritual element, a spiritual bond.” Brown also co-produced the album’s dozen tracks with his drummer, Land Richards.

“A lot of things musically came to the surface in myself that I never really knew about, different abilities in terms of solos, and grooves,” Brown said.

Although Brown is not following in the new traditionalism of such contemporary young jazz pianists as Marcus Roberts, Brown insists he is playing be-bop, but with a different backdrop. After all, Brown had spent many hours in high school transcribing the solos of saxophonist Charlie Parker and other be-bop pioneers.

“I was never a purist, not at all,” Brown, now 20, said. “Before I got into jazz, I listened to pop and R & B, so I couldn’t really get away from that because I liked it so much.”

Brown was sitting in the Glendale apartment of his mother--and business manager--Carlita Brown, herself a singer and lyricist. Her son, she said proudly, was always fascinated by music, perhaps as some response to the piano lessons she was taking while pregnant with him. “So he came out with a buzz,” she said, laughing.

His father is Vernell Brown Sr., a guitarist, so young Vernell grew up accompanied by a constant soundtrack of jazz, Motown and other musical styles. Before his fourth birthday, Brown was taking drum lessons. At 9, he began studying the violin. And soon after, he was singing with his younger sister, Maisha, in the singing duo Brown Ink.

During the late 1980s, he attended Los Angeles County High School for the Arts on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles, and the Hamilton Academy of Music. By then he was committed to the piano, which he said allowed him to combine both the percussive and melodic elements of his earlier instruments.

“Also, you could play more than one note on the piano, so you could hear more things,” he said. “That’s what got me into it.”

Between 1987 and 1990, Brown used the piano to win a long list of awards and scholarships, including a Leonard Feather Piano Scholarship, a Down Beat Student Music Award, a Yamaha Music Corp. Award and a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music in Boston.

“After I won the first competition I felt I was on a roll,” Brown said. “So I worked harder and practiced harder: ‘Hey, see what I’ve got now.’ ”

Brown says his inspiration has come from a variety of sources, including his first piano teacher, Terry Trotter, a sideman with guitarist Larry Carlton. But he added that he’s learned the most from the recorded works of jazz horn players rather than of such seminal keyboardists as Thelonious Monk.

“Those guys could really play be-bop,” Brown said. “Piano players were good, but to me not as good as the sax players and trumpet players. I think at the time they had more technique, more facility and could play a lot more.”

By leading his own band and recording as a solo act, Brown has bypassed the route taken by generations of his predecessors. For example, before becoming a solo artist, keyboardist Herbie Hancock played with Miles Davis, who earlier in his career had played in Charlie Parker’s band.

“Everything happens for a reason, and I really don’t have any regrets,” Brown said. “I’ll put out this record and a lot of people will hear me, and I’m sure I’ll have a chance to play with anyone.”

RADIO WAVES: Music listeners shouldn’t have to even leave their homes or cars to hear some notable live music next week. Santa Monica-based KCRW-FM (89.9) continues a long tradition of live music performance when it hosts rhythm-and-blues pianist Johnny Johnson at 10:30 a.m. Monday on “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”

Hosted by Chris Douridas, the program also will present the California Guitar Trio at 11:15 a.m. Thursday. On Friday, Latin jazz combo Word of Mouth will perform at 11:15 a.m, following a 10 a.m. interview with experimental guitarist Henry Kaiser.