Otis Brown III: A New Generation of Jazz Star

UP CLOSE

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Otis Brown III

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UP CLOSE ⭐️ Otis Brown III ⭐️

(Originally published October 26, 2020)

When bassist/composer/vocalist Esperanza Spalding walked up to the stage on four different occasions to pick up Grammy Awards, drummer Otis Brown III had to smile.

After all, they’re the rhythm section in living legend Joe Lovano’s Us Five band. Brown, the son of New Jersey high school principals, raised in Hackensack in spitting distance of the legendary Van Gelder Studios where the ghosts of Miles and Monk still roam, has learned his lessons well.

“Oh man, my dad has some stories drumming for James Brown! It was a little chitlin circuit tour. That’s it. He had to learn the music. When he got hired for these gigs, he found out first-hand what a taskmaster JB was. My dad said James, on stage, could hear everything. Every little thing! If you messed up a part, he’d turn around and flash five fingers on you. That meant five dollars was coming off your pay. Yeah, he could be dancing around and still flash you that five. That was my drummer dad’s lane: funk. That’s how he became friends with Benard `Pretty’ Purdie, who’s my godfather.”

Joe Lovano, 68, earned his stripes in the big-bands of Woody Herman and Mel Lewis. He formed the Saxophone Summit in the late ‘90s with Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker before blowing sax with McCoy Tyner on the 2007 Quartet album. He’s the living link between the era of Charlie Parker and today. (His 2011 Bird Calls celebrates that era.) OB3 has seen up-close what kind of cat Lovano is.

“The stuff I’ve learned from him is immeasurable. It’s in the approach to the music: what to do and what not to do, be it on stage or in the studio. He taught me what it takes to be dedicated. I’ve been able to see through him what it looks like to get to that level of greatness. Joe’s the type of guy who is never not writing, thinking, playing, talking or reading about music. That’s his life. To get to be near that is so inspiring.

“I always tell the story about one of my first gigs at the Charles Hotel in Boston where we’d play and retire to our rooms. His room was down the hall from mine and I could hear him still practicing in-between sets. It just doesn’t stop with him. That impressed me at a young age when I was first performing. I’d talk to him and all he’d talk about was composing. That’s the level of dedication it takes to be someone like him. We just lost Chick Corea, and from every account I’ve heard, he was the same way his whole life. I’ve worked with Herbie Hancock. Him too. If Herbie isn’t playing, writing or talking about music, he’s listening to music. The lesson learned there is that you really have to live it in order for it to come out a certain way. And that’s why it comes out that way for people like Joe, Herbie and Chick. They live the life.”

So what does a working musician—in two bands—do during a pandemic?

“All the uncertainty is scary. It’s also depressing. I mean, it’s a lot to deal with. I don’t see it getting anywhere near what it was. Maybe 2022. Maybe not. If the usual fall festivals were going to happen, they’d be getting booked now. Well, nobody’s booking anything now. That means that maybe some stuff will happen in the winter. Hopefully, at least by the summer of 2022, but that seems like such a long way away. So what do you do in the meantime? How does one cope? How can one provide for one’s family? How can one exist who depends on this for a living? You have to figure out some other stuff. I have musician friends who have gone into teaching online. There’s these streaming concerts too that people subscribe to. That’s cool but it’s not as sustainable. There’s just not enough opportunities. So it’s harder on a broad scale to think that would be the model that works. It’s limiting. How much could you work? Unless you’re at a certain level, it would be hard to get gigs. I’m fortunate in that I play with people who are always working. Now that it’s even more limited, that leaves room for less and less musicians. I’m optimistic but the outlook right now is rather depressing.”

One day the world will go back to some semblance of normality. When that day comes, OB3 will resume his beats for Lovano and Spalding. Since the latter is a certified superstar, we just had to ask about her.

“She’s like my sister. We’re really good friends. Joe had the Gary Burton Chair position at Berklee. We’d come off tour and he’d go up there during the semester where she went to school. Directly upon graduation, she wound up being the youngest faculty member Berklee ever hired. So Joe would play with her. She’s such an incredible bassist. For almost a year, Joe would tell me, ‘you must hear this young lady! I’m going to put something together with you two.’ I said ok but had no idea what he was talking about. So this band was formed and I finally met her. We hit it off right away. Gigging, hanging out, going out to lunch after soundcheck. We were best friends from Day #1. She was in the process of formulating her own thing, had been playing with some people up at Berklee but kinda wanted to do something different. We had done a few tours together with Joe Lovano but then she got a record deal with Concord. She told us while on tour that she had `this other thing to do’ before asking me if I wanted to play in her band as well. She was scared to ask me. I was kinda established already but I said, `of course! I’d love to do it’ even though I didn’t exactly know what her thing was. I mean, I knew she sang. I just never imagined the level she was at. I knew her bass playing was ridiculous. She has that same thing that Lovano has. She doesn’t stop. She’s always playing her bass. She’s always practicing or writing lyrics in her journal. At the hotel breakfasts, she’d be writing out melody lines. Between soundchecks, she’s always doing something with music.

“So she tells me she has some gigs and booked some studio time. I did both, and when I looked up, she’s a superstar with a Grammy. I’ve been in her band for five years now. And all the time, it’s great, because we’re both still in Us Five with Lovano. She would leave windows of opportunity open so she could still work with Joe. Joe’s a hero to her too. Having the same management at the time was a plus too. I could work both bands. My two main gigs have been working with her and Joe Lovano. I’m living the life!”