Pianist Donald Brown has been a hero to jazz musicians for decades now, dating back to his time at then-Memphis State in the mid-’70s, then on a wider basis when he joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the early ’80s. Local jazz trumpet veteran Johnny Yancey has said that even when he and Brown were both attending South Side High School, “he was genius-level,” and Brown’s long discography as a bandleader, ranging from classic straight-ahead jazz piano to more funk-influenced recordings over the course of 18 studio albums, further attests to that. Two years ago, the city came together to celebrate his legacy as both a musician and an educator at Berklee College of Music and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
All of which is worth reviewing in light of the remarkable new album by singer Deborah Swiney, You Taught My Heart to Sing. While Swiney is used to working with some of the best jazz players in Memphis, including the late Ed Finney, she did not have recording with Donald Brown on her bingo card.
“I had been wanting to work with Donald for a long time,” says Swiney, “but I never thought it would happen. However, he was a good friend of my late brother, Alvin Swiney, who was younger than him, but they were in high school band together. Alvin was a bassoonist for the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and a woodwind artisan who passed one week after the release of my previous album in 2017. The last time I saw him alive was at the album release party held at Lafayette’s. I dedicated my current album to Alvin, which was released the day after his birthday. And it was touching that some of my brother’s other close musician friends played on the album: Gary Topper, Sylvester Sample, Charlton Johnson, and Lannie McMillan. Just having them on the album made me feel my brother was spiritually present.”
For his part, Brown, though based in Knoxville, has continued to work in Memphis from time to time. “Donald had been at the studio where I work,” says Swiney, “doing some recording with the Maguire twins and others, and I had always admired his piano playing and producing. So I decided, ‘I’m going to ask him to produce a single.’ But the more Donald and I talked, the more I was like, ‘Okay, I think I could do an album.’”
Brown felt the same way, and agreed to produce a full-length for Swiney. “He was excited to do it,” she says. “Just the fact that he was willing to work with me meant a lot. I kept wanting to pinch myself. He gave me so much confidence, just by believing in me. Besides the three songs that I started off with, he picked the rest of the tunes. And then he was able to bring in musicians he hadn’t played with in a long time or hadn’t seen in a long time, choosing tailor-made musicians that he thought would be perfect for each particular song.”
Indeed, the credits read like a veritable who’s who of A-list jazz players either from or based in Memphis, including Donald Hayes, Steve Potts, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Barry Campbell, Marc Franklin, Alvie Givhan, and Tony Thomas, to name a few. But perhaps the most surprising — and accomplished — player on the sessions was Brown himself. Though arthritis has kept Brown from performing on piano in recent years, he did play synthesizer on some of Swiney’s tracks.
Sailing elegantly over Brown’s arrangements are Swiney’s vocals, even more assured than on her debut album from nine years ago. With an eclectic repertoire echoing Brown’s own diverse interests, she navigates old chestnuts like “Angel Eyes,” fusion-flavored funk like “Tell Me Something Good,” and Gerard Harris’ Brazilian/Cuban-flavored original, “Someday Um Dia,” with equal aplomb, contributing both layered background vocals and virtuosic lead singing, not to mention one song, “Oh Where Can My Man Be?” that she penned herself. “He picks some difficult songs!” says Swiney. “At the Green Room the other night, Joyce Cobb said, ‘You know, he really picks some really hard songs to sing.’ And she was complimenting me on being able to do that, which I appreciated a lot, coming from Joyce.”
