Pianist Donald Brown has been admired by jazz musicians for decades. His reputation reaches back to his time at then-Memphis State in the mid-1970s and grew wider when he joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the early 1980s. Local trumpet veteran Johnny Yancey has said that even at South Side High School, Brown was "genius-level." Brown's 18 studio albums as a bandleader, from classic straight-ahead piano to funk-influenced work, support that view. Two years ago, the city came together to celebrate his legacy as a musician and as an educator at Berklee College of Music and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
That history gives added weight to a new album by singer Deborah Swiney, You Taught My Heart to Sing, which Brown produced. Swiney is accustomed to working with top Memphis jazz players, including the late Ed Finney, but she never expected to record with Brown. "I had been wanting to work with Donald for a long time, but I never thought it would happen," Swiney says.
A family connection helped. Brown was a good friend of Swiney's late brother, Alvin Swiney, who was younger than Brown. The two played in the high school band together. Alvin Swiney was a bassoonist with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and a woodwind artisan. He died one week after the release of Deborah Swiney's previous album in 2017. She last saw him alive at that album's release party at Lafayette's. She dedicated the new album to him, and it came out the day after his birthday.
Several of Alvin Swiney's close musician friends play on the record: Gary Topper, Sylvester Sample, Charlton Johnson and Lannie McMillan. "Just having them on the album made me feel my brother was spiritually present," Swiney says.
Although Brown is based in Knoxville, he still works in Memphis from time to time. He had been recording at the studio where Swiney works, with the Maguire twins and others, and she had long admired his piano playing and production. She first planned to ask him to produce a single. As the two talked, the idea grew into a full album, and Brown agreed to produce it.
Swiney says Brown's willingness to take the project on meant a great deal to her, and that his belief in her gave her confidence. Beyond the three songs she began with, Brown chose the remaining tunes. He also brought in musicians he had not played with or seen in a long time, selecting players he felt would suit each song.
The credits include Donald Hayes, Steve Potts, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Barry Campbell, Marc Franklin, Alvie Givhan and Tony Thomas, among others, all from or based in Memphis. Brown himself is among the most notable contributors. Arthritis has kept him from performing on piano in recent years, but he played synthesizer on some of Swiney's tracks.
Swiney's vocals sound more assured than on her debut album, released nine years ago. The repertoire is eclectic, reflecting Brown's wide-ranging interests. It includes the standard "Angel Eyes," the fusion-flavored funk of "Tell Me Something Good," and "Someday Um Dia," a Brazilian and Cuban-flavored original by Gerard Harris. Swiney sings lead and layered background vocals, and she wrote one song herself, "Oh Where Can My Man Be?"
The material is demanding. "He picks some difficult songs!" Swiney says. She recalled that Joyce Cobb told her at the Green Room one night that Brown picks some really hard songs to sing, and praised her for handling them. Swiney said that meant a lot coming from Cobb.
