Bobby Brown Returns to His Roots

The "New Jack Swing" star swung a little with the Berklee City Music All-Stars.

By Danielle Dreilinger
Berklee.edu Correspondent
December 20, 2007

Bobby Brown looked swank when he stepped out at the Boston Music Awards (BMA) on December 1 wearing a tux and sneakers. After all, he'd just been named to the BMA Hall of Fame. But really he was getting back to his Roxbury roots—performing with students who came to Berklee through the City Music program for inner-city teens.

	Bobby Brown feels the music.
	Photo by Phil Farnsworth
	"I wish they had programs like this when I was younger. This is a great program." —Bobby Brown

The City Music All-Stars performed a medley of Brown's hits before he joined them to sing "Roni." Also honored were Berklee-affiliated bands Kid:Nap:Kin (best new artist), Click 5 (best pop act), and Spiritual Rez (best reggae band). All three have tracks on student-run label Heavy Rotation Records compilations. (Watch Kid:Nap:Kin's acceptance speech on YouTube.)

The star met the All-Stars in a Berklee practice room the day before the show. Wearing a golden leather jacket and Timberlands, Brown sang, improvised, and ran all 10 musicians through a series of solos and introductions—naming second-semester bass player Audi Lynch "Mr. Fingers."

"He allowed us to shine," said keyboard player Abraham Olivo, a fourth-semester contemporary writing and production major. When Brown challenged him to use all 88 keys in his solo, he responded by pounding out a series of octaves.

Olivo had seen Brown on his reality television show; his music was less familiar. He had only a few days to help arrange the medley and learn the keyboard parts—which originally required two musicians, Olivo thought. He usually plays straight-ahead jazz, Latin, and fusion.

Contrary to his on-screen image, Brown seemed down to earth to drummer Ayeisha Mathis, who studies business and music production and engineering. "He was real cool. He seemed like he enjoyed it," she said.

He did. "I think this band is excellent," Brown said afterwards. "I wish they had programs like this when I was younger. This is a great program."

Brown grew up in the Orchard Park projects. Many of the teens in City Music today face the same unsafe neighborhoods and underfunded schools that he did. However, they have the advantages of music instruction and mentoring from Berklee professors. And the City Music All-Stars have scholarships to study at the college.

"Berklee was way out of my league," Brown said. "We dreamed of it. It's the centerpiece of music, to be able to graduate from Berklee."

But he and his friends rarely even came to Berklee's part of town. Brown's own musical education came from singing along to records and performing at talent shows. He left school to pursue his music career, he said, when he was only 13.

Mathis respected Brown's interest in revisiting his old turf. "Lots of times artists don't come back to where they're from."

In this case, the neighborhood connection is literal: Mathis used to see two of Brown's children run around the hair salon where their mother helped do Mathis's hair. His son and daughter came to the rehearsal, along with Brown's father and several other relatives who live in Boston.

Did Mathis imagine, sitting in the hairdresser's chair, that one day she'd perform with Brown at the Orpheum Theatre? "Never. I never imagined a lot of things I've been blessed to experience," she said. City Music has "given me a lot of musical experience, and I've learned a lot about myself as a person."

By the same token, Brown appreciated the opportunity to make contact with the students. "I'm thankful I can spend some time with these kids," he said.

Bobby Brown rehearses with Berklee City Music All-Stars Ayeisha Mathis and Abraham Olivo. Photo by Phil Farnsworth   Bobby Brown's Top Five Artists Aspiring R&B Stars Should Listen To • Bobby Brown (Don't Be Cruel) • Donny Hathaway • Michael Jackson (Thriller) • Elvis Presley • Stevie Wonder

To inquire about photo availability and usage, please email us.
Instructions for Photo Usage

Danielle Dreilinger is a writer/editor in Berklee's Office of Communications.