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In recent years, when not touring the globe the Brooklyn based multi-award-winning Trinidadian-born trumpet player BROWNMAN ALI -- the last trumpet player for iconic jazz-hip-hop group Guru's Jazzmatazz -- spends much of his artistic time in the exploration of modern “chordless” jazz -> music produced without a chordal instrument (guitar or keyboard). He had previously explored this tonal quality for a decade with his highly lauded latin-jazz group CRUZAO, and more recently with his heavily decorated & now internationally acclaimed Miles Davis influenced BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO. Taking a similar trajectory as the acclaimed 2009 debut release "Juggernaut", this highly energized bombastic trio’s 2013 sophmore release “Gravitation: A Study In Freefall” -- on Brownman’s own label Browntasauras Records -- shot to number 4 on the iTunes USA jazz charts and was declared “the new standard in electric-jazz” by National Public Radio (NPR) in New York City. Among a long list of awards & accolades, the trio would win an International Independent Music Award for "Jazz-Funk Album of the Year", 3 Toronto Independent Music Awards for "Jazz Group of the Year" and a National Jazz Award for "electric jazz group of the year".

“The trio folds aspects of Black American Music into a chordless jazz framework”, states Brownman. “When we’re not playing originals, we often take classic standards from the 30s through the 50s and re-imagine them as if they were written today and being produced by, say, DJ Premier. The end result is something that hopefully sounds relevant in today’s musical paradigm, but still resonates with the history and lineage of the jazz tradition. And yeah - you’ll hear a lot of Miles Davis’ influence in that resulting sound”.

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ABOUT BROWNMAN ALI: Heralded as “Canada’s preeminent Jazz trumpeter” by NYC’s Village Voice, Brownman Ali - born on the small Caribbean island of Trinidad, & schooled in NYC - is a multiple award-winning NYC-schooled protégé to his teacher, Grammy-winning trumpet legend, Randy Brecker. He tirelessly leads 7 unique ensembles of his own including the internationally acclaimed Miles Davis influenced BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO, and the award-winning CRUZAO latin-jazz quintet. All these ensembles record under Brownman's own much lauded BROWNTASAURAS RECORDS label, established in 2009. In high demand in the studio world with over 300 CD appearances to date, Brownman delivers stylistically authentic horn playing over a wide range of styles from bebop to hiphop having worked with the likes of Guru's Jazzmatazz (replacing Donald Byrd in that primordial ensemble), Mos Def, KRS-1, Quincy Jones, Paul Simon, Jay-z, Missy Elliot, Mingus Dynasty Big Band, Gary Bartz, Chucho Valdes & far too many more to name here. He is considered to be one of the most unique and provocative improvising trumpet players in the nation today and is widely regarded as a vanguard for the evolution of Jazz in Canada.

A highly decorated player, his awards & accolades include 2 National Jazz Awards (with 11 nominations over the years), Montreal Jazz Fest's "Grand Prix Du Jazz" award, a CBC Galaxie Rising Star award, a SOCAN composers award, an International Independent Music Award for "Album of the Year", 3 Toronto Independent Music Awards for "Jazz Artist Of The Year" (9 nominations), a Black Canadian Award nomination for "Jazz Musician of the Year", an induction into the WHO'S WHO IN BLACK CANADA, a Caribbean Music Award nomination, a BRAVO! channel documentary on his life, NOW magazine naming him "Toronto's Best Jazz Musician", CBC Radio Canada named him "one of the most recorded trumpet players in Canadian history", NPR in New York calls him "the new standard in electric jazz", the Trinidad & Tobago Consulate General awarded him with a citation for being a "Distinguished National of Trinidad" and he has been listed by Air Canada as one of the "Top 10 reasons to visit Toronto".