Russ Nolan, the famed jazz saxophonist from New York City, could have asked anyone to back him at his April Bop Stop show. “But when I was looking for a backing band, someone told me right away, ‘Call up Theron!’ ” Nolan recalls.
At the Steinway stage right of Nolan, 29-year-old jazz pianist Theron Brown sits stiff-backed and bespectacled. Along with bassist Dan Pappalardo and drummer Zaire Darden — the other members of the Theron Brown Trio — the group cuts through a mix of standards and Nolan originals with the precision of a symphonic conductor.“These guys?” Nolan says. “No doubt about it. They’re New York quality.”
This spring, Brown’s name buzzed around the jazz scene for his role as Herbie Hancock in the Miles Davis film, Miles Ahead, directed by actor Don Cheadle. Brown, who performs June 24 at the Tri-C JazzFest with the Sam Blakeslee Large Group and SoundWorks, has always admired legendary jazz pianist Hancock and spent hours studying him.
“He’s one of the baddest cats,” says Brown. “But to play someone like him, to have his name attached to you, there’s a little bit of pressure.”
But Brown is far from an overnight success story. Before he found his groove in the local jazz scene, Brown spent nearly a decade as a trusty sideman for veteran musicians such as his local mentor Bobby Selvaggio and national star Ernie Krivda. Gigs with his trio, along with late-night jams with saxophonist Chris Coles and trombonist Sam Blakeslee, helped him learn a diverse repertoire that makes it easy for him to adapt.
“He learns the music quick,” Selvaggio says. “He can play any style I throw in front of him.”
The lifelong learner was born into a gospel-loving family in Zanesville. Brown’s first foray into music was behind the drum set at 5 years old. He then took up jazz organ echoing idol Thelonious Monk and piano after learning of Hancock. In a few years, Brown was touring Japan with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and moved to New York to work as a sideman.
But Brown became homesick and returned to Ohio with his then-fiancee Toni. He continued sharpening his jazz chops by getting a master’s degree in piano performance from the University of Akron and helping others do the same by teaching budding Dukes and Billies at three Ohio universities.
Miles Ahead has put Brown on the same bill as big-city acts such as Nolan. But instead of rushing back to Manhattan, Brown is orchestrating the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival Aug. 26 and 27 to showcase Akron talent at venues such as Blu Jazz.
“We’re in kind of a cultural renaissance right now,” he says. “There are so many musicians here pushing our sound forward. And the thing is, even if I didn’t lead it, if I quit, somebody would make it happen.”
