The Brown Edition

"Calling them a "funk band" implies that they are nothing more than a band you can dance to. The truth is that because their performances feature a round-robin of emotional solos—including jazz sax and flute—it's pretty hard to break focus from watching them long enough to dance. Add to that the mid-range yet smoky vocals of front man Miguel Pineda, 26, and you've got something reminiscent of a Duke Ellington project mixed with the vibe of Eric Hutchinson. It's the kind of mature sound someone in his 20s doesn't just stumble on to."
~Ethan Maffey, The Weekly Source - The Weekly Source

"For me, track two, "Chicken Shack," was particularly fun to listen to, with a lot of grooviness and feeling. There were highs and lows of a myriad of instruments - layers of trumpet, sax, drums and melodic vocals, melding with bass lines and keyboards - that just kept coming. I found myself wondering what the next lick, lyric and song would sound like. After satisfying my curiosity and giving the rest of the album a good listen, it was clear I, as a listener, was deliberately led down that path of curiosity, that each piece of the song was a teaser for the next."
~Nikki McCoy, Weekly Volcano - Weekly Volcano

"They had the crowd crazy from the first note, Miguel leading his mates in a course of action meant to get your butt moving and your soul singing. Killer bottom with a stellar drummer, congas and a madman on the bass; a beautiful solid wood piece of art. The horn section was dynamite; pumping out accents, solos and background for the edification of the crazed dancers, which was everybody in the house by that time."
~Carmen Ghia, Live Seattle: Music In The Clubs - Live Seattle: Music in the Clubs

The Brown Edition is high energy funk driven by original stylings from some of the best musicians around. A bass groove will reach around and grab your soul while guitars elevate your mind. A horn section will massage your brain as the keyboards and percussion shake your booty! Although TBE writes it’s own music, they are not afraid to take on the challenge of tackling some of the most difficult works from some of jazz and funk’s reigning royalty.

The Brown Edition is truly
SOPHISTICATED FUNK!
The Brown Edition is:

Lead Vocals and guitars – Miguel Pineda
Bass and vocals -Thomas Pell
Guitars -Tarik Bentlemsani
Sax – Jeff Brooks
Kit – The Ivan
Sax – Aaron Wolff
Trombone – Nathan Geyer
Congas – Miguel Lopez
Keys – Brent Pendleton
Trumpet – Brian Briggs

“A groovy, smooth jam isn’t always easy to come by. Even in Olympia – the land of bands – a funky base line can sometimes be as hard to find as a conservative blogger. But not any longer. Olympia band the Brown Edition has been pumping up the funk. Anchored by lead singer Miguel Pineda’s talented vocals, this eclectic six-piece ensemble brings down the house with funk, soul and everything in between. The Brown Edition has been known to shell out 20-minute-long groove-infused masterpieces at the drop of a hat. The band draws a crowd, and as soon as that bass line starts popping the crowd starts hopping. They play every Wednesday night at the Royal Lounge. Go, join the party. Just don’t forget your dancing shoes”
~BC, Weekly Volcano, Best of Olympia 2011 Staff Picks: Music - Funk Republic Radio

The Brown Edition doesn't play the dirty, crunchy style of garage rock or the bedroom indie jams that helped launch Olympia onto the musical map. In fact, their unique brand of jazz/funk can be difficult to find in any town. Self-described as "all the soul, funk and jazz your ass can handle," the Brown Edition's music keeps listeners happy because it keeps them glued to the dance floor. Whether during their weekly set at the Royal or other gigs around town, the band gets people to move their feet. Recently, the Weekly Volcano sat down with lead singer Miguel Pineda and the rest of the Brown Edition.

WEEKLY VOLCANO: So, Best Band of Olympia, huh?

MIGUEL PINEDA: It's fucking crazy. We're all pretty freaked out.

VOLCANO: Any secrets to your success?

PINEDA: Maybe because we just do it. We do it every week. We try to play hard every time. Also, all of our members have their own strengths. Jeff (Brooks, clarinet player) writes music and he's a teacher. Aaron (Wolf, alto and tenor sax) is an incredible jazz dude. And I'm a PR machine, hitting the streets with fliers and stuff. Have fun and work hard, you know?

VOLCANO: What other bands could have easily won this award?

PINEDA: There's a lot of good bands. Ben (Hawkes, drummer and percussion) runs sound at the 4th Ave. Tav. There's a lot of good talent going through there. You have to check out Elbow Coulee. They're great. Square and the Jimis. They had the Royal gig before us. There's a lot of good jazz and stuff, too. Steve Munger.

VOLCANO: Any plans for parlaying this award into more gigs?

PINEDA: Laughing. Totally, man. We want to lock down Olympia. Officially. We want to play Lakefair, we want to play Music in the Park. We want to build a nice home for ourselves. Then maybe start thinking about Tacoma, Seattle and Portland.

Lock down Olympia? Looks like they're well on their way. ...
- The Weekly Volcano

MUSIC WITHOUT BORDERS
By Tucker Petertil

Brown Edition
“My vision… was to get something together in the middle of the week where people could dance their asses off”. This is Miguel Pineda frontman,singer and guitarist for the band Brown Edition speaking about the band’s ongoing Wednesday night gigs at the Royal lounge.
The band has been together just shy of a year and in that time they’ve become one of the most talked about bands in Olympia and their Wednesday night gigs at the Royal have become the hump day dance place to be.
Besides Miguel the nine piece group consists of:bassist Tom Pell,guitarist Tarik Bentlemsani,reed players Aaron Wolff and Jeff Brooks,Nathan Geyer on trombone and trumpet,drummer Ben Hawkes,keyboardist Brent Pendleton,Miguel Lopez on congas,and Ninee Wolff sitting in occasionally on flute.
I got together with Miguel P.,Tom,Ben and Tarik on a recent Wednesday evening before their performance to get the bird’s eye lowdown on the group.
“I have the biggest mouth in the group” is Miguel’s explanation of how he wound up as the band’s leader. He got the band together and also runs the sound at the Royal. He continues,“Essentially (I) keep us on track and keep the energy level up”.
Miguel grew up in Tumwater in a family of musicians with his uncle,Joel Guzman being a Grammy winning Tex-Mex accordionist who’s appeared with Rickie Lee Jones,Joe Ely,Michelle Shocked and on Jeff Bridges’ “Crazy Heart” movie soundtrack.
Growing up Miguel was influenced by the New Orleans funk of the Meters,James Brown and his sax player Maceo Parker and dreamed of forming a band along those lines.
He moved to Spokane where he became a Blues singer and guitarist and then to Seattle where he experienced a healthy mid-week club scene and saw no reason why it couldn’t also happen in Olympia.
While there’s been some speculation about the band’s name Miguel tells me that it’s actually a bastardization of a hip Spokane neighborhood called Browns Addition.
The interplay between the two guitarists is one of the highlights of the band’s shows and the other guitarist Tarik is also a local who played soccer with Miguel growing up.
Tarik is a big fan of jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and since joining the band he’s been catching up on his education listening to early funk records saying “I have an idea of how to play funk” but continues “I just want to play as much music as possible”.
Tom came from Louisiana where his grandparents owned a music store. “It wasn’t a question of what I was going to do with my life but which instruments I was going to play.” He moved to Tacoma where he began performing in Blues bars at 19,then moved to Olympia for Evergreen and joined with Ben Hawkes in the hard rock band Fungus Riot.
The Brown Edition drafted him as bass player after their former bass player broke a string mid-set and Tom lent him his bass. He was later invited onstage to play a few songs and Miguel says,“This dude (Tom) tried to get offstage,and I said,“You’re not going anywhere,” and ever since he’s been in the band.”
Tom jokes that before they solidified their current lineup last October it was the “The Brown Audition” as they invited musicians to join them onstage to see if they fit the ongoing vision.
Everyone who made the cut comes from a musical background;Brent Pendleton was country singer LeAnn Rimes’ musical director,Jeff Brooks plays clarinet in the area’s symphonies. Tarik also plays as a solo acoustic artist and plays light jazz in Momenti Rubati. Ben grew up in Lakewood,was taught music at an early age,played in various bands for the past 6 years and also runs sound for the 4th Ave. Tavern.
Though everyone has projects on the side Miguel hopes for longevity saying “I wanna keep these guys together as long as time permits and create as much music as possible.”
The band writes their original music as a collaborative whole and while much of it is in the jazz/rock/funk fusion vein they also throw in some interesting cover versions. The night of this interview they performed a balls to the wall rocking version of Los Lobos’ “Last Night (I Got Loaded).”
The Olympia band Sour Owl approached them about producing a Brown Edition record and now they’re currently recording both an EP which they hope to release in a few months and a full length record sometime later this year. The Brown Edition who are all in their mid twenties to thirties feel blessed to have the approval of seasoned musicians that they look up to.
In addition to their weekly Royal gig they are also playing Lakefair in July and will tour around the states later in the fall.
Catch them Wed. June 8th at the Royal,311 N Capitol Way when they’ll be joined by San Francisco’s Afrofunk Experience and June 11th at the Procession Community Arts Studio for an all ages show.
More info at http://www.facebook.com/TheBrownEdition - Olympia Power and Light