Brownman & CRUZAO

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Nick "Brownman" Ali - trumpet player / composer
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Born on the small Caribbean island of Trinidad, schooled in New York and now based in Toronto, Justin Time Recording Artist Nick "The Brownman" Ali is one of the most in demand, young jazz studio trumpet players in the country, his recording credits sitting at just under 130 CDs . Also an accomplished composer/arranger he was awarded the 2002 National Jazz Award for "Jazz Composer of the Year". At the NJA's he was also nominated for "Jazz Trumpet Player of the Year" and his latin-jazz group CRUZAO was nominated for "Electric Jazz Group of the Year" in 2001, 2002 & 2003. 2001 additionally saw him win the coveted Montreal Jazz Festival's "Grand Prix Du Jazz" Award, the CBC Galaxie's 2001 "Rising Star" Award, and was the 2004 nominee for a Canadian Independant Music Award for "Latin Artist of the Year". He is one of the first calls for not only jazz and urban recordings, but also appears in the horn sections of countless latin groups. He is currently composing and arranging actively for 4 groups of his own, all of which have gained critical acclaim in their own diverse idioms - the award-winning latin-jazz unit CRUZAO, jazz-hip-hop group GRUVASYLUM, mainstream hard-swinging threesome The NICK ALI TRIO and the 10-piece Salsa powerhouse MARRÓN MATIZADO. Brownman's extensive recording credits now also include movie credits - a cameo in Jennifer Lopez's 2001 summer movie "Angel Eyes" and the new 2002 CBC pilot "In A Jam".

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Nick "Brownman" Ali & CRUZAO
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"Canada's premiere latin-jazz ensemble"
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
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"Chordless latin-jazz-urbania... a first in history"
- NY Univ.

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http://cruzao.brownman.com
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Considered Canada's premiere latin-jazz ensemble - this hard hitting multi-award winning latin-jazz unit under the leadership of Trinidadian born, New York City schooled trumpet player & composer Nick "Brownman" Ali funkifies it's audiences with Brownman's original latin-jazz-urban compositions and high-energy virtuositic jazz soloists. The amalgamation of authentic latin rhythm, jazz harmony and urban ideology, this group began it's career as a musical experiment in 2001 for Brownman in the tonal qualities of latin music composed in a chordless setting (no piano, no guitar). Unlike the rich 5 decade chordless jazz tradition, this texture had never been explored in Latin America, due to the dominance and omni-presence of the piano "montuno" or equivalent guitar structures. The result - Nick "Brownman" Ali & CRUZAO - the first chordless latin-jazz-urban ensemble in history.
The group would win the 2001 coveted Montreal Jazz Festival's "Grand Prix du Jazz" Award, which led to Brownman being signed to the prestigious JUSTIN TIME RECORDS label in Montreal. Shortly after it's release CRUZAO's "Shades Of Brown" recording would rocket to the top of the jazz charts and remain there for 3 months. 2002 would see Brownman named Canada's "National Jazz Composer of the Year" for his groundbreaking compositions on the Shades of Brown recording and later that year he would be additionally awarded a CBC Galaxie "Rising Star" Award, again for his work with CRUZAO. Today the group is widely considered Canada's most accomplished and docorated latin-jazz ensemble, have acheived much international acclaim - most recently headlining the Havana Jazz Fest in Cuba and is currently required listening as an example of post-modern latin-jazz in the New York University jazz curriculum.

http://www.brownman.com
for more info on Brownman himself.

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AWARDS:
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2007 National Jazz Award for "Electric Jazz Group of the Year" (for BROWNMAN ELECTRYC TRIO)
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2007 A staggering 5 nominations at the National Jazz Awards: Musician, Instrumentalist, Latin-jazz Artist, Composer & Electryc Jazz Group.
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2006 National Jazz Award nominee for "Latin-jazz artist of the Year"
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2005 NOW Magazine's "Toronto Jazz Artist of the Year".
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2004 Brownman & CRUZAO - Independant Music Award nominee (World Music category)
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2003 MARRON MATIZADO - "Best Toronto Salsa Band" (awarded by SalsaSPOT)
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2002 Canadian National "Jazz Composer of the Year" (National Jazz Award)
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2002 National Jazz Award nominee for "Jazz Trumpet Player of the Year"
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2001 winner of the coveted Montreal Jazz Fest's "Grand Prix Du Jazz Award".