Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Jerry Fink: Brown takes stock of Las Vegas music scene

Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at [email protected] at (702) 259-4058.

Stockton, Calif., might have been the catalyst for the 1973 classic film "American Grafitti," but it isn't exactly a hotbed of entertainment.

Thus, it's surprising to find that an inspired Las Vegas lounge entertainer has his roots firmly embedded in the largely agricultural town 50 miles south of Sacramento.

"Dad met my mom in Lodi," David "Sax Man" Brown said. "That's how Stockton came into play." (Lodi is next door to Stockton.)

His father (a native of Eldorado, Ark.) is Earl "Good Rockin' " Brown, one of the nation's top saxophone players, who has performed with such legends as Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson and Muddy Waters.

David and his brother Darryl perform a dynamic act at the Imperial Palace's Kabuki Lounge and at the Railroad Pass, 2800 S. Boulder Highway, in Henderson, rotating weekends at the two locations. This weekend they're at the Pass.

Darryl, a keyboardist, is the musical director of the act.

Brown's parents met when the elder Brown was on tour. When he was growing up, his father would send the children (six boys, two girls) to their bedrooms while he rehearsed with his band.

But Brown would sneak out of the room and listen.

"I was a hardheaded kid," he said.

And a talented one.

"I've been a musician all my life," he said.

David's love of the saxophone began around the seventh grade. He started playing in school and winning contests.

"My father showed me a few fancy licks," Brown said.

In school, Brown performed in jazz and marching bands and in orchestras. He developed a love for singing while in the church choir. By the time he graduated from high school he fronted his own group, Blaze.

His famous father mentored and managed the band.

"He was like a father to the whole band," Brown said. "He taught us the dos and don'ts of the business, especially how to conduct ourselves on and off stage.

"Musicians had a black cloud over us in those days. We were supposed to be wild. But Dad taught us to be gentlemen, and that's what kept us working together for so long."

Blaze, which was formed in the early '80s, performed in local nightclubs before the members were old enough to drink legally.

"We spent a lot of our breaks back in the dressing room, away from the bar scene," Brown said.

They finally landed tour deals, performing the Holiday Inn and Red Lion Inn circuits. When they had free time they did the Department of Defense tour, performing in Asia.

The band was together for 12 years before the members went their separate ways.

"We began as young teenagers, grew to be young men and met our ladies and married and started families," Brown said. "Half the band married and half didn't."

He was in the half that did.

But David's marriage ended about eight years ago. His wife and daughter, Davina, then 7, moved to Las Vegas while he remained in California.

Three years ago Brown decided to strike out on his own as a solo act and became a street musician in Santa Cruz, Calif., a coastal town noted for its seaside amusement park and university.

"I got my little handy ghetto blaster and played on the streets of Santa Cruz," he said. "It was just my raw talent and the music."

People heard Brown and started hiring him to play parties and other private functions.

"I got enough gigs to let me know, 'Hey, I have something here.' "

He says he took the sax to another level.

"A high-energy level, because I didn't want to be just another background musician," Brown said.

Last year Brown decided to move to Vegas to be near his daughter, now 15 and a student at Cheyenne High School.

"I wanted to be a year-round father," he said.

Brown said Davina has inherited some of his talents.

"She's a good singer and dancer," he said.

When Brown moved to town, he found it rough going at first.

"You have to know somebody here to get a gig," Brown said.

He said he couldn't give his act away, no matter how many doors he knocked on.

Then, on Oct. 13 last year, he and his brother put on a showcase at the Stratosphere, and soon after that they started getting work.

"But I look forward to getting busier," Brown said. "I came here to deliver the saxophone to Las Vegas."

Lounging around

Claude Trenier, one of the world's greatest lounge entertainers, is ailing. The 84-year-old legend, whom some call the real father of rock 'n' roll, has been in St. Rose Dominican Hospital, 3001 St. Rose Pkwy., for the past two weeks. He might be released early next week. Fans, and they are legion, can send cards and letters to Trenier's home at 4525 Twain Ave., No. 224, Las Vegas, 89103. Trenier, who is undergoing chemotherapy, began his career in 1941 when he and his late twin brother, Cliff, dropped out of Alabama State University in Mobile to fill in for a band whose leader had been killed in a traffic accident.

The Treniers, which included Claude and his brothers Cliff (who died in 1983) and Buddy (who died in 1999), were formed in 1948. The group has been part of the Las Vegas entertainment scene for more than 50 years.

Impressionist Stephen Sorrentino will perform his musical comedy production, "Voices in My Head," for free at 8:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday at Boulder Station's Railhead.

More free entertainment at the Railhead: The October lineup for the free Boulder Blues series includes guitarist Duke Robilard (Oct. 2), guitarist Tommy Castro (Oct. 9), vocalist Frankie Lee (Oct. 16), Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers (Oct. 23) and Little Charlie & The Night Cats (Oct. 31).

Live jazz Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Capozzoli's, 3333 S. Maryland Pkwy., featuring pianist Dennis Mellen. Wednesday night jam sessions continue to be a popular gathering. Recent musicians at a session included trombonist/vocalist Brian O'Shea, vocalists John Hayes, Ronnie Rhea and Jessica Marciel.

Celebrities who have dropped in to sing recently include magician Steve Wyrick, Channel 8 weatherman Mark Pfister, Pat Morita ("Karate Kid") and Dennis Bono singing a duet with the classic Mary Kaye.

archive