SHADES OF BROWN - s/t LP

Includes two-sided colour insert.

Rehearsing at the Albina Arts Center, members of the Shades Of Brown found one other as a variety of Albina’s musical acts were shifting, separating, reconstituting, and forming anew. The group would feature members of the Cavaliers Unlimited, Little Nolan And The Antoine Brothers, Youthsound, Upepo, and the Norman Sylvester Band. And as luck would have it, Free Meal Ticket - renowned soul singer Wilson Pickett’s group - would disband while on tour in Portland. This left director, composer, and future Grammy recipient Thara Memory en route to the Albina Arts Center. He was quickly recruited to become the bandleader for Shades Of Brown.

Equipped with the ephemeral resources flowing from the Model Cities initiative, Memory organized youth and adults into a variety of ensembles, and with a penchant for results-driven rigor he would furnish his pedagogy via musical boot camp with the Shades Of Brown. The band was required to read and write their music. Before a note was to be played, members were summoned to the blackboard to chalk out their parts on a musical staff. And it was not uncommon that rehearsals consisted of the band being drilled with marching routines, as was common in the tradition of Memory’s southern upbringing. This went on for months. When the results were in, Memory gave the green light for the band to perform. And the Shades Of Brown would have something to say about it.