Every music artist wants a No. 1 hit because of resulting notoriety and commercial success. Sometimes such a mega hit can also become a curse, if one is identified as a musician only with this hit. This is what happened to trumpeter Tom Browne, who landed a monster hit with his song Funkin’ For Jamaica, which took the top spot in the charts for over a month and remained in indelible memory for an entire generation of disco goers.

Forty years later after numerous albums, which unfortunately could not continue the great time, Tom limits himself to what he does best, good music. His album Come What May, released in October 2020 on Innervision Records, is a testament to his true greatness and deserves our attention without reservation. On this album, Tom collaborates with vocalist Joyce San Mateo, who is featured on all songs.

With the starter Shake Tom jumps into the center of the musical action and makes pressure with percussively loaded bass driven background. The trumpet comes off well with an amazing eloquence. Joyce gets into this point and gives the song yet more dynamics. Even though there are certain performance limits on the high notes, the overall package is exceptionally convincing and makes you curious about the other songs.

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