From Glitzy Vegas to Movie Soundtracks
AJ rose from humble beginnings in Jamaica to the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas, USA when the CEO of the Mirage Hotel and Casino, Steve A. Wynn signed a contract with AJ to perform. He “ruled the roost” at the Mirage from 1989 to 1996 where he sang music of all genres and showcased his versatility and wide vocal range to millions. He opened the Lagoon Saloon at the Mirage, Las Vegas November 1989 and Tarzans Night Club at the Golden Nugget in Laughlin, Nevada January 1992 sang for Paul Anka at his birthday party in Lake Tahoe 1993.
AJ kept boxing fans and TV viewers spellbound by hitting the highest notes of the U.S. national anthem with professional ease and precision singing at the Showtime Boxing Network hosted heavyweight title fight between Razor Ruddock & Gregg Paige at the Mirage Hotel & Casino. Like Harry Belafonte, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Wayne Newton and other great performers, AJ Brown (Jamaica's national treasure) has left his mark in Las Vegas.
Although AJ is most famous for his amazing voice, his proficiency as a prolific songwriter is not to be taken lightly. His talent and creativity has been featured on movie soundtracks, namely “Love People” in the movie “Club Paradise” starring Robin Williams, Peter O'Toole and Jimmy Cliff and “All Fall Down” in the movie “The Howling Part 3” & “The Fourth Protocol” starring Pierce Brosnan. AJ continues to add to his growing collection of recorded albums with the addition of the CDs “For All Kinda People” (2011) commemorating 50th year of Jamaica’s independence, and "Voice Of Love" (2009) a compilation of 10 of the world's greatest Classical love songs, including “You Raise Me Up” and “Con Te Partiro (Time to Say Goodbye).
A Jamaican National Treasure
AJ Brown's voice has been featured on numerous commercials for conglomerates like Coca Cola, Red Stripe Beer, JTB, and Air Jamaica. In addition to his own Brown Cat Record Label Albums, he has completed numerous singles on several compilation albums distributed by VP Records, Penthouse Records, Harmony House Records and Pot of Gold Records and recorded for reggae greats such as Beres Hammond, “the Chairman of the Board”, Ritchie Stephens and the Inner Circle Band “the Bad boys of Reggae. He has also collaborated with Grammy award winning producers Cleveland Browne (of Steely and Clevie), Bobby ‘Digital' Dixon, and Barry O'Hare and other prominent producers like Computer Paul, Mickey Bennett, Tony Greene, Winston and Kurt Riley (father & son), Singing Melody and most recently Jay Douglas, Sadiki and Taddy P.
He has shared the stages with international superstars including Celine Dion, Dianna King, Shaggy, Dionne Warwick, Regina Bell, the Manhattans, The Chilites, Ray, Goodman and Brown, The late Percy Sledge and Evelyn ‘Champagne' King. In addition, he performed a duet with Denise Williams at Reggae Sunsplash (1980) and Myrna Hague at “Professionals in Cabaret” February (2006).
AJ made a cameo performance at “Take Me Away” show hosted by Ritchie Stevens alongside Maxi Priest, Wayne Wonder, Freddie McGregor, John Holt and Ernie Ranglin and was featured prominently at the “Blues on the Green” jazz festival hosted by the US Embassy on the lawns of Devon House, where he not only sang but also exhibited his paintings.
Rebel Salute (2011) invited AJ to celebrate with Tony Rebel and the crowd responded with overwhelming appreciation to his performance. It was triple threat at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale where AJ shared the stage with Maxi Priest and Monty Alexander on “Reggae Jazz Fusion” the show was a resounding success.
AJ performed on the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festivals (2009 and 2012) to rave reviews and TVJ series of “Layers of Soul” (2012). The crowds at Reggae Sumfest July 2012 were next to witness AJ’s unique vocal and stage performances. They reacted with deafening applause. Western Consciousness Festival celebrating 25 years April 2013 invited AJ to its first show in Montego Bay. Rave reviews followed.
On October 2012 internationally re-known reggae band Third World invited AJ to tour the US as guest lead singer. The reviews left the band on a high. Third World again invited AJ on a European tour of Poland (Woodstock Festival), Germany (Reggae Jam), Belgium (Reggae Geel), France (Reggae Sun Ska) and Spain (Rototom Festival) August 2013 to help celebrate their 40 years as Reggae Ambassadors.
Third World’s lead singer William “Bunny Rugs” Clarke transitioned on February 2, 2014 and what was regarded as a temporary assignment turned out to be a permanent position for AJ. Since then AJ’s star power has magnified in strength, brightness and intensity and Third World has been reenergized.
Third World’s most recent album “Under The Magic Sun” features AJ’s distinctly unique vocals on 6 of the 14 tracks and the record company Cleopatra Records was so impressed with the album that they upgraded it from a commissioned album to a campaign. The album “Under The Magic Sun” was officially launched on May 23rd with a show at the new Bourbon Beach in Negril Jamaica and followed by a multi-city tour of the USA from June to September 2014. Live performance and tour requests continued to pure in from all corners of the globe from and Third World Band with AJ Brown as their new lead singer, experienced a resurgence of popularity and demand unlike any other Reggae band in history.
2015 witnessed AJ, Third World, Damian “Junior Gong” Marley and Stephen Marley (Ghetto Youths Production) joining creative energies to produce the next Third World Hit album “MORE WORK TO BE DONE” which became Third World’s 9th Grammy Award Nomination 2020. AJ’s vocal expertice and writing ability contributed immensely to the success of the album.
Even though COVID 19 brought downtime to the entire planet 2021, AJ used that time to, not only give back to the Fort Lauderdale community with AJAH Foundation’s Zoom Summer Art and Voice classes but to also concentrate on songwriting. This bour fruit in 2023 with the creation and release of AJ Brown’s 7th solo album “SHOTS OF LOVE”.
This album is ready for release on Aug 6, 2023 and boasts 16 tracks of original lyrics. The Journey continues.
http://www.ajbootsbrown.com brown.alvinj@gmail.com www.instagram.com/ajbootsbrown www.myspace.com/ajbrownmusic www.facebook.com/ajbootsbrown www.facebook.com/qwanman http://www.reverbnation.com/ajbrown http://www.linkedin.com/nhome/