Tom Browne R'n'browne

Disco and funk combine on Phat Trax: The Best of Old School, Vol. 2, which pays tribute to the sounds that inspired hip-hop. Rolling, voluptuous basslines, uptight guitars, and vibrant brass sections drive tracks like Funkadelic's "One Nation Under a Groove," Fatback's "Backstrokin'," and Tom Browne's "Thighs High (Grip Your Hips and Move)," bridging the gap between funk and disco and providing countless rap and hip-hop artists ample material for sampling. Sun's "Sun Is Here," Faze-O's "Riding High," and T.S. Monk's "Bon Bon Vie" are among the other highlights of this funky, stylish compilation, which also documents just how integral these songs were to hip-hop's development.

Recorded live at The Osaka Festival Hall, March 16, 1980 as part of the The Memorial Festival Of ABC (Asahi) TV's 30th Anniversary. “GRP All-Stars Live In Japan” offers all the excitement of a rare Dave Grusin stage performance. The event was part of a successful tour through Japan, and also taped for television among festivities celebrating the 30th anniversary of Asahi (ABC) Television. This tour, showcasing the talents of new GRP signings Dave Valentin, Tom Browne and Bobby Broom, had been on Dave Grusin's agenda for some years before it materialized in 1980. Now all the elements came into place, and added to the mix of the New-York based band were the tasty bass of Marcus Miller and keyboard talents of old Japan hand, Don Grusin.

Joe Sample returns to the smooth jazz style of his popular albums Rainbow Seeker, Carmel, and Voices in the Rain on 1983's The Hunter. The keyboardist fills up a studio with like-minded session musicians including trumpeter Tom Browne, horn players Chuck Findley, Jerry Hey, and Ernie Watts, guitarists Dean Parks, David Spinozza, and Phil Upchurch, bassists Abraham Laboriel and Marcus Miller, percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, and drummer Steve Gadd, and sets them loose on some rhythmic tracks with a rock/R&B feel.