Golden tones without boundaries
By Roscoe Crenshaw
For The St. Louis American
Down Beat magazine has a category in its annual poll called TDWR (Talent Deserving Wider Recognition). This tag is an excellent one to describe delectable vocalist Gypsy Brown. From her sparkling brown eyes and sun-drenched dreads to her perfect mix of pitch and pzazz, that star quality was apparent at our first encounter. The local favorite is featured with The Usual Suspects and Dr. Zhivegas, and after hearing her twice recently, she seems more than ready to ascend to national prominence.
On those 2 occasions (appearing with The Usual Suspects), the suave soprano sailed easily through a lush repertoire that included “You Will Rise,” StevieWonder’s “All I Do,” an alluring Rachelle Ferrell arrangement of “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” Sade’s “Hold On” and “Keep Looking” and a refreshingly original take on “Afro Blue” – buoyed by some scintillating keystrokes by husband Charlie Brown and tasteful underpinning by bassist Rich Mendoza and drummer Lincoln Calvin.
Her story is a familiar one among chanteuses: “I’ve been singing since I was about 3 or 4, in church. I was raised a COGIC” – a member of the Church of God In Christ. Having been brought up by a strict, though loving father, she conceded that she led quite a sheltered life. Brown added that her parents were very supportive of her singing – as long as it was for the Lord.
Gypsy grew up in University City and attended Daniel Boone Elementary, Brittany Woods Junior High and Christian Academy in Overland. As she recounted her childhood journey, she exuded the same shimmer that she displays onstage – a honey glow with a tinge of mystery.
Though she had “wanted to pursue it ever since I was young,” Gypsy didn’t truly become enlightened musically until her college days at Jackson State in Jackson, Mississippi. So sheltered that she didn’t even know about HBC’s (Historically Black Colleges), she discovered Jackson State through a girlfriend at church.
“It was the first time I saw black girls singing opera and Latin music and it just blew me away. The choir was just phenomenal.” So she met up with a few girls and started a band in college and also entered talent shows. She further honed her stage presence acting in an undergrad production of the musical “Dream Girls.”
She earned a B.S. in Speech Communications Studies, emphasizing that she never wanted to disappoint her dad and, after college, landed the lead role in a play called “Sisters” at the Mid-Town Arts Center. Then she appeared in the musical stage play “Reefer Madness” with the New Line Theater.
Gypsy’s first band experience was in “Son of Starchild Family.” She recalled, “I met my husband because the guys in the band had heard about me and they wanted someone to host poetry night and sing between sets.” Those guys were Charlie Brown and Rich Mendoza and they came to see her perform. They needed a lead singer, so she auditioned and got the job. She joined Charlie, on keyboards, and Rich, on bass, in Honeyvox. Thereafter, she and Charlie were secretly dating; the band folded when her pregnancy and marriage to Charlie followed.
As she unraveled her absorbing story, a genuine warmth and joie-de-vivre was apparent. However, her joy in performing – both she and her husband are full-time entertainers now – is clearly no greater than in her role as full-time mother. I saw her daughters, Da Vyne, age 10, and Da Light, age 7, dance in Sylvester “Sunshine” Lee’s renowned East St. Louis Performance Ensemble. Her 2 year-old son, Ajani (Swahili for “he who wins the struggle”), seemed fascinated by Sunshine’s djembe.
The versatile artist has done New Year’s Eve gigs at the Pageant with Dr. Zhivegas and opened for Michelle Ndegecello in 2002. Conceding that because of her sheltered upbringing, “I didn’t know anything about St. Louis music,” the gifted songbird has certainly come a long way. She also mentioned, “I was in a rock musical – ‘Mary’s Dream,’” where she played the Angel to the lead, Mary, and emphasized that the character was played by Ella G’Selle, an upcoming artist whose talents subsequently opened doors for her in L.A.
Brown’s resume ranges from funk with “Son of Starchild” to Reggae with “Kpongolo” and “Nonstop Reggae,” and she confessed, “I love Reggae; that’s my favorite. I love house music. House music is like Gospel music that you can dance to, and I love to dance.”
