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| Hux Brown | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hux Brown |
| Birth date | 1944 |
| Birth place | Port Antonio, Jamaica |
| Death date | 2020-04-18 |
| Death place | New York City, United States |
| Occupation | Guitarist, session musician |
| Years active | 1960s–2010s |
| Associated acts | The Maytals, Studio One, Trojan Records, Toots and the Maytals, Lynn Taitt |
Hux Brown Hux Brown was a Jamaican guitarist and session musician renowned for his work in ska, rocksteady, and reggae. He contributed defining guitar parts to recordings by leading Jamaican artists and labels, played on international hits, and was a key figure in the transition from ska to rocksteady and reggae during the 1960s and 1970s. Brown's rhythmic sensibility and single-note fills influenced peers across Jamaica, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, Brown grew up amid the cultural milieu that produced influential figures such as Toots and the Maytals, Chris Blackwell, and Coxsone Dodd. During his youth he encountered migrant sounds from Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and United States Virgin Islands, as well as radio broadcasts of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bo Diddley. Early exposure to sound-system culture—promoted by operators like Tom the Great Sebastian and entrepreneurs like Duke Reid—shaped Brown's musical priorities, emphasizing rhythm, tone, and crowd response. Influences on his playing included Jamaican guitarists such as Lynn Taitt and Herman Chin Loy, and international figures like Chuck Berry and Eddie Cochran, whose single-note lines informed Brown's approach to lead and rhythm interplay.
Brown became associated with Toots and the Maytals as a backing guitarist during the mid-1960s, joining a circle that included producers and studios such as Coxsone Dodd's Studio One and Derrick Harriott's productions. He participated in sessions for labels like Trojan Records, Island Records, and Studio One Records, often collaborating with house bands and session musicians who supported artists including Desmond Dekker, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley and the Wailers. In the role of session guitarist he worked alongside contemporaries such as Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Sly Dunbar, and Rita Marley on a variety of singles and albums that defined the sound of 1960s and 1970s Jamaica. Brown's reliability and inventiveness made him a first-call studio player for producers like Lee "Scratch" Perry and Prince Buster.
Brown's guitar appears on numerous landmark tracks, including contributions to songs by Toots Hibbert with The Maytals and recordings by Desmond Dekker that crossed over to the United Kingdom and United States charts. He performed on sessions that created versions for labels such as Trojan Records and on albums released through Island Records, which promoted Jamaican music globally. Brown also recorded with artists outside Jamaica, participating in productions involving names like Eric Clapton when Jamaican rhythms were fused with British rock sensibilities, and he appeared on sessions tied to festivals and concerts organized in cities such as Kingston, London, and New York City. His playing is credited on tracks that influenced compilations and reissues by archival projects featuring artists like Johnny Nash, Millie Small, and Jackie Mittoo.
Brown's approach combined percussive strumming with melodic single-note lines, reflecting the rhythmic priorities of ska and rocksteady and the bass-and-drum focus seen in reggae. He favored clean, trebly tones that cut through a mix, using compact chord voicings and syncopated upstroke patterns similar to those developed by Lynn Taitt and contemporaries in Jamaican rhythm sections. His use of call-and-response fills meshed with bassists such as Aston Barrett and drummers such as Carlton Barrett, complementing vocalists like Toots Hibbert and Desmond Dekker. Technically, Brown employed techniques common to session work: precise timing, economy of motion, and an ability to switch between rhythm and lead within a single take—skills prized by producers at studios such as Studio One and Channel One Recording Studio.
While not always a marquee name, Brown earned respect among musicians, producers, and collectors of Jamaican music; his work featured on compilations and retrospective releases that trace the development of ska, rocksteady, and reggae. Music historians and journalists who document scenes alongside figures like Chris Blackwell and Lee "Scratch" Perry cite Brown's contributions when charting the sonic shifts of the 1960s and 1970s. Contemporary reggae and ska guitarists reference the rhythmic clarity and tasteful fills of Brown's recordings when studying session-era technique alongside players such as Guitar Gabriel and Lloyd Charmers. Archival projects, festival lineups, and liner-note essays celebrating Jamaican music history often include Brown among the essential session players who made the island's recordings distinctive to international audiences.
Brown relocated later in life to New York City, where he continued to perform, collaborate, and participate in events honoring Jamaican musical heritage. He maintained connections with fellow exponents of Jamaican music living abroad and took part in reunion shows, studio projects, and interviews that preserved first-hand accounts of the studio era alongside figures like Toots Hibbert and Desmond Dekker. Brown died in 2020 in New York City, leaving behind a recorded legacy across singles and albums issued by labels including Trojan Records, Island Records, and Studio One Records that continue to be explored by collectors, scholars, and musicians.
Category:Jamaican guitarists Category:Reggae musicians Category:1944 births Category:2020 deaths