The name was borne of the ironic mind and kind heart of a 7 year old boy trying to make his friend feel better about something he shouldn't have felt bad about.  So when next we meet and I say to you, "my friends call me Brownman"… what I'm really saying is - I like being called Brownman… it makes me feel 7 again… with all the warmth and fuzziness that goes along with that age.

        My closest friends permutate it… 
        I'm giving a dollar out now every time I hear a new one...

Brown (credit goes to my old friend Costas "Dino" Conistis, who called me that first in 1989.)
Brownie (credit goes to L - Eliana Cuevas, my ex... and though I know she meant it as a
....................cute couple thing, I gotta admit to liking the fact that it was first Clifford Brown's nickname.)
Browndude (credit goes to MRP record company executive Radames Nieves who cracks me
....................up when he calls me screamin' it on my answering machine.)
B.M. (credit goes to Ubu, Monk Master extraodinare and old Gateway buddy.)
Hombre Marrón (credit goes again to Ubu for concept and L for the Spanish translation.)
Marróncito (credit goes to Luisito Orbegoso and latin bands in T.O. for this even more "authentic"
....................latin version... translated it means "little brown"... cute huh?)
Brongman (credit goes to my cousin Riaz and his truely Trinidadian accent... dig those phonetics.)
Primo Marrón (credit again goes to my cousin Riaz... I suspect he's after another dollar...)
Browner (credit goes to piano player John Roney, who uses it in email.)
Brown Bro (credit goes to Steve Dillard of the HornTrader.com who's got the best horns in L.A. and 
....................may be sellin' me a Bach 25L.)
Browninator (credit again goes to Steve Dillard of the HornTrader.com who will forego the dollar as
....................long as I tell the world "ilovethehorntraderilovethehorntraderilovethehorntrader")
Browntasauras (credit again goes to Steve Dillard, aka "Dillplodicus" of the HornTrader.com who's
....................out to acheive some kinda record here, clever boy that he is.)
Uncle Brown (credit goes to baby Dayna Eldridge, born June 10th, 1999 @ 00:56, weighing
....................7lbs, 7.5oz; daughter to Brian Eldridge my old friend, who assures me it's the first words
....................she'll speak.  The dollar is currently being held in trust until Dayna's 18th birthday.)
The Brown One (credit goes to piano master Dave Restivo, who took to calling me that while on
....................the National Tour '99 with RITA DI GHENT & The SPRAWL PROJECT... and yes, he does it in
....................Yoda's voice too.)
Cafemon (credit goes to young New York trumpet player Marcos Rivera (whom I met while touring with
....................Dominicanada and who watches WAY too much Pokemon... but wiil deny it if ever asked.)
Brown Bomber (credit goes to Toronto drummer Jay Alter who's heros include boxing champ
....................Joe Louis - aka the Brown Bomber... since he started calling me "Bomber" I thought it only
....................fair to punch him in the nose every so often.)
Obi-Brown Kenobi (credit goes to one of Toronto's finest latin alto saxophonists and one of the
....................vocalists for salsa unit MARRON MATIZADO - Alex Naar -  who's love for Star Wars is only
....................rivaled by his love for Salsa (and porn).
Sir Browncelot (credit goes to drummer and good friend Rich Briscoe who secretly loved Richard
....................Gere in "A Knight's Tale" NOT for the acting, but for his curly locks.  I worry.)
Browncito (credit goes to Cuban drummer extraordinaire Chendy Leon who was the first to use it,
....................but it must be noted - the beautiful Argentinian flamenco dancer Noelia Grey uses it the most...
....................and dayum she FINE yo...).
Browninationator (credit goes to Jeni Root, one of my youngest students, who - at the tender
....................age of 16 - insists on calling me this dispite it's SIX syllable tongue-spraining less-than-practical
....................vocalization... and yeah - she always says all six syllables, so I figured she deserved her
....................mention here.  Please send all medical donations to jeni@OhMyBustedTongue.com)
Brownalicious (credit goes to Natalie Bauer, from the Old Mill.  She hits on me constantly and
....................insists on dropping her pens in front of me while wearing low-cut tops.  She can thus call me
............/.......whatever the hell she wants.  Um - is it getting hot in here?  You feel that right?)
Brungs (credit goes to electric bass genius Ian De Souza, who insists that HIS version is very
................,...different from the Trinidadian pronunciation of "Brong", citing his African roots as
................,...evidence of the uniqueness of this 1 letter change.  Ok, fine.  You get a dolla Ian.)
Brownzie (credit goes to Erynn Billue, the super young, super capable Ohio state booking agent who
....................was clearly obsessed with re-runs of Happy Days.)
Brownmanito (credit goes to Mariel Borelli, host of CBC's "Big CitySmall World" who was so hell
....................bent on getting her dollar, she announced the invention of this permutation live during an
....................inteview & has used it ever since.  I wrote her a cheque for her dolla immediately.
....................Hear that interview)