- ANDREW SMITH/PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Huntley Brown in action at the The Word of Life Ministries International 20th Annual Prophetic Conference at the Hilton Kingston hotel on Easter Sunday, April 16.
Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter
EARLY IN his high school life, Huntley Brown wanted to become a lawyer. But as he regularly played the piano, the music got a hold of him and it wouldn't let go.
He reported: "I fell in love with the piano. It became an extension of myself. It became a way to express myself. A way to worship God ... Once the Lord anointed the music, and I got a taste ... then I knew what I was supposed to do."
Huntley Brown describes himself as "A Christian concert pianist" who plays many genres of music as he seeks to minister the message of the Kingdom of God through the keyboard.
Born in 1963 to Myrtle and Alpheus Brown, the famed pianist with his two older brothers grew up in Brown's Town. His parents were and remain dedicated Christians who attend the Brown's Town Baptist Church, in St. Ann, where Huntley's formative Christian outlook was shaped. In his pre-teen years he taught himself to play the piano. While a student at Iona High School in the parish, he met Paul Tucker who coached him in the fundamentals of playing jazz.
STUDIED MUSIC IN THE US
Then after about 18 months, Mr. Tucker relocated, and young Huntley was without a teacher. On leaving school, he did gigs at hotels, and nightclubs. But he soon sensed that those venues were not the places God wanted him to be at that time. Then the opportunity opened up for him in 1984 to study music in the United States. This he did, initially at Judson College in Elgin, Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in piano performance. He quickly followed this up with a Master's degree in performance and pedagogy at the Northern Illinois University.
Since then, his music has taken him to many countries. His skills have earned him spots on the ministry teams of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Benny Hinn Ministries.
Though he lives just outside Chicago with his wife Annette and four daughters, his heart is still in Jamaica and he wants to play a significant role to uplift the calibre of the nation's popular music.
In this regard, he met last Saturday with a range of secular and gospel artistes to explore ways of redeeming aspects of Jamaican popular music. According to Mr. Brown, "Musically speaking, Jamaica is in trouble and we need to raise the standard..." He decried the prevalence of lyrics in the dancehall genre that degrade women, promote violence and which describe the abnormal as good. He continued: "As a nation we have sat back for years and allowed these kinds of things to happen."
REDEEMING THE MUSIC
As a step towards redeeming the music, Huntley will be partnering with jazz pianist, Monty Alexander, to host a symposium this year on Jamaican music. The date is to be confirmed.
Huntley hopes to engage a number of top-flight overseas and locally-based musicians to provide short-term musical training for Jamaica's youngsters. He hopes also to develop a project that will equip every school in Jamaica with a keyboard. He stressed that he is not merely seeking to pass on musical knowledge, but striving to change lives. "I believe music can do things the spoken word cannot do ... I see God using music to change nations, and I want to be a part of what God is going to do in Jamaica."
Last Saturday in the meeting with the musicians, he asked: "Guys, how is your prayer life? ... If we are going to take Jamaica for God's glory, we are going to have to do it on our knees ... to protect the anointing, you have to bathe everything you are doing with prayer and the study of God's word."
The famed Jamaican pianist is strategic in seeking to work with local musicians. He said: "If you read through Scripture, whenever God did a major work, He sent the musicians in ... That is why this symposium is crucial. God inhabits the praises of His people. He needs the praises to function. That is His system. God says, 'Bring the musicians in to praise and worship me. Then I will come down there.'"
SPIRITUAL LIFE MORE SIGNIFICANT
He stressed, "Your spiritual life is more significant than your musical life." The anointing of the Holy Spirit, he said, "is so special, so important, it surpasses the technical skills itself ... Which means for Huntley Brown, even though I have to practise every day, or try to ... 6:30 a.m. I am on my knees, in my own prayer closet. I am spending time in the Word, seeking God's face ... There is only one place you can figure out what God is trying to tell you for the nation and nations. And you have to go there - in His presence because the Scripture says, 'The Lord inhabits the praises of his people'. He is looking for true worshippers to worship Him. I realise that God is waiting to talk to me. So if He is the one with the anointing and this anointing is something I need in my life every single day, I realise that in order for me to be a successful musician, I have to spend time in His presence for Him to anoint me to release me.
There is a difference, he said, between anointed music and inspired music. "Inspired music will give you goose bumps. But anointed music will drive you into the presence of God. When you come around anointed musicians, even the secular musicians will say 'I do not know what it is ... I can't touch it. But there is something different.' They can't explain it."
"The only way to describe the anointing is the power, the source that really descends upon your body. It is the burden-removing, yoke-destroying power of God ... I have had people email me who have been healed listening to my music. I just got a letter the other day, and the lady said: 'I have been hurt by divorce ... and after 20 years of hurt, I came to one of your concerts and I bought one of your CDs, and on the way back I was listening one of your CDs and I got a breakthrough'.
POWER OF THE ANOINTING
"One lady wrote to say: 'I was listening to your music and something actually like a physical force left my body.'
"The only way, I can describe it (the anointing) to you is this power that engrosses your entire body and you really become a different person."
Being a Christian concert pianist, the musician hinted, might not be as lucrative as his secular counterpart, but he stressed that God does take care of him and his family. "Here is what I discovered about God. God always pays His bill. What I realise, is that there is a system in the world for making money. But God has a system too. In the church, many times we never knew. What the Lord has been showing me personally is 'Huntley Brown, I am going to take care of you financially'. And He has. You can hinder your financial blessings and here is how you do that. I believe every Christian has to tithe, or else you are robbing God and robbing yourself. I believe you live off your offerings. My wife Annette, who is a certified public accountant, and a full-time homemaker, and myself have agreed to live off our giving. This is how I have lived and this is what I have seen happen over and over again."
Huntley Brown is optimistic about Jamaica's future. He believes the nation will become wealthy and that its best days are ahead of it for God wants to give the nation a new sound and a new song.
Send feedback to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com.
