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Rhythm Roots: Bay Area musicians on their mentors helping them find their sound

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Published  June 5, 2025 10:53pm EDT
Rhythm Roots
FOX 13 News
Rhythm Roots: Music mentors

Rhythm Roots: Music mentors

Briona Arradondo reports.

The Brief

    • Anyone who’s studied music knows it takes years of study and years to master, and mentors are just as vital as the instruments themselves for many musicians.
    • A couple of local Tampa Bay area musicians expressed the importance of mentors and finding their sound, sharing what Black music and its impact means to them.

TAMPA, Fla. - A professional jazz musician touring around the world, Nathan Mitchell said he’s learned so much history – Black history – in music.

"The Black musician has done a lot when it comes down to bringing people together. Music in general, that’s what it does. It brings people together," said Mitchell.

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The backstory:

Mitchell said it’s how he got his start in Tampa.

"I actually started, a friend of mine, a local musician by the name of Shawn Brown, introduced me to the local scene as far as clubs and stuff like that," said Mitchell, leading to nominations for a Grammy and NAACP Image awards.

That friend Mitchell mentioned, Shawn Brown, is a local powerhouse himself.

READ: Rhythm Roots: Local music teachers inspiring the younger generation of today

"So, for him to give me credit, I have to turn around and give it back to him," said Brown. "He came down, he walked in one night, and he wanted to get into it. So, of course, I invited him up to the stage, and you know he made his own way with his music and his talent."

Brown’s been performing in the Tampa Bay area since 1980, with music as his life’s blood.

"If we didn't have music, if Black culture didn't have music, a lot of us wouldn't have had the opportunity to live and raise our children. I raised all my children, sent them to college, went to college all because of music," said Brown. "The music is the bacon for us to bring home."

Dig deeper:

And to help others get their moment, Brown takes mentoring seriously, knowing when to listen beyond the notes when musicians feel more like background music.

MORE: Rhythm Roots: Legendary Black musicians left lasting impact from Tampa to St. Pete

"This is why mentoring them to go and do something else, you know? Like, hey, nah, man, don't worry about that. You know? Just go over here and play a gig there," said Brown.

And once they reach those higher registers on the music scene, it’s a symphony to the soul.

What they're saying:

Eric Darius, who Brown said he also mentored, started at Blake High School, becoming an international jazz saxophonist.

And as a Black musician, he said Black music defines.

"Black music is life. It’s everything. It's everything that embodies black culture, everything that we've been through as a people," said Darius.

READ: Rhythm Roots: Tampa Bay's musical connections to Black music history

It carries so much meaning through sound, no matter the setting.

"Black music, to me personally, is the soul. It's the soul of our music," said Brown.

To keep that soul alive, they pay it forward.

"The recording academy has a mentorship program, so I’m always working with different talents and students," said Mitchell.

It's more talent to the final arrangement of Tampa Bay’s rhythm roots.

They said Black music has many forms, and they enjoy seeing how the world has embraced Black music and Black culture.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13's Briona Arradondo. 

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