While in high school, Brown was friends with Gary Bias, Gerald Albright, Patrice Rushen, and Leon "Ndugu" Chancler.
In the mid 1980s, he became a member of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra or "the Ark", of South Park, Los Angeles.
During 1987 Brown joined Earth, Wind & Fire alongside two other members of the Ark, saxophonist Bias and trombonist Reggie Young.
[3] Before Earth, Wind & Fire, Brown was a member of Madagascar, a group composed of session musicians that recorded one album — Spirit of the Street — under the Arista label in 1981.
In 1997, Brown was a member of Whitney Houston's band on her Pacific Rim Tour.