Brown played trombone with the bands of
Papa Jack Laine and
Frank Christian; by 1910 usually worked leading bands under his own name. The band played in a style then locally known as "hot ragtime" or "ratty music". In early 1915, his band was heard by
Vaudeville dancer
Joe Frisco who then arranged a job for Brown's band in
Chicago, Illinois. On May 15, 1915, 'Tom Brown's Band from Dixieland' opened up at Lamb's Cafe at Clark & Randolph Streets in Chicago, with
Ray Lopez, cornet and manager; Tom Brown, trombone and leader;
Gussie Mueller clarinet,
Arnold Loyacano piano and string bass; and Billy Lambert on drums. In Chicago Gussie Mueller was hired by bandleader
Bert Kelly, and his place was taken by young New Orleans clarinetist
Larry Shields. This band seems to be the first to be popularly referred to as playing "Jazz", or, as it was sometimes spelled early on, "
Jass." ==Personal life==