Brother Cleve

Robert Toomey (February 2, 1955 – September 9, 2022), publicly known as Brother Cleve, was an American musician, DJ, record producer, mixologist, and writer. Known as the godfather of the local bar and cocktail scenes in Boston, Massachusetts, Cleve grew up in nearby Medford.

His "Brother Cleve" moniker originated as a personality he created for Sports Palace, a weekend program on college radio station WMBR in Cambridge; he also utilized the name in live appearances and recordings for the Church of the SubGenius, a parody religion. Around this time he also served as touring keyboardist for R&B shouter Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, and appears on their 1994 album Ritual of the Savages.

In the 1990s, Cleve was hired as touring keyboardist for the neo-lounge band Combustible Edison, before becoming a full band member. He appears on their 1998 album The Impossible World, issued on Sub Pop. Combustible Edison's style was centered around a 1950s Exotica aesthetic, and they had a namesake cocktail, made from brandy, Campari, and lemon juice, which they mixed onstage during sets.

In 2004, he contributed "Bwana Bwana (Br. Cleve's Bongo Congo Mix)" to the compilation album Adulterated - The Remix Project (Taboo Records). The following year he contributed "School 4 Robots" to the compilation album, Dimension Mix: A Tribute To Dimension 5 Records - The Music Of Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson. In 2006 he remixed Esquivel's recording of "Pecado Mortal" for the compilation album Esquivel! Remixed (SonyBMG Music). In 2010 he produced the album The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel, by Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica.

Cleve was an authority on Bollywood music and films. In a 2007 essay for The Brooklyn Rail, he explored the history of horror films in India.

In 2018 Cleve co-produced (with Irwin Chusid) Barrence Whitfield & the Soul Savage Arkestra: Songs from the Sun Ra Cosmos, featuring new takes on the repertoire of the noted Afrofuturist musician-composer-bandleader Sun Ra. The album was issued in 2019 on the Modern Harmonic label. Cleve played keyboards on and arranged several tracks, and helped mix the album. In 2017 he mixed (with Sean Slade) unreleased 24-track 1986 Sun Ra session tapes for the album Inside the Light World, issued on Strut in 2024.

Cocktail culture While touring with the Del Fuegos, "One day in the mid-1980s, at a diner in Cleveland, [Toomey] noticed scores of cocktails listed on the menu," wrote James R. Hagerty in a September 2022 Wall Street Journal obituary. "He began searching thrift shops for cocktail-recipe books and learned to mix and tweak classic drinks." "Drinking cocktails was the most punk-rock thing you could do in the '80s, because nobody did it," Toomey explained. "Doing all these old-school cocktails was an act of defiance against society." In 1998, he helped open Cambridge's B-Side Lounge. Toomey specialized in pairing cocktails with music. At a Boston bar, he blended daiquiris with Cuban jazz and 1970s cocktails with disco.

In 2007, Toomey was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to give up drinking. While recovering, he focused on his work as a club and party DJ and as a musician. Once he had made a full recovery, he was able to refocus his attention on cocktail culture.

In 2022, Cleve co-established Lullaby, a cocktail bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Death Cleve died of a heart attack on September 9, 2022, while visiting Los Angeles for a tiki-themed bartending event.