Brian Brown (musician)

Brian Ernest Austin Brown (born December 29, 1933 in Melbourne - † January 28, 2013 ) was an Australian jazz musician ( tenor and soprano saxophone , flutes , panpipes , synthesizer , percussion ), composer and music teacher .

Live and act

Brian Brown, who grew up as a half-orphan in the Carlton district of Melbourne , left school at the age of 15 and began his career as a professional musician in Melbourne as a tenor saxophonist in a dance band. For the next 25 years Brown worked with his own formations in clubs such as Jazz Center 44 (1950s), The Fat Black Pussy Cat (1960s) and in the 1970s at the Prospect Hill Hotel and Commune . In 1964 he earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from Melbourne University ; after three years as a full-time architect, a grant from the Australia Council enabled him to work as a full-time musician. In 1977 he played with Dizzy Gillespie ; In 1978, his Brian Brown Quartet was the first Australian band to appear at Scandinavian jazz festivals, where he appeared on stage alongside jazz stars such as Ornette Coleman , Max Roach and Freddie Hubbard .

From 1978 Brown taught music at the Victorian College of the Arts , 1980 in the field of jazz studies, when he created the VCA improvisation courses and directed until 1998. In 1993 he received the Medal of the Order of Australia for his services as a musician, composer and teacher. He was married to the music teacher Ros McMillan, with whom he had three daughters. Brown, who died in early 2013 of complications from a heart attack , was involved in 34 jazz recording sessions between 1956 and 2006.

Discographic notes

• Upward (44 Records, 1977)
• Bells Make Me Sing (1979)
• Planets (1985)
• Spirit of the Rainbow (1992)

Web links

• Brian Brown at Allmusic (English)
• Brian Brown at Discogs (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Obituary at The Age
2. ↑ Tom Lord Jazz Diskography