Pete Brown (saxophonist)

Pete Brown

Pete Brown (born November 9, 1906 in Baltimore , Maryland as James Ostend Brown ; † September 20, 1963 in New York ) was an American saxophonist (especially alto but also tenor saxophone), trumpeter and band leader of swing .

Life

Brown learned the piano, violin and saxophone. He came to New York in 1927 with Banjo Bernie's orchestra. From 1928 to 1934 he played with Charlie Skeets in Harlem . In 1937 he worked in the band of John Kirby and then for several years with Frankie Newton before he formed his own formation. In the late 1930s, Brown made several records with Willie The Lion Smith , Jimmy Noone (1936), Buster Bailey , Leonard Feather , Joe Marsala , Maxine Sullivan , Frankie Newton and under his own name, such as Mound Bayou 1942 or It All Depends on You (1944) for keynote speech with Joe Thomas , JC Heard and Milt Hinton . In 1946 he was a member of Allen Eager's 52nd Street All Stars ; they recorded in February 1946 Eager's composition " Allan's Alley " and with Coleman Hawkins the tracks " It Isn't So " and " Spotlite ".

In the 1940s he often used the tenor saxophone, for example with Slim Gaillard , but switched back to the alto saxophone in the 1950s. In 1954 he made recordings in a sextet with Joe Wilder . He worked with Coleman Hawkins ( Newport Jazz Festival 1957) and singer Big Joe Turner (for example on the album Boss of the Blues , 1956), as well as with Sammy Price , Champion Jack Dupree and others in the late 1950s . He had his last appearance in 1960 with Dizzy Gillespie .
Pete Brown was Cecil Payne's teacher .

Discographic notes

• Pete Brown 1942–1945 (Classics) with Jimmy Hamilton , Dizzy Gillespie , Sam Prioe , Al Casey , Al Hall , Milt Hinton , JC Heard
• 52nd Street All Stars (1946) - Victor Jazz History - Bebop (RCA anthology) Brown with Allan Eager , Jimmy Jones , Mary Osborne , Al McKibbon , Shelly Manne (" Allan's Alley ")
• Pete Brown Sextet - Harlem Jump and Swing (Affinity, 1954) with Joe Wilder , Wade Legge , Wally Richardson , Gene Ramey , Rudy Collins
• Coleman Hawkins and His 52nd Street All Stars - Coleman Hawkins 1946–1947 (Classics)

literature

• John Jörgensen, Erik Wiedemann : Jazz Lexicon. Mosaic, Munich 1967.
• Carlo Bohländer , Karl Heinz Holler, Christian Pfarr: Reclam's Jazz Guide . 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-15-010355-X .
• Bielefeld Catalog Jazz 2001.

Web links

• Pete Brown at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ named after the club where Coleman Hawkins played at the time