Paul H. Brown

Paul H. Brown (March 6, 1934 – May 6, 2016),[1] also known as PB, was an American Jazz bassist. Brown was born in Balitmore, MD and is best-known as the founder of the Monday Night Jazz Series in Hartford, CT. The Monday Night Jazz Series was recognized by the Library of Congress as the oldest and longest running free jazz festival in the United States. He was also the Founder of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz, as well as co-founder of Hartford's Artists Collective, Inc.

After leaving Johns Hopkins Medical School, he toured with a number of well-known Jazz musicians, including Lloyd Price and Count Basie. Under Brown's leadership the Hartford-based festival attached numerous well-known Jazz artists to perform, including Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley. Brown also taught at University of Hartford as well as the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.

Brown passed away suddenly at the age of 82 on May 6, 2016 while visiting his daughter Cherie C. Brown-Gonsalves. He also leaves son, Eric Preston Hall. He was predeceased by his son David Chambers Brown.

Early life

Brown was born in Baltimore, Maryland on March 6, 1934. He grew up in Severn, Maryland and studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music before attending Morgan State University and Johns Hopkins University as a pre-med student. He left school due to lack of finances as well as desire to pursue a career in music.[2]

Music Career

Brown began his professional music career early playing trumpet and touring with Lloyd Price as well as subbing for brief periods with the bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. He backed vocalist Little Jimmy Scott and LaVern Baker as well as the duo Mickey & Sylvia and rhythm and blues starts Clyde Mcphatter, The Drifters,and The Platters as well as touring with Fats Domino.[1]

Upon switching from trumpet to the bass he began touring with the Baltimore-based group Flink Johnson Combo when he met and toured with saxophone great Jackie Mclean. Brown moved to Hartford shortly after, which was the beginning of his 50 years of bringing Jazz and culture to the area.[3] In 1967, PB’s desire to help quell the civil unrest of the mid 60’s, began the longest running outdoor free Jazz concert in the United States.[4]

Numerous Jazz musicians performed for small fees or for free and headlined the festival.[5] They included Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Cannonball Adderley, Horace Silver, Ron Carter, Clark Terry, Jackie Mclean, Charles Mingus, Muddy Waters, Thad Jones, Tito Puente, Max Roach, and many others. Another feature of the jazz concerts was Brown’s willingness to give young local talent an opportunity to play as openers for the headliners.[4] In this way many neophyte and local musicians were introduced to and connected with their more experienced and better-known counterparts.[6] In 1970, saxophonist and multiple recording artist Jackie Mclean, his wife Dollie Mclean, with Paul Brown, dancer Cheryl Smith, and visual artist Ionis Martin founded and established the Artists Collective, Inc. in Hartford, Connecticut. The Artist Collective has been responsible for the tutelage of countless students including Grammy winning jazz/latin bassist Luques Curtis, saxophonist Jimmy Greene, and bassist Dezron Douglas, to name just a few.[7] Brown taught at the University of Hartford as well as the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts for over 20 years during which time he spearheaded a student exchange program between Japan and Hartford. This was achieved with the help of his friend and fellow bassist, Masakazu Fujii.[8]

Recordings

Brown has played with and backed jazz luminaries such as Dexter Gordon, Al Haig, Barry Harris, Larry Rivers, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, and Betty Carter as well as a mixed bag of musical celebrities ranging from Frank Sinatra, to Anita Bryant, to Peter Nero. He has worked with Bill Cosby during his Ebony Fashion Fair Tours as well as backing Tyler Perry during his urban theater circuit stage production era. Brown has recorded with multiple Jazz greats including Mickey Tucker, Bill Hardman, Walter Bishop Jr, Junior Cook, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, Bobby Hebb, and Hilton Ruiz, as well as releasing his own CD’s featuring friends saxophonists George Coleman, Houston Person, and John Stubblefield.[9]

Recognition

He has won many awards including the J.C. Penny’s Golden Rule Award in 2001, The New England Jazz Alliance Unsung Heroes Award in 2003, The Heartbeat Ensemble Street Performance Award and Latter Rain Christian Fellowship Appreciation Award in 2006, The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz Community Award in 2007 and posthumously in August 2016, The Spirit of Juneteenth Award in 2013. On November 13, 2009, Jodi Reli, Governor of the State of CT named November 13th as Paul Brown Day. On August 11, 2016, The Hartford Jazz Society, including Diana Wimbish and Maurice Robertson and the city of Hartford represented by Mayor Luke Bronin posthumously renamed the Monday Night Jazz series in honor of founder Paul Brown to the Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz in the City of Hartford.[10] He was also awarded the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz "Above and Beyond" Award 2016.

Discography

[11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Hartford Hero Paul Brown Put Jazz In City Spotlight". Hartford Courant. May 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Paul H. "PB" Brown". Legacy.com.
  3. ↑ "Paul Brown's free jazz night has become Hartford mainstay". Hartford Courant. July 26, 1992.
  4. 1 2 "Festival History". Hartford Jazz Festival.
  5. ↑ "History of Monday Night Jazz". Hartford Monday Night Jazz.
  6. ↑ Stoller, Kristin (May 9, 2016). "Hartford's Paul Brown, Jazz Legend, Dies". Courant.
  7. ↑ Haar, Dan (July 24, 2005). "Hartford Fiddles As Jazz Fizzles". Hartford Courant.
  8. ↑ "Paul H. "PB" Brown". Legacy.
  9. ↑ Obuchowski, Chuck (November 15, 2009). "Paul Brown Quartet Finds Its Groove". Hartford Courant.
  10. ↑ Winer, Julia (June 17, 2013). "Teacher And Jazz Performer To Receive Spirit Of Juneteenth Award". Hartford Courant.
  11. ↑ "Paul Brown's Music". Hartford Courant. December 11, 2007.

12. ^ Troup, Stuart (Apr 26, 1985). "A Night in the Spotlight for Paul Brown" New York Newsday.

13. ^ Seremet, Pat (Feb 4, 2000). "Brown Makes a Point: Hartford's Jazz Goes to D.C." Hartford Courant.

14. ^ McNally, Owen (July 26, 1992). "Paul Brown, Hartford's jazzman." Hartford Courant.

15. ^ http://www.newsy-today.com/paul-brown-hartford-jazz-musician-dies-hartford-courant/

16.^http://jazznewsyoucanuse.com/2016/05/bassist-paul-brown-r-i-p/

17.^http://truthrevolutionrecords.com/news/hartford-celebrates-paul-brown

18. ^https://www.talkbass.com/threads/rip-paul-brown-bassist-community-leader-inspiration.1222554/

19. ^http://johnroot.net/swingtime_bios.html

20. ^ http://www.hartfordjazzsociety.com/courant-jazz.html

21.^ http://wnpr.org/post/hartford-pays-homage-paul-brown-longtime-pillar-city-s-jazz-community

22.^ McNally, Owen (June 26, 1977). "Jazz Fest in the Park Books Star Players."

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