John Brown
Acoustic Bass
53 age
August 14, 1970 Birthday
Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. Birthplace
www.jbjazz.com Website
Social
Shows
About
John Brown is bassist, band leader, educator and actor. After playing classical music as a youth, he began gaining traction as a jazz artist in the 1990s. In addition to leading his own groups, Brown has perfomed with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Lou Donaldson, Cedar Walton, and Diahann Carroll. Since 2003 John Brown has served as the Director of the Jazz Program at Duke Univeristy. He has also been a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University and Guilford College (NC). John Brown performs around the country as a jazz leader and sideman and can also be found playing classical music as a sub with several symphonies in North Carolina.
Trivia
John Brown was nominated for a Grammy in 1996 for performance and cowriting on Nnenna Freelon's release "Shaking Free." John Brown is also an actor and has performed in off Broadway productions as well as in movies such as "Radioland Murders", "Our Kind of People", and "Bolden." John Brown plays a bass built in 1929 and named it “Bea” after his late grandmother; the bass was previously owned by Charles Dungey.
Early Life
John Brown grew up in Durham, North Carolina and was drawn to music from an early age. At 9 years old, after seeing the Duke Ellington Orchestra perform on TV, he was inspired to begin studying the double bass. He started playing with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra at age 13 and was their principal bassist before graduating high school. He went on to study law and music at UNC-Greensboro and began playing with the North Carolina Symphony while still an undergraduate. At the same time, he found many opportunities to play jazz forming a jazz quartet called "In the Black" and sharing the stage with jazz greats such as Elvin Jones and Nnenna Freelon. By the time he graduated from law school, it was clear that his true calling was music.
John Brown Solos
2007
Acoustic Bass solo - Israel - 2007
4/4 swing in D minor at 207 BPM
Acoustic Bass solo - I'm An Old Cowhand - 2007
4/4 swing in E♭ major at 157 BPM
Acoustic Bass solo - Solitude - 2007
4/4 ballad in D♭ major at 60 BPM
Acoustic Bass solo - Swingin' Till the Girls Come Home - 2007
4/4 swing in B♭ major at 148 BPM
Acoustic Bass solo - Tea For Two - 2007
4/4 swing in A♭ major at 175 BPM
Acoustic Bass solo - Meditation - 2007
4/4 bossa nova in C major at 130 BPM