Benjamin Franklin Brown (born August 25, 1952, Opa-Locka, Florida) is an American jazz double-bassist. Brown grew up in a musical family and initially learned piano before switching to guitar. He played briefly as a guitarist early in his professional career before studying bass formally at Miami Dade Junior College and the University of Miami, graduating in 1974. While a student, he played in the

Miami Philharmonic Orchestra Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

and was the bassist in the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

for a Miami jazz club, where he played behind touring musicians such as Mose Allison,

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups a ...

, and

Sonny Stitt Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. (February 2, 1924 – July 22, 1982), known professionally as Sonny Stitt, was an American jazz saxophonist of the bebop/hard bop idiom. Known for his warm tone, he was one of the best-documented saxophonists of his ...

.Gary W. Kennedy, "Ben Brown". '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz''. 2nd edition, ed.

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

, 2004. After he finished his degree he worked with Al Gafa,

Lou Rawls Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American record producer, singer, composer and actor. Rawls released more than 60 albums, sold more than 40 million records, and had numerous charting singles, most notably his s ...

, Buddy Rich,

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

, and Al Haig. He also began a longtime association with Rodney Jones, with whom he would work into the 1990s. In the early 1980s he played bass for Broadway musicals and played behind Tony Bennett and

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American dancer, actress, singer, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years, appearing in film, television, and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of th ...

. In 1985 he began playing with Jimmy Heath; the pair collaborated into the early 1990s. He toured with Gregory Hines in 1987 and worked with Walter Bishop, Jr. near the end of the decade, including on a tour of Japan. He played with the Broadway shows '' Jelly's Last Jam'' and '' Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk'' in the early 1990s, and played in that decade with

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atl ...

, Al Grey, Harry Edison, Mike Longo, and Carol Sloane. Brown has also worked as an educator, teaching at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

(1995-1997).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ben 1952 births Living people American jazz double-bassists Male double-bassists Musicians from Florida 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians