Brian Ernest Austin Brown OAM (29 December 193328 January 2013) was an Australian

jazz musician This is a list of jazz musicians by instrument based on existing articles on Wikipedia. Do not enter names that lack articles. Do not enter names that lack sources. Accordion * Kamil Běhounek (1916–1983) * Luciano Biondini (born 1971) * A ...

and educator. He played the

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s, synthesisers (including the WX5 wind synthesiser),

panpipes A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...

and a leather bowhorn (designed by Garry Greenwood). In 1993 Brown was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for service to the performing arts as a jazz performer, educator and composer.

Biography

Brian Brown was born in Melbourne. He performed as a soloist and led his own ensembles since the mid-1950s throughout Australia and in Scandinavia, United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Brunei and Germany. He played only original music. A self-taught player who emerged in the 1950s as a leading figure in Australia and remained prominent through to the 1980s. According to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Ron Wynn, "Brown was one of first Australian musicians to develop a reputation for highly personal, individualistic style that was intense, lyrical and not simple imitation of an American great." In early 1956 Brown returned to Melbourne from Europe and formed a new

Hard Bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

band with like-minded players – drummer Stewie Speer, trumpeter Keith Hounslow, schoolboy pianist Dave Martin and bassist Barry Buckley. The Brian Brown Quintet were regulars at Horst Liepolt's influential Jazz Centre 44 in St Kilda, which operated from 1955 to 1960. The band were enthusiastic ambassadors for bop, introducing Melburnians to a musical style which was still largely unheard in Australia. Brown made eight albums over an 18-year period heading various groups. He toured Europe with his Australian Jazz Ensemble in 1978, and also led groups doing experimental and original classical pieces from 1980 to 1986. He founded the Improvisation Studies course at the

Victorian College of the Arts The Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) is the arts school at the University of Melbourne in Australia. It is part of the university's Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne city centre on the Southbank campus of the ...

, where he taught from 1978 until his retirement in 1998. He appeared at the

World Saxophone Congress The World Saxophone Congress is a festival gathering approximately 1000 saxophone, saxophonists and other musicians from all over the world. It is held every three years at a different congress centre in a different country and focuses primaril ...

in Tokyo in 1988, with

Tony Gould Tony Gould is an Australian jazz musician, pianist, composer and educator. Gould's many recordings and performances reveal his harmonic view of music and his love of music from both African-American and European jazz traditions, as well as the c ...

. In June 1993 Brown was awarded the

for service to the performing arts as a jazz performer, educator and composer.

Discography

* 1972 ''Brian Brown Quintet 1958'' * 1976 ''Moomba Jazz '76 Vol. 2'' (live LP

Galapagos Duck Galapagos Duck is an Australian jazz band. Formed in 1969, they have an extensive history of international touring, including: * Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland * Jazz Yatra Festival, Bombay, India * American Musexpo * Singapore International ...

/Brian Brown Quintet) * 1977 ''Upward'' * 1978 ''Brian Brown Quartet in Concert'' * 1979 ''Bells Make me Sing'' * 1972 ''Carlton Streets'' * 1984 ''Wildflowers'' * 1985 ''The Planets'' * 1987 ''Winged Messenger'' * 1990 ''Spirit of the Rainbow'' - Brian Brown and Tony Gould (Move records) * 1997 ''Flight'' * 1998 ''Last day on Earth'' * 2001 ''Jupiter Moon'' * 2003 ''Images'' * 2004 ''Time will tell'' * 2004 ''Circles'' * 2004 ''Midnight'' * 2005 ''Last Dance'' * 2005 ''Inner Spirit'' * 2005 ''Inner Light'' * 2006 ''Mystic Sky'' * 2006 ''Long Ago'' * 2006 ''Another Time'' * 2006 ''Texture of Light'' * 2007 ''Seasons'' * 2007 ''Magic'' * 2007 ''Cosmic Light'' * 2007 ''Contact'' * 2007 ''Venus Moon'' * 2007 ''Bells in the Night''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Brian 1933 births 2013 deaths Australian jazz saxophonists Male saxophonists 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century saxophonists 20th-century Australian male musicians Male jazz musicians