John Brown

Biography

John Brown is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and currently resides in Durham, NC. He is a graduate of the School of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the School of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently serves as Vice Provost for the Arts, Director of the Jazz Program and Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University, and has served on the faculties of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University and Guilford College.

When he was very young, John took piano lessons from Frances Hunter (a close family friend), and began studying the bass when he was just 9 years old with his beloved teacher, the late Susan Ellington. He has been performing ever since. John began performing with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra at age 13, and he was playing Principal Bass with that orchestra and performing with the Florence Symphony (SC) while still in high school. As a student in Fayetteville, John had several mentors including Paul Scott, Walter McPherson, Hennigan “Buddy” Kearns, Betsy Heath, Felix Sawyer, Jay Bolder, Janice James, Craig Brown, John Cubbage, Bill Pierce, and the late Malachi Sharpe, Tom Gavin, Richard H. L. Jones, Harlan Duenow, Joy Cogswell, Alan Porter and Ernest Plummer, who helped guide his interests and keep him focused on studying music.

As a student at UNC-Greensboro, John studied bass with Jack Budrow, performed with the Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Roanoke (VA) Symphony Orchestras, and while still an undergraduate, he began performing regularly with the North Carolina Symphony. In college, John also developed a great love for jazz, and began pursuing performance opportunities in both jazz and classical music. He teamed with fellow student Thomas Taylor to form the jazz quartet, “In the Black,” and the group enjoyed a successful career performing in the region as a quartet and along with the late Melva Houston.

Performance Career

John has performed in the United States and abroad with artists like Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Elvin Jones, Nnenna Freelon, Cyrus Chestnut, Diahann Carroll, Rosemary Clooney, Nell Carter, Lou Donaldson, Slide Hampton, Nicholas Payton, Frank Foster, Larry Coryell, Cedar Walton, Fred Wesley, Bernard Purdie and Mark Whitfield to name a few. His extensive experience includes performances at notable venues like Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Blue Note, Blues Alley, and the Hollywood Bowl and at major jazz festivals like the Playboy Jazz Festival, the JVC Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Free Jazz Festival (Brazil) and Jazz à Vienne (France). He has performed for President Barack Obama, and at major national and international venues and festivals in Asia, Europe and across North and South America.

John still performs as a substitute with the North Carolina Symphony, the Charlotte Symphony and the Greensboro Symphony since 1992.

Theater & Film

Equally gifted in other areas of performance, John has performed for major theater productions including the Japan tour of Blues in the Night with Roz Ryan, Freda Payne and musical director Rahn Coleman, shows at the National Black Theater Festival, the Broadway Series South and off-Broadway performances in New York. John made his acting debut in 1991 when he co-starred in the role of Jimmy Powers (re-written for John as a bassist) in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill at the Broach Theatre and performed in the same show (as the onstage performing bassist) with Jackee Harry, also at the National Black Theater Festival.

John has also appeared in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Radioland Murders, Hellraiser III, and Our Kind of People, and he earned his credentials for membership in the prestigious Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) for his role in the feature film, Bolden. Among John’s television recording credits is the soundtrack for Moon Over Miami on ABC (performed and recorded with Delfeayo Marsalis) and music for One Tree Hill.

Recordings & Awards

John has a GRAMMY® nomination for his performance and co-writing on Nnenna Freelon’s 1996 Concord release, Shaking Free, and an EMMY® nomination for producing the first Duke Student Arts Showcase. He has also produced recordings for Nnenna Freelon, Linda Lavin and Clare Bathe.

John’s first commercially released recording, Terms of Art – A Tribute to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers garnered national attention and reached #8 on the nation’s JazzWeek Chart. During 2007, John joined the ranks of those to have TWO releases appear in the Top 40 of the JazzWeek Chart when Terms of Art appeared at #17 and Merry Christmas, Baby appeared at #39.

The film One Night in Kernersville (documenting the first recording session of John’s Big Band) won “Best Short Film” at the Full Frame Film Festival, “Best Cinematography” at the Charlotte Film Festival and was featured on the Documentary Channel.