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Deborah Brown

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Deborah's musical talents have propelled her from coast to coast in the USA, eventually leading her to Japan, Indonesia and the far east and culminating in a 12 year residency in Europe.

Performing in nightclubs, concerts, jazz festivals, on television and radio soundstages, Deborah has made a name for herself with appearances in more than 50 countries around the world.

Deborah Brown has recorded 11 albums as a leader and has been featured on numerous other recordings as a special guest soloist.

Deborah has enjoyed participating in and creating many unique musical situations... among these (in no particular order) are...A duet recording with trombonist Slide Hampton. A 10 concert tour in duo with piano master, Roger Kellaway. Duo performances with pianists Cedar Walton and Dorothy Donegan. A performance of "My One and Only Love" with trumpet star Clark Terry. A studio recording of the CD "A Lover's Question" with author James Baldwin. Tours with her quartet JAZZ 4 JAZZ, that featured pianist Horace Parlan, Red Mitchell or Hein van de Geijn on acoustic bass and drum wizard Ed Thigpen. Concert performances with Johnny Griffin, Benny Bailey, Billy Mitchell, Michelle LeGrand, "Toots" Thielemans, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Bobby Shew, Kenny Drew, Roy Hargrove, The Eric Reed trio, the Doky Brothers and many, many others.

Touring as the featured vocalist with Russia's Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra, the Sandviken Bigband from Sweden and Kluver's Bigband from Denmark. Spending a week in Tblisi, Georgia for their jazz festival in the company of Art Blakey, Sun Ra, Jackie McLean, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller and many others.

Recording the Dutch television special production for UNICEF with Audrey Hepburn and Roger Moore.

Studio recording with Dutch avant-garde cellist Ernst Reijseger. Touring Siberia and the Ukraine with Russian saxophonist Nicolai Panov's quintet "Jazz Gallery". Bringing together musicians from 7 different countries to record a CD and a concert tour of the Netherlands and Belgium.

Deborah Brown continues to promote the art of jazz by performing and recording her interpretations of classic standards and fresh original compositions, always expanding the musical boundaries of vocalist, musician, entertainer and band leader.

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11
Album Review

Deborah Brown: Kansas City Here I Come

Read "Kansas City Here I Come" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Jazz vocalists occupy a wide swath of styles from those who mercilessly belt out a tune to those who use the ever evolving vocabulary of the jazz idiom with care and precision. Deborah Brown is one of the most sophisticated of the latter genre. She is a true artist. She never wastes a note, inflection, or dynamic. She meticulously treats the nuances of every song with the care of a concert and opera singer. Such precision only makes her more ...

213
Album Review

Deborah Brown: For The Love Of Ivie: A Tribute to Ivie Anderson

Read "For The Love Of Ivie: A Tribute to Ivie Anderson" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Ivie Anderson was Duke Ellington's mainstay singer from 1931 to 1942, melding the depth of Billie Holiday with the sophisticated attitude of Lena Horne. Deborah Brown is one of the finest modern jazz vocalists ever to grace live venues and recording studios. In common with Anderson, she is a musician's vocalist, having played with the likes of Slide Hampton, Cedar Walton, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Michel Le Grand, “Toots" Thielemans and Roy Hargrove, amply showing the respect in which she ...

655
Live Review

Deborah Brown Sings a Tribute to Duke Ellington Vocalist Ivie Anderson, Amsterdam

Read "Deborah Brown Sings a Tribute to Duke Ellington Vocalist Ivie Anderson, Amsterdam" reviewed by Guy Zinger


Bimhuis Amsterdam, Netherlands December 17th, 2009

Remembering her father's trombone, Deborah Brown used her dark and somewhat husky voice as a perfect musical instrument with brass-like gestures to paint a beautiful picture. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brown has made a name for herself with appearances around the world and many albums. This concert was full of admiration and respect for the incomparable bluesy voice of Ivie Anderson who, though forgotten by many, is ...

983
Interview

Deborah Brown: Jazz Diva Extraordinaire

Read "Deborah Brown: Jazz Diva Extraordinaire" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Deborah Brown is one of the finest jazz vocalists in the business, a “singer's singer" with a magnificent voice and mind-boggling technique. Vocalist J.D. Walter mentioned her as an inspirational teacher and mentor in a recent AAJ interview but, despite being very possibly one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, due to her own travel preferences she is less well known in the U.S. than in Europe and internationally.

Perhaps the reason for her ...

277
Album Review

Deborah Brown: International Incident

Read "International Incident" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Kansas City-reared jazz singer Deborah Brown employs an international, multicultural little big band to make progressive American vocal jazz, managing the logistics brilliantly to produce one of the best vocal recitals of the year. This fearless repertoire maven is not afraid of even the stickiest subjects.On International Incident,, Brown takes on two Johnny Griffin compositions ("Take My Hand" and “Make Up You Mind"), Thad Jones' “A Child is Born," and Pat Metheny's “Always and Forever." These are certainly ...

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189

Interview

Singer Deborah Brown Interviewed at AAJ

Singer Deborah Brown Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz

Deborah Brown is one of the finest jazz vocalists in the business, a “singer's singer" with a magnificent voice and mind-boggling technique. Vocalist J.D. Walter mentioned her as an inspirational teacher and mentor in a recent AAJ interview but, despite being very possibly one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, due to her own travel preferences she is less well known in the U.S. than in Europe and internationally.

Perhaps the reason for her “missing in action" status ...

Beth Duncan
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