Donald Brown

There's no one better to close this disc than Donald Brown, a man whom his one-time fellow band-mate Wynton Marsalis has called "a genius." Dave Brubeck is a fan of his work, as was Joe Henderson, and he's taught a wealth of young jazz lions. Born in Hernando, Miss., Brown spent his musically formative years in Memphis working as a studio musician backing up soul and R&B artists on bass and keyboard. He later landed a gig playing piano in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. During those years he began being recognized as one of jazz music's hot young composers as well as being a stunning musician and began making fans all over the world. Brown moved to Knoxville in the 1980s to teach at the University of Tennessee. When he's not on tour, Brown performs regularly at Knoxville night spots. The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra recently recorded "Blues Man From Memphis," an album of Brown's work with Brown and several other artists as guests.
— The Classic Introvert (Space Time/Blue Geodesics Records) —