Dean Brown

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The son of a military man from the Bronx and a jazz singer from North Carolina, Dean Brown grew up in a number of locales during his formative years. Born in France, his family moved to the States when he was two then returned to France when he turned 10. Two years later, his family returned to the States once again. It was the summer of love and something new and decidedly different was in the air that would greatly affect Deans path. As he explains, "Being a child of the 60's, I was naturally attracted to the so-called hippie scene and the music that surrounded it. I mean, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Are You Experienced? are the reasons that I play music today. At least those were the reasons I decided I was going to start playing guitar." Dean would later spend three years in Korea, where he began working professionally at the age of 15 as a singer/guitarist fronting a horn band, garnering a huge following in the process. "I was like a pop star with body guards, a fan club, and everything", Brown recalls with a laugh. "It was wild."



After attending George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Brown entered the Berklee College of Music graduating as a composition major. His classmates there included fellow guitarists Mike Stern, Bill Frisell, Kevin Eubanks, and Jamie Glaser. One of Dean's first gigs in Boston was in trumpeter Tiger Okoshi's band Baku. As he recalls, "I replaced Mike Stern in that band in 1979 when Mike left to play with Billy Cobham."
Brown joined Cobham's Glass Menagerie band in 1981 and that year recorded Observations + (Elektra/Musician) with the great fusion drummer, marking his first time in the recording studio. In 1982, he played with Glass Menagerie at the Montreux International Jazz Festival. A document of that live gig later appeared the following year as Smokin' (Elektra/Musician). Brown also performed on Cobhams 1985 debut for GRP Records, Warning! He was an original member of Vital Information, the ground breaking group led by the drummer icon, Steve Smith.
Through the 80s and into the 90s, Brown alternated constant touring and recording with sax star David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Bob James, Kirk Whalum, and the re-united Brecker Brothers. "At one point in the early 90s, it was an amazing juggling act between working with Mike and Randy, Dave and also Marcus' band," he recalls. "It was like non-stop airports. Of course, it was great to be so busy, but it also created this incredible log jam of events."



In recent years, Brown has released three solo CD's, toured and recorded with saxophonist Bill Evans, singer Roberta Flack, keyboardist George Duke, bassist Victor Bailey, and his old mentor Billy Cobham. He was a regular band member for 14 years with Marcus Miller's band and tours with his own groups. Says Dean, " I'm concentrating more on my own projects now, but I still love playing with all these great musicians as well."



" . He delivers music with punch, energy and integrity."
~Guitar Nine Records~



" About twenty years have gone by and Dean's still bringing it onstage - he's that into it and obviously, that commited to every measure of the music"
~Phil DiPietro - allaboutJazz.com~



" Rockish, bluesy, jazzy, funky all rolled up into one."
~Jeff Charney - ContemporaryJazz.com~



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