Chris Brown

Born in Beaverton, Oregon and raised in Portland, Christopher began his formal music training with piano lessons at age five. Inspired by his father, former Motown drummer and Portland jazz luminary Mel Brown, Chris added both saxophone and drums to his musical palette by age eleven. After winning numerous local awards, he gained national recognition in 1995 when his jazz trio was awarded DownBeat Magazine's "Best High School Instrumental Group." During that same year he was invited to perform with Wynton Marsalis at Portland's Aladdin Theater.



After graduating from Wilson High School, Brown enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served for four years. He used this time to build both his musical and his networking skills beating the streets and meeting local artists wherever the Corps sent him. In 1996, while stationed in New Orleans, he became better acquainted with the Marsalis family, through whom he met many top musicians in that city and beyond. Relocated after one year to Parris Island, S.C., Brown began working with bass legend Ben Tucker. During his three years with Tucker he performed with many jazz luminaries including Buddy Defranco and Terry Gibbs.



Upon his release from active duty in 1999, Christopher moved to New Brunswick, N.J., where he completed both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Jazz Studies/Performance at Rutgers University. In the years since he has become a regular with large ensembles such as the George Gee Swing Big Band, as well as an in-demand rhythm section player with a wide range of artists including Roy Hargrove, Benny Golson, Ralph Bowen, Charles Fambrough, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Gerald Clayton, Paul Bollenback, Ron Affif, John Stubblefield, Darren Barrett, Vincent Herring, Stanley Cowell, Conrad Herwig, Sean Jones, Frank Lacey, John Benitez, Lonnie Plaxico, Carla Cook, Rosana Vitro, Essiest Essiet, Don Braden, Antonio Hart, Kenny Davis, John Gordon, John Ellis, and Ronnie Matthews, and many others. Brown has also performed on saxophone with the Ralph Peterson Jr. Quintet, in addition to having also been listed as one of the headliners for the 2009 Portland Jazz Festival strictly as a saxophonist. He currently holds down a post as the principle saxophonist in the N.J. Army National Guard Band, as well as a position as both a Professor of Jazz History and the assistant director of the Rutgers Summer Jazz Institute at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.



In addition to music, Brown has also appeared on the silver screen. He first appeared on film as an extra in 1993's Mr. Holland's Opus, and now he can be seen yet again in the 2007 blockbuster film entitled American Gangster, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.