Donald Ray Brown (born March 28, 1954) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist and producer. Brown was born in Hernando, Mississippi and raised in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, where he learned to play trumpet and drums in his youth. From 1972 to 1975, he was a student at

Memphis State University } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

, by which time he had made piano his primary instrument. He was with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from 1981 to 1982, then took teaching positions at Berklee College of Music from 1983 to 1985 and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

from 1988. Brown has recorded for Evidence,

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

, and Sunnyside. Yanow, Scott Donald Brown] at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As sideman

With Art Blakey * '' Killer Joe'' with George Kawaguchi (Union Jazz, 1981) * '' Keystone 3'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

, 1982) * '' Feeling Good'' (Delos, 1986) With Donald Byrd *'' Getting Down to Business'' (Landmark, 1989) *''

A City Called Heaven ''A City Called Heaven'' is an album by trumpeter Donald Byrd featuring performances recorded in 1991 and released on the Landmark Records, Landmark label.

'' (Landmark, 1991) With

Ricky Ford Ricky Ford (born March 4, 1954) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Biography Ford was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States,) and studied at the New England Conservatory. Ricky Ford AllMusic In 1974, he recorded with Gunther Schulle ...

*'' Tenor Madness Too!'' (Muse, 1992) With

Wallace Roney Wallace Roney (May 25, 1960 – March 31, 2020) was an American jazz ( hard bop and post-bop) trumpeter. He has won 1 Grammy award and has two nominations. Roney took lessons from Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie and studied with Miles Davis fr ...

*'' Obsession'' (Muse, 1990)

As producer

With

Kenny Garrett Kenny Garrett (born October 9, 1960) is an American post-bop jazz musician and composer who gained recognition in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and for his time with Miles Davis's band. His primary instruments are alto and ...

* ''African Exchange Student'' (Atlantic, 1990) * ''

Black Hope ''Black Hope'' is the fifth album by Kenny Garrett, the first that he recorded for Warner Bros. It features Garrett in a quartet with pianist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Brian Blade. Additional musicians include veteran ...

'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, 1992) * ''Triology'' (Warner Bros. 1995) * ''Songbook'' (Warner Bros., 1997) * '' Seeds from the Underground'' (

Mack Avenue Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company is a sponsor ...

, 2012) * '' Pushing the World Away'' (Mack Avenue, 2013) * ''Do Your Dance!'' (Mack Avenue, 2016) With

Scott Tixier Scott Tixier (born February 26, 1986) is a French jazz violinist and professor of jazz violin at the University of North Texas. Life and career Tixier was born in Montreuil, France, and studied classical violin at the conservatory in Paris ...

* ''Cosmic Adventure'' (Sunnyside, 2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Donald American jazz pianists American male pianists 1954 births The Jazz Messengers members Living people Muse Records artists People from Hernando, Mississippi Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Mississippi American male jazz musicians Sunnyside Records artists