YolanDa Faye Brown (born 4 October 1982) is a British

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, composer, and broadcaster. Her musical sound is a fusion of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. In 2022 she was appointed chair of the

British Phonographic Industry BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI).

Early life and education

Brown was born to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n parents (her mother was a

headteacher A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

, while her father was an advertising executive) in

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

, Essex, England. She grew up in

Gants Hill Gants Hill is an area of Ilford in East London, England, within the borough of Redbridge. It is a suburb east northeast of Charing Cross. It lends its name to a central roundabout where five roads meet. History The name likely originated fr ...

in the

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London boroughs, London borough established in 1965. The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest t ...

. Her childhood dream was to become a racing car driver. Brown was a student at

Bancroft's School Bancroft's School is a co-educational private day school in Woodford Green, London. The school has around 1,100 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 250 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School and 850 of whom are pupils of the Senior Sch ...

and Beal High School, where she became Head Girl. Brown went on to study at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

, Kent Business School in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. She also spent a year as an Erasmus student at the

University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo (, Asturian: ''Universidá d'Uviéu'') is a public university in Asturias (Spain). It is the only university in the region. It has three campus and research centres, located in Oviedo, Gijón and Mieres. History Th ...

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Her

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

dissertation was on "Combining SSM (

Soft systems methodology Soft systems methodology (SSM) is an organised way of thinking applicable to problematic social situations and in the management of change by using action. It was developed in England by academics at the Lancaster Systems Department on the basis o ...

) and DESM (

Discrete event simulation A discrete-event simulation (DES) models the operation of a system as a (discrete) sequence of events in time. Each event occurs at a particular instant in time and marks a change of state in the system. Between consecutive events, no change in th ...

)". She graduated with a first-class degree. Brown gained a further master's degree in Methods of Social Research, followed by four years of Ph.D. study in management science, before taking a hiatus from her thesis on "Multi Methodology" to pursue her music career.

Career

In 2008, Brown was a

MOBO Modern Baseball (sometimes abbreviated as MoBo) was an American emo band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of Bren Lukens, Jake Ewald, Sean Huber, and Ian Farmer. The band formed in 2012 at Drexel University and released their first ...

"Best Jazz" and

UMA Uma may refer to: Religion * Uma (goddess), a Hindu goddess also known as Parvati or Gauri People * Uma (given name), including a list of people with the name * Uma (actress) (Uma Shankari, fl from 2000), Indian actress Nature * ''Uma'' (liza ...

winner. In 2009, Brown became the first musician to not only be nominated in the "Best Jazz" category of the MOBOs in consecutive years, but also the first to win it two years running. In February 2012, Brown released her first album ''April Showers May Flowers''. That year, she also kicked off a UK and overseas tour in support of the album with two concerts at the HMV

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

accompanied by her full band and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Brown's second album entitled ''Love Politics War'' was released on 16 June 2017. The album features original compositions blending reggae, jazz and soul, labelled somewhat tongue-in-cheek as "Posh Reggae". YolanDa Brown 2018

Brown's 20 episode BBC series, ''YolanDa's Band Jam'' began transmission on CBeebies on 26 January 2019. The show consists of Brown inviting star guests to play along with a live audience of children aged five to seven. Brown is a regular guest presenter on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's programme '' Loose Ends'' with

Clive Anderson Clive Stuart Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is an English television and radio presenter, comedian, writer and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts dur ...

She also presented a documentary on

Williams Syndrome Williams syndrome (WS), also Williams–Beuren syndrome (WBS), is a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. Facial features frequently include a broad forehead, underdeveloped chin, short nose, and full cheeks. Mild to moderate int ...

for the station. The Department for Education and DCMS in 2021, invited Brown to sit on the advisory panel for the National Plan for Music Education (NPME), In June 2022, she was appointed by the Secretary of State

Nadine Dorries Nadine Vanessa Dorries (' Bargery; born 21 May 1957) is a British author and a former politician who served as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2021 to 2022. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Bedfordshire ...

, as National Council Member at

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...

In July 2022, Brown was appointed chair of the

(BPI). October 2022 saw Brown receive a BAFTA nomination in the Best Presenter category. In 2023, Brown made plans to open an Islington music venue and restaurant called Soul Mama, after raising funds on Kickstarter. In April 2024, Brown was named as Chancellor of the

, a position previously held by

Gavin Esler Gavin William James Esler (born 27 February 1953) is a Scottish people, Scottish journalist, television presenter and author. He was a main presenter on BBC Two's flagship political analysis programme, ''Newsnight'', from January 2003 until Jan ...

Charity

In January 2018, Brown was appointed Chair of Youth Music, a national charity investing in music-making projects for children and young people experiencing challenging circumstances. Since 2017, Brown has been a BBC Music Ambassador. She is also a celebrity ambassador for

The Prince's Trust The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by Charles III, King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds w ...

, Children & the Arts,

Plan UK Plan International UK is the UK branch of the global children's rights non-profit organisation Plan International. Plan UK which works to advance equality for girls all over the world through sustainable development and humanitarian response ac ...

, Place2Be, World Child Cancer and London Music Fund. The YolanDa Brown Music Award in conjunction with the

University of East London University of East London (UEL) is a public university located in the London Borough of Newham, London, England, based at three campuses in Stratford, London, Stratford and London Docklands, Docklands, following the opening of University Squar ...

(UEL) provides financial support specifically to final-year students studying BSc (Hons) Music Technology or BA (Hons) Music Production and Culture at UEL. The award is available to up to four UEL students and provides them with funds toward studio time or music equipment. This was the first project from the YolanDa Brown Foundation. In May 2018, Brown launched the London Saxophone Festival, an annual celebration of the saxophone through concerts, film, workshops and more. Featured artists included Bob Reynolds from Snarky Puppy and Casey Benjamin from the Robert Glasper Experiment. The second edition took place in June 2019 and the 2020 edition was postponed as a result of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. In 2024, Brown became a member of the

Blue Plaques A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

panel.

Honours

Brown was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to music, music education and broadcasting.

Personal life

Brown lives in

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Londo ...

with her husband, a

music promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

and

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

, and their two daughters. She was one of eleven individuals appointed a Deputy lieutenant of Greater London on 11 October 2022. Brown was brought up with Christian values, and became a born again Christian in her teenage years after attending a friend's youth convention.

Discography

EPs and albums

* ''YolanDa Brown, Finding my voice'' (2007 CD - Black Grape Productions) * ''A Step Closer'' (2008 EP release – Black Grape Productions) * ''April Showers, May Flowers'' (February 2012 Album release – Black Grape Records) * ''April Showers, May Flowers-Live Sessions'' (May 2013 Album release CD/DVD – Black Grape Records) * ''Love Politics War'' (June 2017 Album release CD/digital/Vinyl – Black Grape Records) * ''YolanDa’s Band Jam'' (January 2021 Album release Digital– Sony Music Magic Star)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
''YolanDa Brown on Saturday''
on Jazz FM
''YolanDa Brown''
on

Magic Classical Magic Classical (formerly Scala Radio) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK. The station was launched in March 2019 as Scala Radio and broadcasts nationally on DAB Digital Radio, via Smart speaker, app, a ...

*
London Saxophone Festival website

YolanDa Brown interview by Pete Lewis
''Blues & Soul'', June 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Yolanda 1982 births Living people 21st-century English women musicians 21st-century British saxophonists Alumni of the University of Kent Black British musicians British women radio presenters British women television presenters Chancellors of the University of Kent Composers from London Deputy lieutenants of Greater London English jazz saxophonists English people of Jamaican descent English radio presenters English television presenters Jazz fusion saxophonists Musicians from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Musicians from the London Borough of Redbridge Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Bancroft's School People from Barking, London People from Gants Hill Smooth jazz saxophonists University of Oviedo alumni British women jazz saxophonists English Christians