Raymond Harry "Ray" Brown (born November 7, 1946) is an American composer, arranger, trumpet player, and jazz educator.[1] He has performed as trumpet player and arranged music for Stan Kenton (early 1970s), Bill Watrous, Bill Berry, Frank Capp – Nat Pierce (Juggernaut Big Band), and the Full Faith and Credit Big Band.[2]
Brown joined Kenton in September 1971, succeeding Gary Lee Pack [b. 1950; Director of Jazz Studies (retired), University of Southern Maine], holding the jazz trumpet chair and serving as an improv clinician. The Kenton trumpet section included Mike Vax,[3]Jay Saunders, and Dennis Noday.[4] Brown also contributed arrangements for Kenton, including "Mi Burrito" and "Neverbird."[3] Brown remained with the Kenton Orchestra until November 1972.
Before joining the Kenton Orchestra, Brown had served as arranger and trumpeter with the Studio Band of The United States Army Field Band at Fort Meade, Maryland (1968–71). His tenure with the Army Band and Kenton coincided closely with that of Jay Saunders — trumpet player, and jazz educator, who, while with the Kenton Orchestra, eventually played lead trumpet.
Brown currently leads his own big band, the Great Big Band, which has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival, the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival,[5] the Lake Tahoe Music Festival,[6] and jazz venues in the San Francisco Bay area.
Ray, born 1946 in Oceanside, New York, grew up in Freeport, New York. He has three older brothers, Glenn Edward Brown (1937–2007), Stephen Charles Brown, Roger V. Brown and a younger sister, Jeanne De Martino.
Glenn taught music for 28 years.
Steve is a jazz guitarist, bassist, drummer, composer, and arranger. For 45 years, Steve was professor of music and director of jazz studies at the Ithaca College School of Music (retired 2008). One of Steve's many life achievements is that he formalized jazz studies in 1968 at Ithaca College School of Music, a long-standing, well-known music institution within a well-known liberal arts college that was founded in 1892 solely as a conservatory of music.
Roger, a civil engineer, played bass. He did two tours with Astrud Gilberto.
Ray's father, Glenn Earl Brown (1914–1965;[14] 1936 graduate of Ithaca College School of Music), was the District Music Supervisor of Public Schools for Long Beach, New York. He was also director of bands at Long Beach Jr. Sr. High School from 1938 to 1965. As a pioneer in jazz education at the scholastic level,[15] he introduced stage bands to Long Beach public schools in 1939.[16] He also ran a music camp — Lake Shore Music Score — at Lake Winnipesaukee, Center Harbor, New Hampshire. Glenn Brown had been, for more than 14 years, a marimba soloist with the Xavier Cugat Orchestra.[17]
Ray's mother, Marie Brown (née Ward) (1916–2002), taught English at Boardman Junior High School in Oceanside for 28 years, where, before retiring from the Oceanside School District in 1982, she served as curriculum coordinator and English department chairwoman.[18][19] She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the Ithaca College School of Music in 1935, where she played piano, saxophone, and clarinet. She also held a Masters in English from Hofstra University.[20]
Selected compositions/arrangementsedit
Compositions/arrangements for the Stan Kenton Orchestra[21]
"I.C. Light" – Ray Brown (commissioned for the retirement of Steve Brown, March 2008)
"Turn Out The Stars", by Bill Evans, arr. Ray Brown
"Louie's Prima"
Selected discographyedit
The Session, Studio Band of the United States Army Field Band (Brown is one of three arrangers), recorded Washington, D.C., Nov. 1972
"Route 81 North", arr. Ray Brown
"Is There Anything Still There?" arr. Ray Brown
As a member (jazz trumpet/flugelhorn) of the Stan Kenton Orchestra
Stan Kenton Today (recorded live, Fairfield Halls, Croydon, Surrey, UK, February 10, 1972, 2nd show), originally released in 1972 by Creative World Inc. (2 LPs, quadraphonic), re-released by Dutton Vocalion (2 CDs), 2005
Selections from a Feb 6, 1972, live audience BBC recording (same band) (Ray is 25 years old in these recordings.)
"Chiapas" on YouTube, by Hank Levy (Ray Brown is one of the jazz soloists.)
"Minor Booze" (Ray Brown is one of the jazz soloists.) on YouTube
"McCarthur Park" (Ray Brown is one of the jazz soloists.) on YouTube
"The Peanut Vendor" - featuring the entire trumpet section on YouTube
Mike Vax, Dennis Noday, Jay Saunders, Ray Brown, Joe Marcinkiewicz, trumpet; Dick Shearer, Mike Jamieson, Fred Carter, Mike Wallace, Phil Herring, trombone; Quin Davis, Richard Torres, Kim Frizell, Willie Maiden, Chuck Carter, reeds; Stan Kenton, piano; John Worster, acoustic double bass; John Von Ohlen, drums; Ramon Lopez, Latin percussion
Festival de Jazz de Montreux, Switzerland 1979 (film for television)
Brown family who studied at the Ithaca College School of Music: As part of the Ithaca College School of Music expansion (2001), a chamber jazz room was added as a gift from Steve McCluski '74 and Kim Joslyn McCluski '74 in honor of the Brown family. A plaque there honors seven members of the Brown family who graduated from Ithaca College:
1) Glenn Brown (1914 – 1965) — Ithaca College School of Music (IC) 1936 (Ray's father)
2) Marie Brown (née Ward; 1916 – 2002) — IC 1935 (Ray's mother)
3) Stephen Charles Brown — Ithaca College (IC) Bachelor of Music 1964; Master of Music 1968 (Ray's second oldest brother)
4) Barbara Katz Brown — IC 1974; 1975 (Steve's wife)
5) Ray Brown — IC 1968
6) Sue Brown — IC 1971 (Ray's wife)
7) Glenn Edward Brown — IC 1959 (Ray's oldest brother)
14th Annual Gail Rich Awards — Cultural Council Associates (of the Santa Cruz County arts community) (Jan 26, 2010)
Ray and Sue Brown were two of seven being honored — they were being honored for their creative work as music teachers[24]
Video clip of Sue and Ray speaking at the awards ceremony on YouTube (fast forward to 4:13)
^Dynaflow is a collector's label produced by historian Steven D. Harris of Pasadena, CA
Inline citations
^The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music (Brown is in Vol. 1 of 3), by William Harold Rehrig (born 1939), Paul E. Bierley (ed.), Westerville, OH: Integrity Press (1991); OCLC 24606813
^"Dennis Noday". Archived from the original on 2010-06-06. Retrieved 2010-05-25.
^"Santa Cruz Jazz Festival". Archived from the original on 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
^"Lake Tahoe Music Festival". Archived from the original on 2018-05-12. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
^Biographical Dictionary of Jazz: "Raymond H. Brown", by Charles Eugene Claghorn (1911–2005), Prentice-Hall (1982); OCLC 8626853
^Annual Report of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Council on the Arts Archived 2014-05-17 at the Wayback Machine, pg. 69, June 30, 1975; OCLC 645099240
^"Sue Brown". Alfred Music. Archived from the original on 2010-01-13. Retrieved 2010-05-17.
^Who's Who in Entertainment, 3rd ed., Marquis (1997)
^"Karin Brown". Archived from the original on 2010-07-17. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
^"Daniel Levitov". Archived from the original on 2010-06-06. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
^"Miles Brown". Archived from the original on 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2022-04-02.