Oscar Brown
Oscar Brown Jr. ( born June 10, 1926 in Chicago, Illinois, † May 29, 2005 ibid. ) Was an American jazz singer and songwriter.
Biography
On his father, the lawyer and real estate dealer Oscar Brown Sr. desire, he was supposed to be a businessman. The young Oscar Brown Jr. drew the music and made his debut at the age of 15 years as a singer in the radio show Secret City.
Brown was also involved in politics early on. At 19 he was the Communist Party joined ( with 29 leaked again, because it was there racists ). At 21 he was the first radio presenter, the daily news program specifically designed for African-Americans: the " Negro News Front". Several times the program was not broadcast because it was the transmitter responsible for politically and 1952 finally taken completely out of the program. As a result, he ran - unsuccessfully - for the Parliament of the State of Illinois and then the U.S. Congress.
About the Music Manager Robert Nemiroff 1958 he came in contact with Capitol Records / CBS in 1960 and took his first album: " Sin and Soul ... and then some ". His lecture was inspired by the music of Bertolt Brecht and Lotte Lenya, the music oriented to hard bop and soul. At the same time, he made himself a name as a songwriter for other jazz singers, among others Max Roach, for which he also in 1960 for the concept album "We Insist! Freedom Now Suite" wrote the lyrics. Among the first to be aware of his talent, stars such as Abbey Lincoln, for which he wrote Strong Man, and Mahalia Jackson, the 1960 Browns song "Brown Baby" recorded; later interpreted, among others, Nina Simone, Diana Ross and Toni Braxton this song. From the beginning, the lyrics were politically Browns, told about the lives of blacks and the struggle for equality.
In the following years, Brown experienced the height of its popularity. He worked with musicians like Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. His songs have been sung and recorded by Dee Dee Bridgewater, Sheila Jordan, Sammy Davis Jr., Mel Tormé, Mark Murphy and many others.
His own career as a singer, however, suffered from the problems that were prepared because of his political activism him. He never became a "star", except in a relatively small circle of jazz friends.
Among his best known works today include the text to Miles Davis ' " All Blues " and songs like " Signifying ' Monkey ", the " Work Song " or become in the version of Al Wilson to hit "The Snake".
From the marriage Oscar Brown Jr. ' s Jean Pace Brown come four daughters and one son.