Rob Brown (saxophonist)

Brown was born in Hampton, Virginia, United States.[1] He started playing saxophone at the age of 12.[2] His first gigs were with a local Virginia swing band. He eventually studied at Berklee College for two years,[1] and worked privately with both Joe Viola and John LaPorta.[3] After a year on the west coast, Brown relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, where he met pianist Matthew Shipp.[1] He moved to New York in 1985,[1] where he enrolled at New York University, earned a music degree, and studied with saxophone masters such as Lee Konitz, but the teacher who had more influence on Brown conceptually was Philadelphian Dennis Sandole.[1] Brown travelled to Philadelphia by rail once a week to study with him for a year and a half.[2]

His first issued recording was the duet with Shipp Sonic Explorations (1988),[1] and since then has been actively leading groups or working as a sideman with Shipp, William Parker,[1] Whit Dickey, Joe Morris and Steve Swell.

He is a 2001 CalArts/Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize winner and has received many Meet The Composer Fund grants. In 2006, Brown was awarded a Chamber Music America New Works grant.[4]

• Official site
• Rob Brown: No More "Mr. Avant Garde" by John Sharpe at All About Jazz