John Brown is a native of Fayetteville, NC and currently serves as Professor and Director of the Jazz Program at Duke University.  John began studying the bass at the age of nine with Susan Ellington. He began performing with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra at thirteen and was playing Principal Bass with that orchestra by high school.  In college, John developed a great love for jazz, and began pursuing performance opportunities in both jazz and classical music. He has performed in the US and abroad with artists like Wynton Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Diahann Carroll, Rosemary Clooney, Nicholas Payton, Frank Foster, Cedar Walton, and Mark Whitfield. 

 

Brown’s award-winning jazz ensemble specializes in bringing new life to some of the best-known classics and introduces original music as well. Their debut recording, “Terms of Art: A Tribute to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers,” reached #8 on the national JazzWeek chart.