Maggie Brown | |
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Born | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | February 10, 1963
Education | Columbia College Chicago |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1995–present |
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Relatives |
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Musical career | |
Genres | |
Instruments | Vocals |
Maggie Brown (born February 10, 1963) is an American singer, spoken word artist, and music producer. Brown sings in many genres: jazz, blues, R&B, soul, and spoken word. Her singing style has been described by James Walker as "transcend[ing] limitations and genres, while still maintaining her unique unmistakable voice." [1] She is the daughter of Oscar Brown Jr., and was mentored by him and Abbey Lincoln. She uses music to educate, what she calls "edutainment", a word that she learned from her father. She gives talks and demonstrations on music and African American musical history. She performs with her sister, Africa Brown. They perform their work and their father's work. [2]
Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood,[ citation needed ] Brown grew up in a musical household, experiencing rehearsals and jam sessions. Brown is the daughter of Oscar Brown Jr. and Maxine Fleming. She studied music, theater and voice at Columbia College Chicago.[ citation needed ] Brown was 15 when she had her professional debut. Her professional debut was at the Body Politic Theatre in Chicago.[ citation needed ]
In 1995, Brown established her own independent record label Mag Pie Records. Brown published her first album From My Window in 1995. It was nominated for a Chicago Music Award for Best Jazz CD in 1995. In 1996 she was nominated for another Chicago Music Award for Best Jazz Performer. In 1998, Brown performed at the Schomburg Center in Harlem, New York City with her father Oscar Brown Jr. That same year, she did a vocal duet with Abby Lincoln on the album Wholly Earth , released in 1999 by the Verve label. [2] [3] She has performed duets with Jonathan Butler, on Urban Knights album, Urban Knights II. Brown has a traveling one-woman show called 'Legacy'. Her one-woman show chronicles the history and evolution of African American music. The show encompasses a wide range of musical forms and genres. She has toured for over 19 years with her one-woman show, Legacy: Our Wealth of Music. She uses art to educate the young and the old about life, history, and music. In 2015 the Brown family, and Maggie and Africa Brown performed at the naming of Harper Street, between 52nd and 53rd as Oscar Brown Jr. Way. [4]
In 2016, Brown and her sister Africa Brown worked together to revive the Blue Gargoyle; a Hyde Park community center. The community center closed in 2009. It provided job training, social services, family counseling, music and art training. The art center dates back to 1965. The Brown sisters have developed community-based shows. [5] Which is similar to the work that their father did giving exposure to young talent. In 1967 Oscar Brown Jr. collaborated with members of the Blackstone Rangers. The Blackstone Rangers a Gang in Chicago. They collaborated and created a musical called "Opportunity Please Knock". The first weeks of the show about 8,000 people attended which was performed at The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. [6]
Brown's aunt is actress Judy Pace.
Brown's recording of "The Snake", written by her father and recorded with her siblings Africa and Oscar III, was used by Donald Trump at rallies during his presidential campaign. The Brown family asked him not to use their father's song, which is about a woman who takes in an ailing snake that turns on her. [7] [8] Maggie Africa Brown stated that when Donald Trump read "The Snake" he was referring to the snakes as refugees and the caring woman as America. They disapproved of the analogy. [9]
Eleven Jazzy Divas Studio Recordings with
Ethel Waters was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her notable recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first African American to star on her own television show, and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy-drama mockumentary written and directed by Woody Allen. Loosely based on Federico Fellini's film La Strada, the film tells the story of jazz guitarist Emmet Ray who falls in love with mute laundress Hattie. Like several of Allen's other films, the film is occasionally interrupted by interviews with critics and biographers like Allen, Nat Hentoff, Daniel Okrent, and Douglas McGrath, who comment on the film's plot as if the characters were real-life people.
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Yvette Marie Stevens, better known by her stage name Chaka Khan, is an American singer. Known as the "Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. With the band she recorded the notable hits "Tell Me Something Good", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel" and the platinum-certified "Ain't Nobody". Her debut solo album featured the number-one R&B hit "I'm Every Woman". Khan scored another R&B charts hit with "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" before becoming the first R&B artist to have a crossover hit featuring a rapper, with her 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel for You". More of Khan's hits include "Through the Fire" and a 1986 collaboration with Steve Winwood that produced a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Higher Love".
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We Insist! is a jazz album which was released through Candid Records in December 1960. It contains a suite which composer and drummer Max Roach and lyricist Oscar Brown had begun to develop in 1959 with a view to its performance in 1963 on the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. The cover references the sit-in movement of the Civil Rights Movement. The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album one of its rare crown accolades, in addition to featuring it as part of its Core Collection.
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That's Him! is the second album by American jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln featuring tracks recorded in 1957 for the Riverside label.
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Love Having You Around: Live at the Keystone Korner Vol. 2 is a live album by jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln. It was recorded during March 1980 at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco, California, and was released in 2016 by HighNote Records. On the album, Lincoln is joined by pianist Phil Wright, double bassists James Leary and Art Washington, and drummer Doug Sides.