Pete Brown

Pete Brown

Pete Brown is a name used by more than one musician. One is an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader, and the other is an English performance poet, lyricist, singer, and bassist known for work with Cream and Jack Bruce.

American jazz musician

James Ostend Brown is an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader from Baltimore, Maryland. He learns piano, trumpet, and saxophone at a young age. In 1928 he plays in New York with Bernie Robinson’s orchestra, then works from 1928 to 1934 with Charlie Skeets. In 1937 he works in John Kirby’s band and, for several years in the 1930s, with Frankie Newton; the two record often together.

He also records as a session musician with Willie “The Lion” Smith, Jimmy Noone, Buster Bailey, Leonard Feather, Joe Marsala, and Maxine Sullivan during the 1930s. In the 1940s he works on 52nd Street in New York as both a sideman and a bandleader, including membership of Allen Eager’s 52nd Street All-Stars in 1946. His health declines in the 1950s and he withdraws from full-time performing, though he continues to work with Joe Wilder, Big Joe Turner, Sammy Price, and Champion Jack Dupree. He appears at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival with Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge, and his last appearance is in 1960 with Dizzy Gillespie. He also teaches Cecil Payne.

English performance poet and singer

Peter Ronald Brown is an English performance poet, lyricist, singer, and bassist. He is best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce. He forms the bands Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments and Pete Brown & Piblokto!, and also works with Graham Bond and Phil Ryan. He additionally writes film scripts and forms a film production company.