paul secor Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 He had his own voice and left us some wonderful music. There would no doubt have been more if he hadn't had health problems over the last part of his life. Thank you, Mr. Brown. You'll be remembered and missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Heavy loss. I sometimes do wonder why a foregoing 40 or so years of free altos often lack so much personality--what a collection of beautiful oddballs in those first steps: Brown, Tchicai, Logan, Marshall Allen, Jimmy Lyons, Charles Tyler, to say nothing of Ornette... although the arc of Brown's career is kind of a testament to how the now-hallowed trappings of energy music were really just incidental to these amazing stores and certainly not the full picture. He essayed some of the very best music of the post-Coltrane mode (Why Not, Porto Novo, etc.) and went on to invent and reinvent his career in a way that is legitimately mindblowing--running parallel to the AACM in an amazing ethno/free mix (Afternoon of A Georgia Faun, the duets with Wadada, some of the Calig stuff), crafting interesting inside/out modal music (Sweet Earth Flying)... I have to confess that I'm not completely enamored with the last 1/4 or so of his recorded legacy, but that tone is true and the sheer, lovely stasis in his tone never left (which I think may have been the emotional core of his sound). Even if he hasn't really produced in the past couple of decades, there was so much music in the past and so much music clearly still in there--as a part of his person--that the loss is so profound. Heavy loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 I'm very sorry to hear this. As an Atlantan, I always loved that Brown's Georgia roots informed so much of his music - the blusiness of "Buttermilk Bottom" (his tribute to a now-defunct Atlanta neighborhood, "Afternoon of a Georgia Faun's" ethereal nostalgia, the country-informed "Sweet Earth Flying." He was a deep thinker, an outstanding composer, and he had an original, distinctive playing/improvising style on alto. So long, Marion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B. Goren. Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) This is very sad news. Edit: These CDs will find their way to my CD player today. Edited October 19, 2010 by B. Goren. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 An interview I did with him in 2005 is posted here. It was kind of challenging to draw things out of him (especially as this was among the first interviews I did), but he was very sweet and quite funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFrank Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 He was a speaker (and possibly in residence, but I don't remember exactly) at a "History of Jazz" class I took in college in the 70s. Some of my first exposure to jazz and very influential. One of our assignments was to listen to and critique "Afternoon of a Georgia Faun" - eye opening to say the least. RIP, Marion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 That's terribly sad news! Marion was a very good friend. He confronted his ordeal in his final years with dignity and courage. It was good to learn that he felt happy - and was very well treated - in the Florida assisted living facility where he moved after facing the health problems that changed his life. I just hope that the packs of Gauloises Bleues cigarettes that he insisted I send him whenever we spoke on the phone brought him some relief and did not contribute to his passing away... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Very sad news. A totally individual musician and a big influence on my listening in the sixties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) The Marion Brown Quartet in Lugano in 1967 with Beb Guerin on bass, an unidentified drummer... probably Jean Fresnay on piano. Edited October 20, 2010 by brownie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Brief mention in a Washington Post blog... http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/2010/10/rip_jazz_great_marion_brown_ki.html Actually, Marion died early yesterday according to the assisted living facility where he had retired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freejazz2020 Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) WKCR is having a 24-hour tribute to Marion until about 8:30 tomorrow AM. Man, he will be missed - thanks for all the beautiful music.Marion Brown Memorial Broadcast site Edited October 19, 2010 by freejazz2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Very nice. Annabelle is rocking the Juba-Lee LP right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 The Marion Brown Quartet in Lugano in 1967 with Beb Guerin on bass, Han Bennink on drums... probably Jean Fresnay on piano. Maybe my eyes and ears are going out, but I could have sworn it was Pierre Favre! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Very sad news.. . Georgia Faun and Sweet Earth are two masterpieces that I'll be playing with mixed emotions now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Schlouch Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Very nice guy! I recorded him with his permission here in Marseille with Mal Waldron some years ago. Very great souvenir! RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 you know, I was thinking recently how it might be nice to do a real study of '60s Free Jazz, and Brown epitomizes, to me, that music's ups and downs (to steal that Bud Powell title). When he was good he was great, but he's the classic example of no second act in certain creative lives. I love the interview, Cliff. funny thing is, I forgot that Brown used to pass through New Haven, probably in the late '80s or early '90s, and one night he called me wanting to know about gigs in town. nice guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Very sad news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caravan Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 The Marion Brown Quartet in Lugano in 1967 with Beb Guerin on bass, Han Bennink on drums... probably Jean Fresnay on piano. Maybe my eyes and ears are going out, but I could have sworn it was Pierre Favre! I don't know who it is, but it's definitely NOT Han Bennink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 There were some 1967 gigs with Eddy Gaumont, but my minimal exposure to him was not as a "free" drummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Eddy Gaumont was free and so out that I have no idea what became of him. A most promising drummer who bypassed the reputation that would have been coming to him. He was Dominique Gaumont's brother. The guitar-playing Dominique who was hired by Miles Davis! Then who was playing drums in Lugano 1967? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocispepraluger102 Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Eddy Gaumont was free and so out that I have no idea what became of him. A most promising drummer who bypassed the reputation that would have been coming to him. He was Dominique Gaumont's brother. The guitar-playing Dominique who was hired by Miles Davis! Then who was playing drums in Lugano 1967? the duo recording with mal is one of the most intimate and expressive recordings i have. among others, i escpecially love the beautiful solo extended standards of the 'recollections'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyo Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Just as the recent remaster of Why Not is finally on its way to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 R.I.P. Marion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 At the recommendation of a friend I was just listening to this beautiful album: RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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