Blues Alley on Wednesday, April 29th. The LARRY BROWN Quintet with guest vocalist Bonnie Harris!

[Larry Brown]

All are invited to Blues Alley on Wednesday night, April 29th to see The LARRY BROWN Quintet perform live. This will be their sixteenth appearance at Blues Alley, but the first in DC since winning their second Wammie last month for "Best Jazz Group" for 2008. Shows are at 8:00 and 10:00. The Quintet features Larry Brown (piano), Kent Miller (bass), Greg Holloway (drums), Kyle Funn (trumpet) and Peter Fraize (tenor sax). Also appearing with the band will be jazz vocalist Bonnie Harris and DC's own Rob Holmes (tenor sax).

If you come for the 8:00 show you can stay for the 10:00 show (completely different) without paying an additional cover. Students get into the 10:00 show half price with a student ID. Reservations are encouraged, so please call 202-337-4141.

Washingtonian magazine says, “Larry Brown is a pianist whose rendering of ballads is particularly moving”. Regardless, he has assembled one of the finest straight-ahead jazz groups in the Mid-Atlantic region which was recognized by the Washington Area Music Association (WAMA) as the Best Jazz Group for 2008. In May of 2008 Larry celebrated the release of his latest CD, “Peace” (Lush Life Records) with a CD release party at Blues Alley in Georgetown. The group’s previous release, “Hard Bop Café” was recognized by WAMA as the Best Jazz Recording for 2006 with a Wammie award. The group, which reprises the hard-bop style of the legendary Blue Note era, was recognized with a Wammie for Best Jazz Group that year as well.

Larry Brown’s 2002 release, “The Long Goodbye”, has received airplay all over the country, as well as in Brazil and Russia. In 2002 Larry received Wammie nominations for Best Jazz Group, Best Jazz Instrumentalist, and “The Long Goodbye” won the award for Best Jazz Recording. Recorded at National Public Radio, npr, the Washington Post says of this CD, “there’s no mistaking the music’s seductive allure”.

The Washington Post calls pianist Larry Brown “an artist deserving of greater exposure”. In 2000 Larry appeared on the national jazz cable channel BET On Jazz show “Jazz Discovery” where he won in the instrumentalist category. He has also appeared on their show “Jazz Scene” as a featured artist. In 2000 Larry received Wammie nominations for Best Jazz Group, Best Jazz Instrumentalist, and Best Jazz Recording (“Dryden Street Sessions”), also recorded at npr. The Post says Brown “evokes the master touch on this consistently entertaining collection of jazz trio performances”.

As an undergraduate at Towson University Larry studied with Stan Kenton’s favorite arranger/composer, Hank Levy. He performed with and composed for the lauded Towson University Jazz Ensemble. With a Bachelors Degree in Music Theory Larry attended graduate school at Catholic University, where he received his Master of Music degree after studying Composition and Electronic Music with the legendary Emerson Myers.

A post be-bop jazz pianist, Larry lists his major influences as Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly, and Miles Davis. After graduate school Larry toured with his trio “Spice of Life”, vocalist George Chapin, and other local bandleaders. In 1996 Larry joined James Bazen’s Music Unlimited Big Band. Having released three CDs of its own, that band enjoys a regular Tuesday night gig in the Washington DC area and features some of DC’s finest jazz musicians.

Larry records exclusively on Lush Life Records and his recordings are produced by Jerry O’Sullivan.

Visit the official web site for the Larry Brown Quintet
http://www.larrybrownjazz.com

Larry Brown 7-07b.jpg