# Rob Brown (saxophonist)

Rob Brown (born February 27, 1962) is an American free jazz saxophonist and composer.

## Life and career

Brown was born in Hampton, Virginia on February 27, 1962. He started playing saxophone at the age of 12. His first gigs were with a local Virginia swing band. He eventually studied at Berklee College for two years, and worked privately with both Joe Viola and John LaPorta. After a year on the west coast, Brown relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, where he met pianist Matthew Shipp. He moved to New York in 1985, where he enrolled at New York University, earned a music degree, and studied with saxophone masters such as Lee Konitz, but the teacher who had more influence on Brown conceptually was Philadelphian Dennis Sandole. Brown travelled to Philadelphia by rail once a week to study with him for a year and a half.
His first issued recording was the duet with Shipp Sonic Explorations (1988), and since then has been actively leading groups or working as a sideman with Shipp, William Parker, Whit Dickey, Joe Morris and Steve Swell.
He is a 2001 CalArts/Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize winner and has received many Meet The Composer Fund grants. In 2006, Brown was awarded a Chamber Music America New Works grant.

## Discography
### As leader/co-leader

| Release year | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
| 1988 | Sonic Explorations | Cadence Jazz | Duo with Matthew Shipp (piano) |
| 1990 | Breath Rhyme | Silkheart | Trio with William Parker (bass), Denis Charles (drums) |
| 1992 | Youniverse | Riti | Trio with Joe Morris (guitar), Whit Dickey (drums) |
| 1995 | Illuminate | Leo | Quartet co-led by Joe Morris (guitar), with William Parker (bass), Jackson Krall (drums) |
| 1996 | High Wire | Soul Note | Trio with William Parker (bass), Jackson Krall (drums) |
| 1997 | Blink of an Eye | No More | Duo with Matthew Shipp (piano) |
| 1997 | Orbit | Music & Arts | Collaborative trio with Guerino Mazzola (piano), Heinz Geisser (percussion) |
| 1998 | Scratching the Surface | CIMP | Quartet co-led by Lou Grassi (drums), with Assif Tsahar (tenor sax), Chris Lightcap (bass) |
| 2000 | Visage | Marge | Trio with Wilber Morris (bass), Lou Grassi (drums, percussion) |
| 2000 | Jumping Off the Page | No More | Quartet with Roy Campbell (trumpet), Chris Lightcap (bass), Jackson Krall (drums) |
| 2002 | Round the Bend | Bleu Regard | Trio with William Parker (bass), Warren Smith (drums) |
| 2003 | Likewise | Riti | As part of the band Stone House; trio with Luther Gray (drums), Joe Morris (bass) |
| 2004 | The Big Picture | Marge | Quartet with Roy Campbell (trumpet, flugelhorn), William Parker (bass), Hamid Drake (drums) |
| 2005 | Radiant Pools | RogueArt | Quartet with Steve Swell (trombone), Joe Morris (bass), Luther Gray (drums) |
| 2006 | We Are Not Obstinate Islands | Clean Feed | As part of the band The Diplomats; trio with Steve Swell (trombone), Harris Eisenstadt (drums) |
| 2007 | Sounds | Clean Feed | Trio with Daniel Levin (cello), Satoshi Takeishi (percussion) |
| 2008 | Right Hemisphere | RogueArt | As part of the band Right Hemisphere; quartet with Matthew Shipp (piano), Joe Morris (bass), Whit Dickey (drums) |
| 2008 | Live in Chicago | Ruby Red | Duo with Andrew Barker (drums, percussion) |
| 2008 | Crown Trunk Root Funk | AUM Fidelity | Quartet with Craig Taborn (piano, electronics), William Parker (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2009 | Live at Firehouse 12 | Not Two | Trio with Daniel Levin (cello), Satoshi Takeishi (percussion) |
| 2010 | Natural Disorder | Not Two | Duo with Daniel Levin (cello) |
| 2011 | Unexplained Phenomena | Marge | Quartet with Matt Moran (vibraphone), Chris Lightcap (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) |
| 2011 | Unknown Skies | RogueArt | Trio with Craig Taborn (piano), Nasheet Waits (drums) |
| 2014 | Day in the Life of a City | Multikulti | Trio with Daniel Levin (cello), Jacek Mazurkiewicz (bass) |
| 2015 | Divergent Paths | Cipsela | Duo with Daniel Levin (cello) |

### As sideman

| Release year | Leader | Title | Label |
| 1998 | Whit Dickey | Transonic | AUM Fidelity |
| 2000 | Whit Dickey | Big Top | Wobbly Rail |
| 2001 | Whit Dickey | Life Cycle | AUM Fidelity |
| 2001 | Alan Silva | Alan Silva & the Sound Visions Orchestra | Eremite |
| 2002 | Whit Dickey | Prophet Moon | Riti |
| 2004 | Whit Dickey | Coalescence | Clean Feed |
| 2005 | Whit Dickey | In a Heartbeat | Clean Feed |
| 2006 | Whit Dickey | Sacred Ground | Clean Feed |
| 1999 | Joe Morris | Many Rings | Knitting Factory |
| 1994 | William Parker | Flowers Grow in My Room | Centering |
| 1995 | William Parker | In Order to Survive | Black Saint |
| 1996 | William Parker | Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy | Homestead |
| 1997 | William Parker | Sunrise in the Tone World | AUM Fidelity |
| 1998 | William Parker | The Peach Orchard | AUM Fidelity |
| 1999 | William Parker | Posium Pendasem | FMP |
| 2000 | William Parker | O'Neal's Porch | Centering |
| 2000 | William Parker | Mayor of Punkville | AUM Fidelity |
| 2002 | William Parker | Raincoat in the River | Eremite |
| 2002 | William Parker | Raining on the Moon | Thirsty Ear |
| 2002 | William Parker | Spontaneous | Splasc(h) |
| 2003 | William Parker | Mass for the Healing of the World | Black Saint |
| 2005 | William Parker | Sound Unity | AUM Fidelity |
| 2005 | William Parker | For Percy Heath | Victo |
| 2007 | William Parker | Corn Meal Dance | AUM Fidelity |
| 2007 | William Parker | Alphaville Suite | RogueArt |
| 2007 | William Parker | Double Sunrise Over Neptune | AUM Fidelity |
| 2008 | William Parker | Petit Oiseau | AUM Fidelity |
| 2012 | William Parker | Essence of Ellington | Centering |
| 2013 | William Parker | Wood Flute Songs | AUM Fidelity |
| 1992 | Matthew Shipp | Points | Silkheart |
| 1999 | Matthew Shipp | Magnetism | Bleu Regard |
| 2009 | Steve Swell | Planet Dream | Clean Feed |