David M. Brown was born in New Orleans in October 1957, and grew up in
the suburb of Metairie. He began playing music professionally in 1972 in
a wedding and dance band called "The Cabarets", one of the later
offshoots of the kid's jazz band "Dunk's Honky-tonks". David played
bass, guitar and tenor banjo, performing swing, Dixieland, pop and other
styles with "The Cabarets", in virtually every VFW, American Legion and
DAV hall in the Greater New Orleans Area, and popular wedding places
like the Balcony, the Arrow and Champagne rooms, etc. David also played
with many other bands in addition to "The Cabarets", particularly the
"Third Line Jazz Band, both of which still played street jazz for the
marching clubs for their Mardi Gras and St. Patrick's day parades.
He joined the Musicians Union in 1977 and began playing with groups such as "The Lloyd Alexander Orchestra", "The Original Crescent City Jazz Band" and many others, including the New Orleans "Summer Pops" Orchestra, the Saenger-Orleans Theater and Tulane Summer Lyric Theater pit orchestras, and even special jobs such as playing with the ghost band version of the "Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra" and backing up such names as Bob Hope and Neil Sedaka, and many more. Many of these performances were at the finest hotels and ballrooms in New Orleans, and often were on board the Steamer President, the Natchez, Cotton Blossom, and other riverboats. In addition to jazz and other styles of music commonly played in New Orleans, David was interested in ethnic and world music since the 1970's. As a member of a Sicilian-American family, David had played mandolin since his teenage years, even being featured as a soloist with the Summer Pops. By 1976 he had gotten interested in Greek bouzouki, after being introduced to Greek music by a Greek-American musician friend. By 1984 David and his wife Barbara had formed the first Klezmer band in New Orleans, "Klezmania", which worked regularly until the Browns left for California in 1991. Additionally, David was active in the Middle Eastern scene and also spent many years playing Cuban music with bands such as "Santiago", "Pedro Cruz", "The Songo All-stars" and others, particularly at the Jazz and Heritage Festivals from 1976 to 1990. David's formal musical education consists of a BA and a Master's in Music from the University of New Orleans; his informal education was from old master musicians such as guitarist Danny Barker, trombonist/conductor Milton "Whitey" Bush, trumpeter Dalton Rousseau, guitarists Roger Filiberto, Les Wise and Hank Mackie, and many others. By 1991 David had moved to Ft. Bragg CA, and soon began working at Lark in the Morning, where he still is employed. In California he has played with many bands, including "Zincali", "The Alta California Orchestra", "Safe Sax", "Pura Vida", "Mambo This!", "Bal Anat", "Habiru", "Phil Lawrence", and of course has led his own traditional New Orleans Jazz and Hot Swing band, "The Big Easy". He also writes arrangements and plays with Mickie Zekley's "Take A Dance" ECD band, and teaches the occasional workshop. 
With the tragic damage to New Orleans and its culture after Hurricane Katrina, and the scattering of the musicians of New Orleans around the country, David is concerned about the future of the unique music of his home town; he is now working to preserve traditional jazz as he was taught to play it - hot, funky, and guaranteed to make you feel good. RecordingsMendo TwilightFolksongs From An Imaginary Land Music for Meditation vol 1 Music for Meditation vol 2 The Big Easy Jazz Band Jazz standards with a New Orleans flavor.
Music and ScoringNew Composition MP3sPerformance GroupsDavid Brown And The Krewe Of SoundThe Big Easy - Music Of New Orleans 
Scholarly ArticlesThe OudThe Saz Central Asian Stringed Instruments Middle Eastern Violin Hawaiian Music The Balalaika Basic Info for Mey or Duduk The Gadulka Iranian Strings Middle Eastern Shawms Tres & Cuatro The Mandocello Chinese Flutes Transverse Flutes Afro-American Percussion Oriental Oboes and Shawms LinksDavid's Tribe Net PageDavid's My Space Page
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Email David
David M Brown
Fort Bragg, California 95437 • USA
(707) 961-1788