Thinking About: Oscar Brown Jr.

by Anthony Medici in Honoring Lives, Opinion Posts, Uncategorized

There has always been a relative paucity of male jazz singers.  This is one area of jazz where women dominate.  The only male jazz singer today who commands my respect, if not always my appreciation, is Kurt Elling.  His “Man in the Air” is masterful, and leagues above what any other male jazz singer is doing.  Elling’s respect to Mark Murphy is admirable; his infatuations with Jon Hendricks is less well-advised.  But Elling is generally adenturesome and often fearless, and for that, he is worthy of respect and attention.  Most others are to busy trying to channel Sinatra.  In any event, this blog post is about another master jazz vocalist, Oscar Brown Jr.  Brown died a few years ago, and I am afraid may already be slipping into relative obscurity.  Not for lack of talent; more likely for an abundance of political consciousness. 

These thoughts were prompted by a listening session that included Brown’s “Movin’ On” and “Brother Where  You.”   Brown’s music blends soul, blues, jazz, and even a dash of pop.  It is earthy and strong and often moving, especially when he deals with issues of social and political importance.  And Brown is fearless in addressing issues of race, poverty and social inequality.  Such political fearlessness is a rare thing in jazz singing.  Yes, there are noteworthy instances:  Billy Holiday singing “Strange Fruit,” for example.  But, generally speaking, there is a low political quotient in the songs that most jazz singers choose to sing. (But read Art Taylor’s revealing series of interviews with jazz artists, collected as, “Notes and Tones,”  where powerful feelings of frustration and bitterness over race in America, are candidly exposed).  Most listeners to jazz singing want the Great American Songbook, and, by golly, that’s what they get.  Brown wasn’t afraid to sing about some harsher realities than broken-romances (although he sang about those too, in his own candid way). 

At one time, Brown was, like many writers and artists of his time, a member of the Communist Part, but eventually broke away, commenting that he was “too black to be red” (Richard Wright had the same experience).  But Brown’s concern with race and class in America was deep and abiding.  It is a strong thread that binds together his body of work. 

In some ways, Brown is not a strictly jazz singer (if there is such a thing).  A variety of musical forms flow through his songs.  But in his best work, Oscar Brown Jr. brings together deep personal commitment, an insistent sense of swing, and an alertness to the world around him that few others match.