Christopher Brown Quartet plays at the Jazz Station in Eugene
Unearthing the Extraordinary: Original compositions inspired by ordinary people who went the extra mile to change the world around them.
- John Nastos alto saxophone
- Greg Goebel piano
- Garrett Baxter bass
- Christopher Brown drums
Christopher Brown is an acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, and educator who seeks to be a voice within the advocacy of Jazz and American culture. And through the expansive range of groups that he has assembled and/or performed with—which range from duos to Jazz big bands to military marching bands and orchestras—his musical and personal experiences have led him toward an interest in synthesizing the principles of Jazz with the daily practicalities of life. Which as he likes to say, “we’re all in the same business...the people-trusting-people business. No people, no business.” The Early Years Born and raised in Portland, OR Christopher’s life in music was cultivated at an early age between his father [Mel Brown] and the healthy culture of Jazz that surrounded him in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. And as such, he’d go on to garner numerous local, state, and national awards, one of which was for having assembled a trio that won the top high school small group award by Down Beat Magazine in 1995. And other memorable events included things such as sitting in with people such as Wynton Marsalis on their performances and being cast as an extra in the 1993 movie “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” starring Richard Dreyfuss. Military Following high school, Christopher enlisted into the U.S. Marine Corps as a drummer for four years, followed by 16 in the Army National Guard as a principle-saxophonist and drummer across two units before his retirement in 2017. Education Christopher holds two degrees in Jazz Studies from Rutgers University, followed by a four-year appointment as a professor of Jazz Theory and history from his alma mater. He has also served as an artist in-residence within Wells Fargo’s “NJPAC Jazz For Teens” program (NJ), Mt. Hood Jazz Camp (OR), Mel Brown Jazz Camp (OR), Litchfield Jazz Camp (CT), Rutgers Summer Jazz Institute (NJ), Montclair Jazz Camp (NJ), and the International Summer Music Camp (Brno, Czech Republic). Christopher currently serves as the Jazz Drums instructor at Portland State University (OR) and directs the Metropolitan Youth Symphony’s (OR) Jazz program. And lastly, he has co-created a course for Portland State University’s MBA program entitled “Business Innovation Through Jazz Improvisation.” Performances Over the course of Christopher’s career, he has had the pleasure of performing and/or recording with many of the world’s top performers and recording artists, such as Beyonce, Esperanza Spalding, Shoshana Bean, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Delfeayo Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Heath, Ralph Bowen, Ralph Peterson Jr., Conrad Herwig, Steve Turre, Paquito D’Rivera, Claudio Roditi, Charles Fambrough, Benny Golson, Bobby Watson, Terry Gibbs, Buddy Defranco, Vincent Herring, Javon Jackson, Stanley Cowell, Antonio Hart, David Sanborn, Geoff Keezer, James Genus, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Don Alias, Don Braden, Victor Goines, Anthony Wonsey, John Lee, Delbert Felix, Vic Juris, Lonnie Plaxico, David Leibman, Sean Jones, Marquis Hill, Gerald Clayton, Arturo O’Farrill, Randy Brecker, Chuck Israels, George Colligan, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, John Patitucci, Cyrus Chestnut, Kamasi Washington, Orrin Evans, Samus Blake, Ben Williams, Ruben Rodgers, Aaron Goldberg, Sara Gazarek, and Mel Brown. Aside from Christopher’s first big musical break coming in the form of a month-long European tour with Roy Hargrove’s Quintet in the summer of 2006, he has also spent some more time in front of the camera between commercials for Master Card and the History Channel, re-enactment scenes on the Maury Povich show, Beyonce’s “Count Down” video, and the big budget film “American Gangster,” starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. And he currently sits on the Ambassador Council board for Habitat for Humanity (Portland Region) and “TASTE for Equity” (OR).
