Jazz Singer, Writer, and Actor Oscar Brown Jr. Dies

Featured Shows

Classic Arts News Jazz Singer, Writer, and Actor Oscar Brown Jr. Dies Oscar Brown Jr., a jazz and rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, died on May 29 at 78, according to an announcement on his web site. He died after being hospitalized for osteomyelitis, a bone infection.

By Ben Mattison

May 31, 2005

Brown appeared with such major jazz figures as Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderly; he collaborated with drummer Max Roach on the groundbreaking album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. He was also known for writing lyrics for such instrumental pieces as Bobby Timmons' "Dat Dere," Mongo Santamaria's "Watermelon Man," and Miles Davis's "All Blues."

In addition, he hosted the television show Jazz Scene U.S.A in the early 1960s.

Brown was also a political activist, poet, and actor. He wrote a series of musicals, some of them performed by troubled Chicago teenagers.

Explore Classic Arts:

- More Classic Arts News