It's hard to separate Maggie Brown from her father, Oscar Brown, Jr. And why would anyone want to. This daughter of the legendary lyricist and performer inherited all the old man's finest qualities- the voice, the mannerisms, the spirit, and the theatricality. It is true- the fruit didn't fall far from the tree. But anyone who has experienced Maggie Brown in performance has been witness to a consummate artist with enough polish and star qualities to cast off any shadows that go along with following in Dad's footsteps.
Maggie's got her own style. With a 4-octave range, she has the ability to do more than just sing a song or deliver a lyric. She embodies every note, drawing from its deepest meaning with pure joie de vivre. When she performs, you feel it. The Chicago native made her professional acting and singing debut at the Body Politic Theatre. She studied music, theater and voice at Columbia College Chicago and has since taken her polished vocal style on the road.
In 1991, Maggie began touring both locally and nationally in her dynamic one-woman-show, LEGACY: Our Wealth of Music. LEGACY is a lively and engaging musical demonstration/lecture about the history and evolution of African-American music.
In 1998, an appearance at the Schomberg Library Center in concert with her father afforded Maggie exposure to singer/songwriter Abbey Lincoln. After witnessing Maggie's performance, Ms Lincoln proclaimed her "a great performer," and invited Maggie to perform two duets on her Wholly Earth CD, released January 1999 on the Verve label. She may also be heard in duet with Jonathan Butler on the Urban Knights II CD.
With a repertoire that finds Maggie performing in venues as diverse as the House of Blues, the Old Towne School of Folk Music, Ravinia Jazz Festival, the world renown Chicago Jazz Festival and Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center, she defies definition. Nationally she's performed at New York's Blue Note with Abbey Lincoln on two separate occassions, at Zanzibar Blue in Philadelphia, Razzels in Denver and at the Woodruf Arts Center in Atlanta, among others.
In 1995, Maggie launched her own independent label, Mag Pie Records. Her debut recording, From My Window, was nominated for a Chicago Music Award (CMA) for Best Jazz CD. The following year she was again nominated, this time for Best Jazz Performer.
Offstage, Maggie consulted in the development of the Chicago House of Blues' Blues Schoolhouse student outreach program, was consultant and artist-in-residence in The Ravinia Festival's Education Department, and worked with Columbia College Chicago's music department to develop an innovative topics course on the study of popular music and culture.
Currently, Maggie is promoting a documentary film ("Music Is My Life, Politics My Mistress: The Oscar Brown, Jr. Story"), and a live concert recording which she produced at HotHouse in Chicago. The CD entitled "We're Live" is the second release from Mag Pie records (2002) and the first recording of Maggie and her father. This historic concert recording is now more precious than ever, as it would become the last recording of Oscar Brown, Jr. before his death May 29, 2005.
The good news is that with Maggie Brown, the melody not only lingers on, but it's getting louder.
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