First Monday Jazz with Larry Brown, Jr.

First Monday Jazz with Larry Brown, Jr.

To celebrate 10 years of First Monday Jazz, Arts + Public Life audiences will be treated to a year of live jazz performances.

When you encounter a musician as gifted as LARRY BROWN, JR. you understand why he is a rare find. His talent stands out amongst the rest. He is the game changer that is pushing musical boundaries in a refreshingly new direction. As an artist, composer, producer, and educator Brown is in a lane all his own. It was in the small town of Venice, IL that he, at 5 years old, began plucking the strings of his father’s guitar. The rest was history as he ventured on to pursue his dreams.

In 2009, Brown graduated with his Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from Northern Illinois University. While under the tutelage of his mentor, Ron Carter, Brown was exposed to and influenced by several jazz legends such as Russell Malone, Pat Martino, Bucky and John Pizzarelli and John Scofield. Brown was also heavily inspired by 7-string guitarist Rick Haydon; whom he studied with as an undergraduate student attending Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Brown has played across the country and abroad in festivals such as the St. Louis Jazz Festival, JVC Jazz Festival New York and Lima, Peru Jazz Festival as well as locally at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival and Englewood Jazz Festival. He’s also an Alumni of the Better Carter Jazz Ahead Residency in The Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.

Brown has released two albums of his original music.

His debut album, “There Can Only Be One”, released in 2011, Brown is taking a more daring approach with his follow-up “The Music & The Moment (2015). Listeners describe his music as an seismic infusion of jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel and rock that uniquely resonates with a greater purpose.

Brown has recorded on countless albums and is credited as producer on several acclaimed jazz records like Carolyn Fitzhugh’s Simply Amazing and his work with the Chicago Jazz Soul Collective are their new album “On The Way To Be Free” in May of 2022.

Brown has been recognized with several awards, including the Woody Herman Humanitarian Award from Birch Creek Music Performance Center and is continuing to make an impact with music students around the world. He serves as part of the guitar faculty through the Ravinia Family Music Schools across Chicago, focusing primarily on the city’s westside neighborhood Homan Square. He serves as a clinician and guitar faculty with Carter’s Jazz Clinics in addition to being a contributing writer of “Teaching Music Through Jazz Vol. 2 and the upcoming release of Vol 3.