2 Brown sisters: africa and maggie brown

Saturday, September 27

TIME: 3:00pm-4:00pm

VENUE: Augustana Lutheran Church. 5500 South woodlawn ave.

2 BROWN SISTERS: AFRICA and MAGGIE BROWN

African and Maggie Brown love doing what they do best together- singing with theatrics on stage. These “2 Brown Sisters” energetically merge their foundations in jazz, with the melting pot of their mixed musical upbringing. The Brown sisters’ performance is a harmonious vocal blend, radiating sisterly love and their often comical chemistry on stage. Always enjoyable and steeped in a rich musical legacy, The 2 Brown Sisters are thoughtful when fashioning a show. Africa & Maggie Brown are the two youngest of seven children by singer, songwriter, playwright: Oscar Brown, Jr. Carrying on his prolific legacy means using their talents to “edutain,” offering insights into history, culture and life. Their shows encompass a world music sensibility, blending genres from classic jazz bebop and ballads, to spoken word and folk tales set to driving grooves and Afro-Cuban rhythms. While it would be enough to simply introduce the world to a treasure trove of poetic, musical material from the Brown family vault, these siblings are focused on bringing new arrangements and harmonies to the material. Audience members witness sisters who love sharing not only a Dad, but also the reins of carrying on in the traditions: Music traditions. Storytelling traditions. Keepers of Cultural traditions. Chicago Jazz Royalty traditions.

Maggie Brown

Maggie Brown is an accomplished singer, songwriter, stage director, producer, and educator. Chicago Tribune’s Howard Reich has called her “one of the most fiercely committed artists in Chicago.” Miss Brown always embodies a powerful and passionate performance, whether she is presenting with her own trio or with Orbert Davis’ 60-piece Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra. She has recorded with Abbey Lincoln, Jonathan Butler, Ramsey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, and her legendary father, Oscar Brown, Jr.  

In 1995, Miss Brown launched her own independent label, MagPie Records, and released her first solo project, From My Window, which was nominated for a Chicago Music Award for Best Jazz CD. Before Oscar Brown, Jr.’s passing, the father-daughter duo produced a live concert recording together, called We’re Live, which was released internationally. 

In her hometown of Chicago, Miss Brown is called on to bring authenticity and integrity to whatever the job calls for. She works with a diverse list of bandleaders including Tom Tom Washington (South Side Big Band), Joan Collaso (11 Jazzy Divas), and Douglas Ewart (AACM Inventions Ensemble). Though her upbringing is rooted in jazz, she is comfortable singing various genres including blues, gospel, pop, and even rap, with impressive conviction and flow. It is hard to put Miss Brown in a single category or genre. It is easy, however, to see that she is a seasoned artist and a true entertainer.

Africa Pace Brown

Africa Pace Brown was born in the show business spotlight. The daughter of music performers & 1960’s cultural icons Oscar Brown, Jr. and Jean Pace, theannouncement of her birth, and the intended political statement of her name, made the cover of JET Magazine. Growing up on the road with her parents, it was not long before Africa made an early start in professional theater. At the tender age of eight, she became the youngest Joseph Jefferson award winning actress for her originating role of Eve in her Dad’s musical In De Beginning. The play ran almost a year at the Body Politic theatre in Chicago. Initially observing and eventually working with her family as they produced concerts and plays, prepared her for a life in the Arts which comes quite naturally to Africa. It has also prepared her to take on the mantle and step up to the challenge of carrying on a legacy. She has honed her natural born talents in singing, acting and, in recent years, added African drumming. For six years, she was a former company member of Ayodele Drum & Dance Company: a high energy, powerful, female based troupe through which Africa learned African dance as well as mallet technique on the African DunDun drum set.

Before his passing in 2017, Africa studied and performed in concert with revered composer, multi-instrumentalist, educator: Kelan Phil Cohran. Through his mentorship, Brown broadened her vocal range and skills, embodying creative music to add to her roots in jazz, soul and theater. In 2012, Africa was a featured dancer and sang in Cohran’s 20+ choir at Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, for a tribute to Sun Ra. In 2015, again at Pritzker, Africa was part of the 50th Anniversary concert activities surrounding the AACM (Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians).

Africa may be heard on a concert recording with her dad & sister, Maggie Brown, on the ESP Disk release: WE’RE LIVE. As it turns out, this debut recording for Africa, was to be the only time either of his daughters released a recording with their father. Africa and Maggie were on stage in April, 2005 performing in Chicago at the Hideout with their legendary Pop - at what was to be their last concert all together - before his passing a month later.

The musicians: