Maurice “MoBetta” Brown
Saturday, September 27
TIME: 7:00pm-8:15pm
VENUE: West stage. midway plaisance at south ellis ave.
A photo of Maurice “MoBetta” Brown standing against a black background looking to the left and wearing orange tinted glasses, silver chain, and glittery black suit. Followed by a close-up photo of Maurice “MoBetta” Brown playing the trumpet, eyes closed, wearing orange tinted glasses.
Maurice Brown
Trumpet sensation Maurice “MoBetta” Brown orbits simultaneously through three worlds: contemporary jazz, blues-rock, and cutting-edge hip-hop. He’s a mastermind as a trumpeter, composer, arranger, and producer. When Brown picks up his horn, his soulful melodies soar into a rarefied space that marries be-bop to hip-hop and rock, creating that distinctive Maurice “Mobetta” Brown sound. Brown continues to chart his own musical course, demonstrating constant evolution, crossover fluidity, and an intuitive vision that lights a fire under traditional jazz, adds sonic brass to rock ’n' roll, and creatively pushes the production envelope in hip-hop.
As a teenager, Brown won the national Miles Davis Trumpet Competition, prompting a move from his native Chicago to Louisiana, where he studied under legendary clarinetist Alvin Batiste and recorded his critically acclaimed debut, Hip to Bop, which foreshadowed his unique talent for creating fresh, bop-inflected jazz with an urban pulse. Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina forced him to relocate yet again, so he took his horn to New York, where he established himself by recording with Aretha Franklin, Wyclef Jean, De La Soul, Macy Gray, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Lettuce, and The Roots. His second album, The Cycle of Love, was named one of the best records of the year by NPR and the Huffington Post, and when he was invited to join the newly formed Tedeschi-Trucks Band, he soon won a Grammy for his horn arrangements on the band's debut album.
Brown’s immersion into hip-hop as musician/producer/lyricist culminated in the release of Maurice vs. Mobetta and, later, The Mood. Brown performs widely, including at a sold-out run at San Francisco’s Black Cat, at a six-show residency at New York’s famed Blue Note, alongside Grammy award-winning superstar Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals on their worldwide tours, with jazz megastar Kamasi Washington at the Hollywood Bowl, Barclay’s Center, and at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and on the Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel, The Daily Show, and The Colbert Report.
The musicians:
Maurice “MoBetta” Brown - trumpet