BIOGRAPHY

Melanie Brown is a DMV/ Baltimore based saxophonist who specializes in funk and jazz performance. She started her journey in jazz right before high school with the Blues Alley Youth Orchestra’s summer camp. She continued playing in jazz ensembles through high school all the way to college where, in 2013, she joined the Towson University Jazz Ensemble and enrolled in the Jazz Performance program. In those 4 years she was under the tutelage of former Jazz Ambassador Jim Mcfalls, Dave Ballou, Jason Rigby,Darryl Brenzel, vocalist Sara Jones, and many of the other talented faculty from Towson. While attending Towson she found her footing with Joe Keyes and the Late Bloomer Band where she received hands on experience performing for large audiences, was educated in the basics of funk music, played on the same stage with influential artists like David Bowie of Dfunkt and FishBone, and eventually became the lead alto player and vocalist for the band. Once she graduated in 2017, Melanie began to take on her first saxophone students, worked with other local bands like Da Aftermath Band and BFDS, and did studio projects on the side. In 2019 she attended Howard University and spent a year enrolled in the Jazz Performance masters program . During that time she was under the tutelage of Charlie Young and played with the Howard University Jazz Ensemble under the instruction of Fred Irby where she gained a deeper understanding of the jazz theory, pedegogy, and performance. During that time she had recorded her first collection of songs with The Late Bloomer Band. In 2020 at the height of the pandemic Melanie continued her studies with Bruce Williams, an influential saxophonist who shared the stage with the late Roy Hargrove. Currently, Melanie is actively performing with The Late Bloomer Band, Bachelor Boys, as well as taking gigs and accepting private students.