Browne, Brian

Websites:  http://brianbrowne.com/
Origin: Montréal, Québec
Biography:

In 1969, CBC Television produced "The Jazz Piano", a special arts programme featuring a select group of jazz pianists: Errol Garner, Bill Evans, Marian McPartland, and Brian Browne. A Canadian jazz pianist extraordinaire, Brian Browne has a unique natural gift for music that is manifested through a highly individual sense of musical artistry - a gift which granted Browne a certain membership to the distinguished company featured in the programme.
Brian Browne has produced seven recordings that have come to be treasured by those who possess them. "The Letter", issued by Capital Recordings was a recognized hit. It featured the composition "Morning Noon and Night-time Too", for which Browne won the coveted BMI Composition of the Year award in 1974. With a musical career that spans over fifty years, he has gained a reputation as a true Canadian jazz legend. Recently, he returned to Canada from a 10 year stay in New York City where his album "Live at Tramps" was recorded.

Originally from Montreal, Browne moved as a teenager to Ottawa, where his musical career soon began. By the age of eighteen he was playing in local clubs and soon had his own CBC radio programme. He studied at the Berklee School of Music and later won a scholarship to study with Oscar Peterson in Toronto. In 1986 he opened Zoe's Lounge in Ottawa's Chateau Laurier hotel and remained there for a year as musical director. He subsequently moved to New York City, where he spent several years and recorded the album "Tramps", before returning to Ottawa, where long-time fans of Browne's soulful, swinging piano sound were once again delighted by his local appearances.

Brian Browne passed away on June 5, 2018 after a long battle with lung and tracheal cancer. He kept playing and sharing his incredible gift of music to the end, and is dearly missed by the many adoring fans he gained over the years.