Marion Brown (September 8, 1931[1] – October 18, 2010)[2] was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist.

[7] In 1956, he returned to Atlanta and enrolled at Clark College, where he studied music,[7] taking lessons from Wayman Carver.

[5] During this time, he began listening to musicians such as John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, and Archie Shepp, all of whom he would soon meet and come to know.

"[4] According to writer Aldon Lynn Nielsen, Brown's "conversations with Baraka and Shepp aided them in their thinking through of the relationships between the American jazz avant-garde and African musical traditions.

[8] In 1964, Brown performed with Shepp and Bill Dixon in "Four Days in December", a series sponsored by the Jazz Composers Guild.

[24] While in Europe, Brown met and befriended Gunter Hampel, and in 1968 they recorded the soundtrack for Marcel Camus' film Le temps fou, with a band featuring Steve McCall, Barre Phillips, and Ambrose Jackson.

[33] In the early 1970s, Brown also recorded a trilogy of albums influenced by poet Jean Toomer, reflecting on his southern upbringing, in which "images of the Georgia countryside, many of them drawn from Toomer's poetry, and improvisational techniques of African, AfroAmerican, and European provenance enrich and revivify one another:",[34] ECM),[35] Geechee Recollections (1973, Impulse!

),[36] which featured Leo Smith and Steve McCall among others; Sweet Earth Flying (1974, Impulse!, named after a line in a Toomer poem),[37][38] which featured Muhal Richard Abrams and Steve McCall among others and November Cotton Flower ( 1979 Baystate Japan ) with Hilton Ruiz.

Reviewer Robert Palmer wrote: "The trilogy as a whole is an exemplary demonstration of how... a thoughtful artist can explore a 'subject' through a variety of techniques, processes, and formal disciplines.

[34] During the 1970s, Brown also recorded with Archie Shepp (Attica Blues, 1972[39] and Attica Blues Big Band Live At The Palais Des Glaces, 1979[40]), Leo Smith (Duets, 1973[41]), Elliott Schwartz (Duets and Soundways, both 1973[41][42]), Stanley Cowell (Regeneration, 1975[43]), Harold Budd (The Pavilion of Dreams, 1976[44]), and Grachan Moncur III (Shadows, 1977[45]).

In 1972 and 1976, Brown received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, which he used to compose and publish several pieces for solo piano, one of which was based on poetry from Jean Toomer's book Cane.

[22] In the 1980s, Brown continued recording, and also began focusing on drawing and painting, exhibiting his artwork at a number of shows.

[7] His charcoal portrait of blues guitarist Blind Lemon Jefferson[46] was included in an art show called Jus' Jass at Kenkeleba Gallery in New York City, which also included works by artists such as Romare Bearden, Charles Searles and Joe Overstreet.

Indie rockers Superchunk included a song called "Song for Marion Brown" on their album Indoor Living,[52] and Savath and Savalas released a piece entitled "Two Blues for Marion Brown" as part of Hefty Records's Immediate Action series.

In 2007, High Two released portions of the concert with studio versions as Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown.

Hip hop and electronic producer and DJ RJD2 sampled Brown's piece "Who Knows" (1968) on his track "Smoke & Mirrors" (2002).

"[56] With Harold Budd With John Coltrane With Stanley Cowell With Burton Greene With The Group (Ahmed Abdullah, Brown, Billy Bang, Sirone, Fred Hopkins, Andrew Cyrille) With the Gunter Hampel All Stars With Grachan Moncur III With Archie Shepp