Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Jewel Brown was born on August 30, 1937 in Houston, Texas and her first professional performance was at the age of 12 in the Manhattan Club in Galveston, Texas. Before she graduated from Jack Yates High School Lionel Hampton heard her sing and offered the opportunity to tour professionally in Europe.

In 1957 while on a vacation in Los Angeles, California, Jewel sat in with organist Earl Grant at the Club Pigalle and he hired her that night. Their collaboration lasted for a year. She went on to work for nightclub owner Jack Ruby in Dallas, Texas.

In the Sixties she was offered singing positions with Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, and she chose the later, appearing with Armstrong in the films, “Louis Armstrong and All Stars” and “Solo”.

Brown recorded an exuberant solo of “Jerry” and vocal backup and “twist choreography” on “When the Saints” on the 1962 live performance “Jazz Festival, Vol. 1 with ‘Louis Armstrong All Stars”, “With Louis Armstrong: Best Live Concert 1: Jazz In Paris” and also recorded with Milton Hopkins.

She retired in 1971 to care for ailing members of her family, establishing a successful hair salon in Houston. In recent years she has revived her career, singing in the Heritage Hall Jazz Band.

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