Mel Brown and Gordon Lee with the PJCE at Montavilla Jazz Festival at Portland Metro Arts

A celebration of their thirty-three year musical partnership, Mel Brown and Gordon Lee reunite to perform Lee’s original works arranged for this performance with the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble. Mel Brown was born in Portland in 1944. In high school Brown was involved with the Portland Junior Symphony. He later attended Portland State University, and during that time played/recorded with Billy Larkin & The Delegates on Aura/World Pacific/Liberty Records. Brown graduated from Portland State University and moved to Vancouver where he got a steady gig playing with the guitarist Tommy Chong...

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A celebration of their thirty-three year musical partnership, Mel Brown and Gordon Lee reunite to perform Lee’s original works arranged for this performance with the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble. Mel Brown was born in Portland in 1944. In high school Brown was involved with the Portland Junior Symphony. He later attended Portland State University, and during that time played/recorded with Billy Larkin & The Delegates on Aura/World Pacific/Liberty Records. Brown graduated from Portland State University and moved to Vancouver where he got a steady gig playing with the guitarist Tommy Chong. Martha Reeves happened to be at one of his gigs and hired him in 1967. Brown’s time with Martha Reeves led to a contract with Motown Records, and led to Brown recording with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Martha and the Vandellas, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, and Marvin Gaye.

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