Vintage photographs of reed multi-instrumentalists such as this artist inspired many a modern jazz player such as Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell of the AACM into assembling a large arsenal of axes. Andrew Brown, who began working in top big bands in the mid '20s, played pretty much the entire family of saxophones as well as both bass and standard clarinet. Brown played on the bass saxophone in the early days of bands such as the Cotton Club Orchestra, but was just as likely to be featured as an alto or tenor saxophonist. With Andrew Preer as one of the band's leaders, the aforementioned Cotton Club Orchestra melded into The Missourians, an outfit that Brown eventually fled in order to begin working for the wild and crazy Cab Calloway. It was in this context that Brown's comic talents began to emerge, mostly in the form of group vocals and occasional choreography. Calloway employed Brown for 15 years beginning in 1930, including an extravagently succesful European tour in 1934. This band was constantly stocked with fine musicians, including the magnificent tenor man Chu Berry. Trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie was drummed out of the Calloway band for supposedly playing "Chinese music" during his solos, but remembered Brown's talents for one of his own extended ensembles which combined intricate bebop arrangements with a style of hip, jive humor that was nothing if not straight out of Calloway. From the mid '40s Brown dropped out of performing and began running his own teaching studio in New York City. His recording appearances are many, including many Calloway discs and a variety of compilations focusing on enjoyable themes such as hemp songs.~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide