The Jazz Guitar of

Andy Brown

Biography

Andy Brown is a guitarist based in Chicago. Born in New York City in 1975, he has played professionally for over twenty years. He has had a varied performing career that has included stints in Cincinnati and New York.

Since coming to Chicago in 2003, Andy has been fortunate to work at many of the area's finest jazz venues with his own bands, as well as playing his unique brand of solo jazz guitar. He has... read more →

Press

"Inspiring music-making isn't necessarily loud, aggressive, self-aggrandizing or heavily promoted. Consider what happens early every Wednesday night at Andy's Jazz Club, where the superb but serenely understated Chicago guitarist Andy Brown leads a quartet. Like him, his band mates speak softly but poetically. Brown's pastel tones, softly stated melody lines and delicately rolled chords conveyed remarkable intimacy and the guitarist's solo on "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" made a strong, soulful case for melodic simplicity... read more →

News [updated June 2023]

Hoping this finds you well and enjoying the beautiful start of summer. I fortunate to have a full plate of live jazz offerings that I wanted to let you know about.

This Tuesday, June 6 I'm really excited to be playing a duo concert at SPACE in Evanston with the amazing vocalist Petra van Nuis. I've been fortunate to play at SPACE several times and I'm thrilled to present this duo concert there with Petra! We have so many beautiful and soulful tunes to get to and I can't wait. Everything about this wonderful Evanston mainstay is top-quality and I know it will make for a terrific listening experience. One set only starting at 7:30pm.

Petra and I are headed to Michigan next Friday, June 9 to play at one of our favorite venues - the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor. We'll be reuniting with Michigan's all-star bassist and drummer Paul Keller and Pete Siers. These guys are the greatest, and the KCH is another top-flight venue. Spread the word to your Ann Arbor friends!

Wednesday, June 21 I'll be back at Winter's Jazz Club for my monthly "Andy Brown and Friends" series. This night is going to be hot! I'll have Eric Schneider on reeds, Clark Sommers on bass and George Fludas on drums. The focus of the music that evening will be Swing To Bop: From Count Basie To John Coltrane. Winter's is such a fantastic listening room and these nights are so much fun for the musicians and audience.

On Friday, June 23 I'll be playing an action-packed set with my trio featuring Joe Policastro on bass and Bob Rummage on drums at the 35th Elkhart Jazz Festival in Elkhart, IN. I've played at this festival many times and I'm honored to be invited back to perform with my trio. We play from 5pm-6:15pm at the Library Atrium Stage. Road trip!

I had the pleasure of taking part in a couple of different lesson-style interviews over the last couple of months. The first one was with the fabulous guitarist Adam Levy. You've heard Adam's guitar playing on Norah Jones' bestselling Come Away With Me album, as well as on countless other projects. He's a major YouTube presence with his Adam Levy Guitar Tips channel and recently he interviewed me for it. We discussed all things solo guitar, check it out here:

My friend Tw Li recently started a fantastic instructional YouTube channel called Player to Player. He's got a plethora of really interesting and insightful interviews with several great jazz artists. He has been posting segments from a long chat we had with more to come. You can check them out here:

With all this action I don't want to overlook the regular gigs where you can find me at the moment:

Mondays - Joel Paterson and Friends at the Green Mill from 8PM - 12AM. Joel is a wonderful fellow guitarist and we explore a variety of genres from jazz/western swing/blues/country. With Beau Sample on bass and Alex Hall on drums. (I'll be absent 6/26 & 7/3))

Wednesdays - Petra van Nuis/Andy Brown voice/guitar duo at Hemmingway's Bistro in Oak Park from 6PM-9PM. Hemmingway's is a fantastic restaurant and Petra and I so happy to perform for their Wednesday jazz nights. (I'll be absent 6/7 & 6/21)

Thursdays - Solo Jazz Guitar at Chicago's famed Green Mill Cocktail Lounge. I play behind the bar for the cocktail hour show from 5PM - 7:15PM. No cover, tasty drinks, and I take requests!

Sundays - Andy Brown Quartet at Andy's Jazz Club. Sunday Sets in Jan/Feb 2023 are at 7PM and 9:15PM. With drummer Phill Gratteau, bassist Joe Policastro and pianist Jeremy Kahn. We just recorded our second quartet CD. Look for a Summer 2023 release!!

I also have some other really cool gigs in May with various leaders. More info about these can be found on my schedule page.

I'm regularly posting new video to my YouTube page.

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