Faculty & Staff

LEONARD BROWN

Associate Professor, Department of Music and African American Studies
Ph.D. Wesleyan University

Department of African American Studies
213A Lake Hall
(617) 373-4128
(617) 373-2625 (fax)
l.brown@neu.edu

Areas of Study:
Music of the African Diaspora, African American Music, African Music, Afro-Caribbean Music & Culture, John Coltrane, Jazz, Improvisational Music, Music of Cuba.

Selected Publications:

Boston’s Jazz Legend: The Al Vega Story. self published, June, 2011.

John Coltrane and Black America’s Quest for Freedom: Spirituality and the Music. Oxford University Press, August, 2010.

Sacred Music for Secular Space: The Triumph of the Soul: Cultural and Psychological Spects of African American Music. edited by Ferdinand Jones and Arthur C. Jones, Praeger Publishers, CT, April 2000.

Kansas City…And All That’s Jazz. Andrews McMeel Publishers, Kansas City, MO, April 1999.

Selected Professional Activities/Awards:

Guest Lecturer, Congressional Black Caucus Symposium “Modern Jazz Musicians and Black America’s Quest for Freedom”, Washington, DC, September 2011

JazzBoston Honorary Award for continuing legacy of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert, 2009

Resource Team and Associate Member, International Association for Jazz Education

Co-founder, producer, and performer: Annual John Coltrane Memorial Concert, 1977-present

Upcoming Courses and Recent Courses Taught:
Fall 2011

AFRS 1128 The African Experience through Music

AFAM 1135 John Coltrane and Black America’s Quest for Freedom

Spring 2012

AFAM 2345 The Black Experience in the Caribbean