Six Brown Brothers

Six Brown Brothers
Top portion of an ad with Tom Brown in blackface and his clown band, the Six Brown Brothers, for the 1920 Broadway musical Tip Top.
Background information
Origin	Lindsay, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Vaudeville
Years active	1913–1933
Past members	William Brown Tom Brown Alec Brown Percy Brown Fred Brown Vern Brown

The Six Brown Brothers were a Canadian vaudeville era saxophone sextet consisting of six brothers.

History

The brothers comprising the Six Brown Brothers were, William, Tom (1881–1950), Alec, Percy, Fred, and Vern Brown. The Brown Brothers lived in Lindsay, Ontario until 1893. The first instrumentation consisted of a saxophone quintet (bass, baritone, tenor, and 2 alto saxes. A soprano sax was never used with the group, except as a feature for Tom Brown). The group began working at circuses, and later worked in minstrel and vaudeville shows, and then on Broadway. In 1913, they added a second baritone sax. Success in 1912-14 lead to touring to Scotland and elsewhere in Europe. Additional non-family members also played with the group.

After they broke up in 1933 only the leader, Tom Brown, continued as a musician but with limited success.

External links

• Six Brown Brothers on RedHotJazz website
• Six Brown Brothers: Those Moaning Saxophones (Archeophone Records 6002)
• Listen: The Six Brown Brothers in a 1918 recording of When Aunt Dinah's Daughter Bangs on the Piano begins Big Band Serenade podcast 147; Brother Groups Part 1
• Jay Easton History