Photograph courtesy of T.A. Cryer/ John Latham/ Sandy Brown Newsletter
Sandy Brown was born in Izatnagar, near Bareilly in India on 25th February 1929 where his father, John Brown was working as a Traffic Manager for the Indian Railways. His mother was Williamina Ward Brown (nee Henderson). The family home was in Wishaw, Scotland, south-west of Glasgow, but on their return from India, Sandy, his parents and his brother Jimmie went to live at 4 Abercorn Crescent in Edinburgh.
From there, Sandy went to Edinburgh's Royal High School. He taught himself to play an Albert System clarinet and with friends from the school, including Stan Greig, Al Fairweather and Stu Eaton he formed his first band in 1943.
On leaving school, Sandy did National Service with the Royal Ordnance Corps and then returned to Edinburgh where he studied at Edinburgh College of Art for a Diploma in Architecture. In the evenings he played jazz with his re-formed band.
In October 1949, Sandy's band made its first (now rare) recordings that appeared with other recordings made in 1950 on the S&M (Swarbrick and Mossman) label. The recordings were followed by a major concert in 1952 at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh where the band played the first half of the concert and Big Bill Broonzy the second half. In 1953 they travelled to London to take part in a National Jazz Federation concert at London's Royal Festival Hall.
When the rest of the band returned to Edinburgh, Al Fairweather stayed in London and joined Cy Laurie's band, but soon afterwards Sandy was appointed as Acoustic Architect to the B.B.C. (British Broadcasting Corporation) and returned to London with his wife, Flo. He formed a new band with Al and other London musicians, and continued to record. They developed their music within the 'traditional' jazz format, but introduced new tunes of their own, some such as 'African Queen' utilising themes from West African music. Their milestone 1957 record McJazz, made up of original compositions by Sandy and Al, was named in 1959 in the Melody Maker journal as one of the twelve greatest jazz recordings of all time.
Other recordings followed - Al and Sandy, Doctor McJazz, and The Incredible McJazz, accompanied by radio broadcasts and tours, but by the mid-1960s jazz bands were experiencing difficulties in finding work as the music of Rock and Roll, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones grew in popularity.
In 1966, Al Fairweather left to join Acker Bilk's Jazz Band whilst Sandy continued to play with a variety of bands and make a number of broadcasts in the London area. His acoustic architectural company 'Sandy Brown Associates' was a successful concern and his working and clarinet playing life continued to be demanding.
That year (1966) Sandy recorded a live set in Nottingham with the Brian Lemon Trio issued as 'Splanky', and in 1969 he recorded with visiting American Blues Pianist, Sammy Price - the two takes of 'In The Evening' are quite magnificent and essential listening.
1971 saw Sandy recording an entire LP just backed by the Brian Lemon Trio, also essential listening.
In 1974, Sandy flew to New York to record with Dill Jones, Major Holley, Eddie Lock and ex-Count Basie band members including Earle Warren, Eddie Durham and Bill Dillard. No-one realised that Sandy was very ill and a year later he died of a heart attack brought on by malignant hypertension. He was almost 46 years old. He died sitting in his armchair in front of the television with a glass of whisky and watching Scotland play England at rugby.
Whilst Sandy himself admired the clarinet playing of Johnny Dodds and Barney Bigard, Dr John Latham has argued that Sandy Brown had a clarinet style of his own and was the most original musician to emerge in British jazz music (see Forum page).
He missed his Albert clarinet when he changed to a Boehm, but developed a power of playing that was marked by a fierce vibrato or lip trill that he used from time to time, and freak high notes and upper harmonics that he achieved by biting hard on the reed. It was losing his upper teeth as a young man that allowed him to put extra pressure on the mouthpiece, and Sandy used his lack of teeth to spectacular advantage!
In October 2005, B.B.C. Radio Three featured Sandy in its 'Jazz Legends' series and B.B.C. Radio Scotland in a series 'From Be-Bop to Hip-Hop'.
Further details of Sandy's life and career can be found in his discography, and his autobiography The McJazz Manuscripts.
Details of current recordings can be found on the Recordings page. A Newsletter about Sandy Brown is produced and mailed out monthly by Dr. John Latham.