Brown Calculus with Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble
Featuring arrangements by Darrell Grant, Charlie 3rown, Darian Anthony Patrick and special guests!
Brown Calculus is a Gemini duo defying genres and expectations. Rooted in the Black ancestral tradition of spiritual jazz with its trance inducing qualities the duo crafts sounds geared to enwrap the listener in love, a joyfulness that we can’t wait to share with audiences. Bolstered by PJCE’s 12-member ensemble and arrangements by Darrell Grant, Charlie 3rown, Darian Anthony Patrick and special guests, this show brings together an incredible cast of collaborators. The Expansion Archives refreshes and scales up some of Brown Calculus’ earliest songs with the addition of PJCE’s large ensemble. But the goal isn’t just bigger—audiences should be ready for a dynamic and reimagined Brown Calculus experience.
Program subject to change.
Performance details:
The Expansion Archives | Thursday, October 13th, 2022
Brown Calculus with Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble
Featuring Brown Calculus songs arranged by Darrell Grant, Charlie 3rown, and Darian Anthony Patrick
8:00 pm PST, 7:00 pm doors | Polaris Hall | 635 N Killingsworth Ct, Portland, OR 97217
Advanced: $15 Youth Under 30, $25 GA Advance, $30 Supporter, $5 Arts for All
Day of Show: $18 Youth Under 30, $28 GA, $13 Students with ID, $5 Arts for All
Artist Bios
Born into a family of musicians and artists, Andre Burgos was exposed to an eccentric mix of sounds starting at a very young age. His parents were constantly listening to Jazz, Latin, Folk, and Classic Rock, while his siblings introduced him to Hip Hop, Reggae, Afro-Beat, Funk, and Salsa. Growing up in Philadelphia in the 90’s, Hip Hop resonated the most with him initially, and in realizing that it draws so much from all other genres it became foundational in his approach to music going forward.
Starting formally in Puerto Rico in 2007 before landing in Portland, OR in 2009 he has engaged in unending study in practice of piano, theory, production, recording, digging, djing and listening which have helped him to cultivate a unique approach and sound that are all his own. Playing keys and writing collaboratively in local outfits ‘Tribe Mars’ and ‘The Pariahs’, as well as countless beatmaking sessions and live performances over the years with Alex Meltzer and Omari Jazz have helped him to dial in a more performance based approach to creating, recording, and performing loop based music.
Unconventional rhythmic structures, elements of improvisation, jazz harmony, and rhodes-soaked psychedelic soundscapes are woven together with samples, synths and found sounds to make up Burgos’ solo music, recorded under the moniker ‘Brown Calvin’. He also makes up 1/2 of the intergalactic duo Brown Calculus along with vocalist Vaughn Kimmons (Brown Alice).
Vaughn’s artistic career began in 2013 when she moved to Portland, OR from her hometown, Chicago, IL. It was then that she formed a music project with friends called POPgoji, a band based in traditional Brazilian rhythms, contributing vocals and songwriting. Being a member of POPgoji and later, jazz-hip hop fusion band Tribe Mars, helped her establish a voice in the Portland music community. She strengthened this voice via friendship with composer and beatmaker Andre Burgos (Brown Calvin), ultimately forming the intergalactic duo, Brown Calculus.
Kimmons is a multi-disciplinary artist who also explores digital collage, new media and performance art. She celebrates Blackness as the cosmic source of sacred inspiration and gives voice to the connective power of shared human nuance. She explores the concept of authenticity and its influence on human spiritual and emotional development. Her work seeks to unpack the issues that challenge self-actualization within Black communities, examining historical and current contexts that have stifled and transformed our identities.
Ensemble musicians include:
John Savage, alto sax and flute; Mieke Bruggeman, bari sax and bass clarinet; Peter QB, tenor sax; James Powers, trombone; Chris Shuttleworth, trombone; Noah Simpson, trumpet; Alex Meltzer, bass; Charlie 3rown, piano; Machado Mijiga, drums; Darian Anthony Patrick, percussion.
