Cliff Brown

Cliff Brown is an American jazz guitarist whose left-handed approach to playing the guitar is quite unique. Born and raised in Washington D.C., Cliff experimented with trumpet and played percussions in neighborhood groups before taking up the guitar. He eventually enrolled at Howard University in 1979 and earned a Jazz Studies Degree by 1984.

Brown developed his musical skills and interpretations through associations with saxophonist Greg Osby, trumpeter Wallace Roney and drummer Winard Harper to name a few contemporaries while at Howard. He also performed in clubs in the D.C. area  (most notably with organist, vocalist Sedatrious Brown). Brown had a brief stint in the U.S. Navy Band stationed in Seattle Washington ('84-'88) before settling in Los Angeles and recording a CD with members of the Hard Bop jazz group Black Note in 1993. He continued his musical studies in the master's degree program at California State University, Los Angeles. Cliff Brown's verstility as a guitarist has allowed him to work and record with artist such as Barbara Morrison, Freda Payne, Johnny Gill, jazz drummers Willie Jones III, Jeff Hamilton, James Gadson, bassist Mohini Dey, vocalist Howard Hewitt and keyboardists Wayne Linsey and Gail Jhonson to name a few. In 2023 he recieved the JazzZone Jazzabration Living Legend Award at The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles for more than twentyfive years of dedication in the field of jazz, composition and musical performance.