Ernest D. Brown, Jr.

Associate professor of music, received the Ph.D. in music from the Ethnomusicology Program at the University of Washington in 1984. In 1969 he received the B.A. in philosophy from Harvard University. He also took graduate courses in ethnomusicology at UCLA. He is Co-Director of Kusika and Director of the Zambezi Marimba Band.

His research includes articles on music in Trinidad, Black children's gamesongs, and relationships between African and African-American musics. His dissertation was on Zambian royal xylophone and drum bands, and he is currently writing about the impact of African performers, such as Miriam Makeba, on American music in the1960s. He conducted research in Zambia in 1974-76, and received a Fulbright Fellowship for research in Zimbabwe in 1987. He conducts short-term research projects in Trinidad, Cuba, and Ghana.

He has been at Williams since 1988. Courses taught include "Music Cultures of the World," "History of Jazz," "History of African-American Music, and " Black Music and Post-modernism." Co-taught "Musics of the 20th Century." Brown has also taught at Harvard University, Mt. Holyoke College, and Northeastern University.

As a performer, he has studied Zimbabwean marimba and mbira music from Dumisani Maraire and Ephat Mujuru, and Ghanaian drumming with master drummer Obo Addy.

Links (open in a new window)
- Music 130 History of Jazz Page