As long as she's living, Mill Valley jazz singer Linda Kosut will show her affection, and loyalty to Oscar Brown Jr., the great singer/songwriter who composed Brother, Where Are You?, The Snake, and Dat Dere. She's paying homage to her hero with a show, "Long As You're Living: the Songs of Oscar Brown Jr." at Jazz at Pearl's in North Beach, on Nov. 16. She's backed by the Max Perkoff Jazz Ensemble. San Francisco is the launching pad for her tour with the show. Last month, Linda and Oscar Brown's beautiful songs appeared at the Piedmont Piano Company on Third Street and Townsend in S.F., and at Anna's Jazz Island in Berkeley.
But the Jazz at Pearl's show will be a bit different. Maggie Brown, Oscar Brown Jr.'s daughter, will appear with Linda Kosut, and sit in on a few numbers. How cool is that?
"I was about fifteen years old when my brother brought home Oscar Brown Jr.'s two albums, Sin & Soul, and Between Heaven & Hell," Linda says.
"I played them over, and over, and over."
Linda, a smooth contralto, was always singing. "I've been performing Mr Kicks, and Dat Dere for years," Kosut recalls. "I was in New York not long ago when my fiancé told me to start a new project because I was impossible to live with. I wanted to do a new cabaret show that featured some Oscar Brown Jr. songs. Then the idea of doing a whole show of his songs hit me."
Oscar Brown Jr. died in his hometown of Chicago in May of last year after a long illness. He would have been 80 years old last month. He wrote more than 1,000 songs.
Kosut contacted Brown's publisher, Carlin America, to see if she could obtain the sheet music for Brown's songs. The marketing director, named Bob Golden, asked her what her address was, and said, "You owe me nothing." This was beginning to look like a providential adventure for
Kosut. She reached Brown's family in Chicago, and told family members that she was dedicated to getting Oscar Brown Jr.'s music "out there."
Linda asked, "What would you think of a nice, white Jewish girl from New York doing an Oscar brown Jr. show?"
Their response: "He would have loved it."
Kosut went to Chicago to spend time with the Brown family, including his daughter, Maggie, and Oscar's grandchildren. Somewhere along the way, Maggie agreed to sing with Linda at the Nov. 16 show at Jazz at Pearl's.
Paula West, the San Francisco jazz singer, has also been a big devotée of Oscar Brown Jr.s' music, and performed with him a couple of years back at the Herbst Theatre. Another well-known interpreter of his songs is New York-based Karrin Allyson, who collaborates with
keyboardist/lyricist Chris Caswell. Chris is also Paul Williams' music director. Paul, the legendary, Hall of Famer songwriter, had a successful run last month at The Plush Room. Chris, at the piano, dazzled the audience.
Linda Kosut says Oscar Brown Jr., who was also an actor and playwright, was the original rap singer, who did not play the game. "He did not want to be handled," says Kosut. "He did not want to be manipulated. Maybe that's why he did not achieve super-stardom. He was very
committed to his mission, which was equality. He wanted the kids in the projects to wake up, and get a good life."
His contentiousness goes back to the biting satire of songs like Forty Acres and A Mule.
"What appeals to me," Linda says, "is that he was a keen observer. He was wry, whimsical yet serious. As a white girl, I think it's important for me to perform Bid 'Em In, Brown's lacerating song about the slave market."
Linda includes some 18 songs in her Oscar Brown Jr. show, such as Brother, Where Are You? ... Column of Birds ... Opportunity, Please Knock ... Tree and Me ... Call of the City ... Summer in the City ... Hazel's Hips ... The Snake ... and Love Is Like A Newborn Child.
Long As You're Living: Songs of Oscar Brown Jr., featuring singer Linda Kosut, with the Max Perkoff Jazz Ensemble with Max Perkoff on piano & trombone, Tom Shader, bass, David Rokeach, drums, & Randy Vincent on guitar -- Thurs. Nov. 16, at Jazz at Pearl's, 256 Columbus in North Beach, San Francisco ... 8 p.m. & 10 p.m. Two drinks, reservations are a must. For more, www.jazzatpearls.com.
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