Vernon Brown

Who was Vernon Brown?

Vernon Brown was an American jazz trombonist.

Brown played in St. Louis with Frankie Trumbauer in 1925-26, and moved through a variety of groups in the late 1920s and 1930s, including those of Jean Goldkette, Benny Meroff, and Mezz Mezzrow. Brown joined Benny Goodman's orchestra in 1937 and remained there until 1940; while he only soloed occasionally with Goodman, he became particularly well-known through this association. Following this he worked with Artie Shaw, Jan Savitt, Muggsy Spanier, and the Casa Loma Orchestra.

In the 1940s, Brown switched focus from swing to Dixieland, playing often in studio recordings and working with Sidney Bechet. He led his own band in the Pacific Northwest in 1950 and did reunion tours with Goodman in that decade. He worked with Tony Parenti in 1963, and remained a studio musician into the early 1970s.