Jewel Brown, known most famously for her world tours singing with Louis Armstrong between 1961 and 1968, died on June 25th, she was 86 years old. Born in 1937 she was recording by the time she was a teenager, releasing singles on the Duke and Liberty record labels, and making a local name for herself in the Houston Texas area which continued to honor her throughout her life, including celebrating Jewel Brown day in 2020. She was the headliner at clubs owned by Lee Harvey Oswald’s assassin Jack Ruby. She recorded with Duke Ellington before joining Armstrong’s tour.
After leaving Armstrong’s band she had a lower profile, running several small businesses, but co-led an album with Dizzy Gillespie in 1987 and never gave up completely on music. In her later years she recorded an album with Milton Hopkins in 2012, and another solo album in 2014 and appearing at European and American festivals in 2015. Her final album revisited important songs of her career while introducing some new material. it was titled “Thanks for Good Ole’ Music and Memories”.
