Mr. B. (Mark Braun)
Encyclopedia
Mr. B. is an American musician.
, Mark Lincoln Braun was the youngest of the three children of Phil and Sally Braun. He became interested in the piano through recordings that his father had played and began studying under the likes of Boogie Woogie Red
and other famous area musicians. Between listening to records as well as the local musicians, and receiving one on one instructions from the local musicians, Braun's music career had begun. Mark began playing by listening and watching the local musicians perform at local venues and private lessons. Whilst immersing himself in the blues and boogie traditions and culture, Braun graduated from Flint Southwestern High School and was accepted into the prestigious University of Michigan
. After completing three years towards a Bachelor of Arts
in History degree, Braun decided to drop out and pursue a career in blues and boogie woogie style piano.
Track Listing:
1. My Sunday Best
2. Deep Excavation
3. Little Brother
4. Swanee River Boogie
5. La Piragua
6. Blues for a Carpenter
7. Thunder & Lightning Boogie
8. When I Lost My Baby
9. New 44 Blues
10. Roll 'Em Pete
11. Deep South Blues
12. My Sunday Best
Track Listing:
1. Hallelujah Train
2. Brauny
3. One Room Country Shack
4. My Sunday Best
5. Little Brother
6. Down the Road Apiece
7. Mardi Gras in New Orleans
8. Air Mail Special
9. La Bailarina
10. Deep Excavation
11. B's Boogie Woogie
Track Listing:
1. Pinetop's Boogies
2. When the Saints Go Marching In
3. After Hours
4. Jimmy's Stuff
5. Cow-Cow Blues
6. Honky Tonk Train Blues
7. Sunnyside of the Street
8. Vicksburg Blues
9. Chicago Breakdown
10. My Babe
11. St. Louis Blues
campus. His most famous act is the 'Cheek to Cheek Boogie' where 2 people boogie on one piano switching positions. Until recently his only partner in this act was Bob Seeley
.
as a young adult, and learned to play rock
and pop
piano
at age 15, but was converted to blues
and boogie by a Jimmy Yancey
record
his father gave him.
Mr. B. is a dedicated blues piano revivalist, recording
tunes made famous by Yancey, as well as Little Brother Montgomery
, Professor Longhair
, Mercy Dee Walton, Amos Milburn
, and Sunnyland Slim
, among others.
Early life
Born in Flint, MichiganFlint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
, Mark Lincoln Braun was the youngest of the three children of Phil and Sally Braun. He became interested in the piano through recordings that his father had played and began studying under the likes of Boogie Woogie Red
Boogie Woogie Red
Boogie Woogie Red was an American Detroit blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. He variously worked with Sonny Boy Williamson, Washboard Willie, Baby Boy Warren, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, John Lee Hooker and Memphis Slim.-Biography:He was born Vernon Harrison in Rayville,...
and other famous area musicians. Between listening to records as well as the local musicians, and receiving one on one instructions from the local musicians, Braun's music career had begun. Mark began playing by listening and watching the local musicians perform at local venues and private lessons. Whilst immersing himself in the blues and boogie traditions and culture, Braun graduated from Flint Southwestern High School and was accepted into the prestigious University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. After completing three years towards a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in History degree, Braun decided to drop out and pursue a career in blues and boogie woogie style piano.
My Sunday Best
1994 - This is another trio date with Kurt Krahnke (bass) and Andy Conlin (drums). Also featured prominently is the legendary drummer, Roy Brooks. "The changes in direction serve to literally amaze the listener, taking them through a range of moods and colors that are generally not experienced in such a setting. Truly, in Braun's hands, musical genres are bent into a pervasive whole, with no regard for anything but the purity of intention and the transference of joyous emotion … this is musical empathy at its best. This is not just a case of a local boy making good, this is a statement of a world class musician playing for his hometown fans." Detroit Metro Times Magazine. Recorded live at the Kerrytown Concert house in Ann Arbor, Michigan.Track Listing:
1. My Sunday Best
2. Deep Excavation
3. Little Brother
4. Swanee River Boogie
5. La Piragua
6. Blues for a Carpenter
7. Thunder & Lightning Boogie
8. When I Lost My Baby
9. New 44 Blues
10. Roll 'Em Pete
11. Deep South Blues
12. My Sunday Best
Hallelujah Train
Released on 3 September 1996 - Mr. B meets the Bird of Paradise Orchestra. This was an exhilarating and challenging collaboration, a mix of original and standard compositions all presented in unique arrangements for a 16 piece band. "From the opening 'Hallelujah Train' to the practically unbelievable 10 minutes of sheer energy in the finale, 'B's Boogie Woogie,' this album kicks out all the stops." - Louisiana Country Magazine. Recorded live.Track Listing:
1. Hallelujah Train
2. Brauny
3. One Room Country Shack
4. My Sunday Best
5. Little Brother
6. Down the Road Apiece
7. Mardi Gras in New Orleans
8. Air Mail Special
9. La Bailarina
10. Deep Excavation
11. B's Boogie Woogie
Mr. B Live
Mr. B Live at the Kerrytown Concert House 2002 - This is a solo date and the first since B's BOUNCE in 1984. This set features many of the great standards of the blues and boogie school recorded in front of an audience on a beautiful Steinway model C at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor. The Concert House has featured dozens of luminaries from the world of jazz piano, and this recording documents a highlight in their series. Mr. B returns to his roots for straight ahead blues and boogie piano playing at its finest.Track Listing:
1. Pinetop's Boogies
2. When the Saints Go Marching In
3. After Hours
4. Jimmy's Stuff
5. Cow-Cow Blues
6. Honky Tonk Train Blues
7. Sunnyside of the Street
8. Vicksburg Blues
9. Chicago Breakdown
10. My Babe
11. St. Louis Blues
Cheek to Cheek
Mr. B. has been visiting Ann Arbor for the annual art fair. This was technically his first act. Every year he brings his bike transported up right piano and plays songs on the U of MUniversity of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
campus. His most famous act is the 'Cheek to Cheek Boogie' where 2 people boogie on one piano switching positions. Until recently his only partner in this act was Bob Seeley
Bob Seeley
Bob Seeley is an American boogie woogie pianist.-Biography:Seeley has played piano at Charlie's Crab in Troy, Michigan, just outside of Detroit, for over three decades. He has played Carnegie Hall several times, and major venues throughout Europe...
.
Career
He moved to Ann ArborAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
as a young adult, and learned to play rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
at age 15, but was converted to blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and boogie by a Jimmy Yancey
Jimmy Yancey
James Edwards "Jimmy" Yancey was an African American boogie-woogie pianist, composer, and lyricist. One reviewer noted him as "one of the pioneers of this raucous, rapid-fire, eight-to-the-bar piano style"....
record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
his father gave him.
Mr. B. is a dedicated blues piano revivalist, recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
tunes made famous by Yancey, as well as Little Brother Montgomery
Little Brother Montgomery
Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and blues pianist and singer....
, Professor Longhair
Professor Longhair
Professor Longhair was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist...
, Mercy Dee Walton, Amos Milburn
Amos Milburn
Amos Milburn was an African American rhythm and blues singer and pianist, popular during the 1940s and 1950s...
, and Sunnyland Slim
Sunnyland Slim
Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew was an American blues pianist, who was born in the Mississippi Delta, and later moved to Chicago, Illinois, to contribute to that city's post-war scene as a center for blues music...
, among others.