Meet Miss Velzoe Brown

When I moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to the little village of Felton, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, I was motivated to get into the jazz music scene. Bob Smith, a trumpeter that had played with many West Coast big bands in the 1940s-1960s, told me there was someone I had to meet.

“I want to introduce you to a cool hip lady pianist I know. Miss Velzoe Brown. Come to her birthday party and bring your bass. You’ll be inspired. She’s 96, going on 29.”

My wife and I attended the party. Wow! Velzoe was surrounded by over 50 friends, students, and fellow musicians. She knew everybody by name, had a kind word for each of us, and led the jam session with unbridled energy. On that day it’s not an overstatement that we fell under her spell. Time shared with Velzoe was always time well spent.

Velzoe typically played gigs once a week at various retirement homes, care facilities, private parties, and civic functions. Her band was ‘Velzoe and the Upbeats.’ I shared bass duties with David. Penny was a regular, playing sax and singing. If you played with the Upbeats, Velzoe had a magenta and a burgundy top made for you. I never saw her perform in any other colors.

There’s a lot I can say about Velzoe. She was a good painter, able to recite long passages of poetry and prose by memory, had a dozen active students, was the artist in residence for the Port Washington Music Festival for 13 years, was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award by the regional jazz society, and entertained tens of thousands of people with her music and funny stories.

Velzoe was a good landscape painter.

Velzoe always had big birthday parties. On her 100^th birthday the legendary Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz staged an event that exceeded the 225-person capacity of the venue. The managers of the Kuumbwa jokingly promised they would host all future birthday parties for Velzoe. They kept their word for 101.

In her last few months, she had a steady flow of visitors and well-wishers. My wife and I were regulars. Pictured here, Velzoe and I with her cat, Bilbo the Eighth. She had lots of cats and she just decided to call them all Bilbo.

About ten months before her passing she showed me some old pictures of her in various bands. She started playing professionally at age 16 and never had another job. She’s the girl on the far right.

Velzoe’s primary instrument was trombone, but she played all the instruments next to her in this photo.

I love this shot of her on drums!

Velzoe started playing piano when she was six years old. Even though she was proficient on numerous instruments, piano became her favorite.

I took a photo of her sitting in her favorite chair looking at a picture book about three months before her passing. It was a very nice day for us. Rest in Peace Miss Velzoe Brown. March 1, 1910 – May 4, 2011.

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