Portland Mardi Gras's Grand Marshal Is Portland's Jazz Godfather

PORTLAND, OR —Tuesday is Mardi Gras and after taking two years off because of the pandemic, the parade will be back on Mississippi Avenue. Mysti Krewe, the organizers of the parade, say it gets underway at 7 p.m.

The parade, which starts at Humboldt/Albina and continues to Cook Street by Ecliptic Brewing, will take place rain or shine.

You know that you're not in New Orleans when organizers say, "be sure to dress for dark and chilly conditions – lots of lights encouraged!"

The Krewe does promise to have "plenty of beads and a limited number of mini-umbrella throws."

After the parade, several venues along Mississippi will be hosting events.

Leading the event will be Portland jazz legend Mel Brown.

Brown was born here in 1944, the only of six brothers and sisters to be a native Oregonian after the family moved here from Arkansas.

He started drumming early on and by the time he was in high school, he was performing regularly. His big break came when he was up in Vancouver, BC performing with Tommy Chong who was then a guitarist.

Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas needed a drummer, listened to him on the phone, and hired him on the spot. He soon joined her and the others for a series of concerts in Los Angeles.

That led to a contract with Motown where he performed with legends such as Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations.

He would always return to Portland in between gigs and ended up opening Mel Brown Drums, a store in Southeast.

Brown ended up touring with The Temptations for seven years after David Ruffin left the band.He then played with Diana Ross for three years including at her infamous 1983 concert in New York's Central Park that got cut short after 30 minutes because of torrential, wind-fueled thunderstorms.

Meanwhile, Brown built his life in Portland, eventually expanding his store into a jazz camp where he nursed many young jazz musicians here..

He also started a septet that he modeled after Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as well as another group that tilted more toward be-bop and Motown.

Brown is a member of both the Oregon Jazz Hall of Fame and the Oregon Music Hall of Fame. He's also been honored by both Mayor Wheeler in 2017 and Mayor clark in 1989 with "Mel Brown Day" being declared in the city.