Music Is My Life, politics My Mistress: the Story of Oscar Brown Jr.

A powerful and gripping portrait of the remarkable artistry and life of Oscar Brown Jr. A playful and charismatic performer, Brown is also an acclaimed jazz lyricist who worked closely with Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone and collaborated with Max Roach and Bobby Timmons on some of the most memorable compositions of the hard bop era. Beyond his musical achievements, Brown also engaged in a parallel career as a lifelong political activist of tireless strength and unceasing moral stamina, and his entire life can be read as a parable of the civil rights and Black Power eras in the United States. His lyrics touching on every subject from human dignity and childhood wonder to marijuana and cockroaches, Brown emerges as a kind of African-American Everyman.