Cleo Brown

**Cleo Brown** was a trailblazing jazz and boogie-woogie pianist and vocalist who left an indelible mark on early 20th-century music. Born in 1909, she rose to fame in the 1930s and ’40s with her rollicking piano skills and smooth, charismatic vocals, becoming one of the first African American women to carve out space in the male-dominated boogie-woogie scene. Known for lively tracks like *Boogie Woogie* (a nod to her mentor Pinetop Smith’s style) and *Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie*, Cleo’s playful energy and technical flair earned her gigs at iconic venues and recordings with labels like Decca and Vocalion. After stepping back from music in the ’50s, she experienced a resurgence in the 1980s, reminding fans why her mellow grooves and vaudeville charm—echoed in releases like *Vaudeville Girl* and *The Stuff Is Here and It’s Mellow*—remain timeless. Though she passed away in 1995, recent compilations and reissues, including *Here Comes Cleo* and *Living in the Afterglow*, keep her legacy swinging for new generations.