Biography
Singer and songwriter Brother John Sellers cultivated a distinctive folk approach that wove together blues, jazz, and gospel. Born May 27, 1924, in Clarksdale, MS, he first appeared in gospel tent shows and absorbed live performances by blues figures Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson while growing up. Gospel great Mahalia Jackson discovered him, after which Mississippi-born Sellers accompanied the singer back to Chicago. There he shared bills with Jackson and blues singer Big Bill Broonzy, joining the latter for recordings made in Europe. Numerous gospel sides preceded his move into secular repertoire. In 1954 Vanguard Records issued the LP Brother John Sellers Sings Blues and Folk Songs. He also released Let Praise Arise on Birdwing and contributed to Ella Jenkins’s A Long Time to Freedom. Following the European tour, Sellers immersed himself in the folk community of New York’s Greenwich Village. Choreographer Alvin Ailey soon entered his circle, initiating an extended partnership that encompassed the dance works “Revelations” and “Blues Suite.” Sellers took the stage in the Broadway mounting of Langston Hughes’ Tambourines to Glory and joined Chicago writer Studs Terkel for lecture appearances throughout the late ’50s and early ’60s. Brother John Sellers died in Manhattan on March 27, 1999, at the age of 74.
Albums
