Melanie Brooks

Biography

Born in Hartland, Wisconsin, Melanie Howell-Brooks lives in the Boston area and performs throughout New England and internationally. She enjoys playing across a variety of genres from jazz to classical, rock to pit orchestras. Most notably she has appeared with a number of world-class artists including Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Johnny Mathis, the Grammy-winning 8-Bit Big Band, Grammy-winning Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra, Jerry Bergonzi, David Liebman, Marshall Gilkes, Tiger Okoshi, Walter Smith III, Antonio Sanchez, Miguel Zenón, Anat Cohen, Charlie Rosen, Steven Feifke, Bijon Watson, and Oliver Lake. She also has appeared as a featured soloist with the Waltham Symphony Orchestra. While she predominantly appears on the baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, she also frequently plays other flutes, clarinets, and saxophones. She also speaks and understands Japanese at an intermediate level.