Bross Townsend

Bross Elvie Townsend, Jr. (October 18, 1933, Princeton, Kentucky - May 12, 2003, New York City) was an American jazz and blues pianist.

Townsend's father was also a pianist, who started his son on the instrument at age seven. He moved to Cleveland in 1933 and attended the Cleveland Institute of Music in addition to accompanying local singers such as Little Jimmy Scott and Wynonie Harris. He played freelance from 1953 with Gene Ammons, John Coltrane, Memphis Slim, and Jimmy Reed. Townsend was active in New York City from 1959 almost up until his death in 2003; he worked there with Warren Smith (in the Composer's Workshop Ensemble), Carrie Smith, Bubba Brooks, Woody Herman, Diana Ross, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre, Arvell Shaw, Bob Cunningham, and Bernard Purdie, in addition to performing solo. He did several tours of Europe as a solo performer. Townsend went blind in the middle of the 1990s but continued to perform. His only album as a leader was 1995's I Love Jump, released on Claves Jazz.