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Clifford Brown

He was the most brilliant trumpet player of his generation, an original and memorable composer, a dynamic stage presence and one of the authentic legends of modern jazz.

Clifford Brown was born October 30, 1930 in Wilmington, Delaware. As a young high school student Brown began playing trumpet and within a very short time was active in college and other youth bands. By his late teens he had attracted the favorable attention of leading jazzmen, including fellow trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Fats Navarro.

At the end of the 40s he was studying music at Maryland University and in 1952, following recovery from a serious road accident, he made his first records with Chris Powell and Tadd Dameron. In the autumn of 1953 he was a member of the big band Lionel Hampton took to Europe. Liberally filled with precocious talent, this band attracted considerable attention during its tour. Contrary to contractual stipulations, many of the young musicians moonlighted on various recordings and Brown in particular was singled out for such sessions. Back in the USA, Brown was fired along with most of the rest of the band when Hampton learned of the records they had made. Brown then joined Art Blakey and in mid- 1954 teamed up with Max Roach to form the Clifford Brown- Max Roach Quintet. The quintet was quickly recognized as one of the outstanding groups in contemporary jazz and Brown as a major trumpeter and composer.

At a time when many modern jazz trumpeters sought technical expertise at the expense of tone, Brown, in common with his friend and paradigm, Navarro, had technique to spare but also developed a rich, full and frequently beautiful tone. At the same time, whether playing at scorching tempos or on languorous ballads, his range was exhaustive. He was enormously and brilliantly inventive but his search for original ideas was never executed at the expense of taste. In all his work, Brown displayed the rare combination of supreme intelligence and great emotional depths. His playing was only one aspect of his talent; he was also a fine composer, creating many works that have become modern jazz standards. Although his career was brief, Brown's influence persisted for a while in the work of Lee Morgan and throughout succeeding decades in that of Freddie Hubbard. Fortunately for jazz fans, Brown's own work persists in the form of his recordings, almost any of which can be safely recommended as outstanding examples of the very best of jazz. Indeed, all of his recordings with Roach are classics.

During his remarkable three year run, Brown made more than a dozen albums among the ones on the EmArcy label are Brown & Roach Inc (1954), Study in Brown (1955), Clifford Brown With Strings(1955), A Study in Brown(1955) Clifford Brown All Stars (1956), Memorial Album (1956), Clifford Brown & Max Roach at Basin St. East (1956), and Pure Genius (1956) these are prime models of the art of jazz trumpet. There are many compilations available, as are box sets as the Complete Blue Note-Pacific Jazz (Mosaic) and the EmArcy 10 disc set Brownie: The Complete Clifford Brown.

Many of his compositions became standards, including the uptempo “Daahoud,” reflective “Joy Spring”, and “Sandu.” His version of “Cherokee” though not his composition, is still considered the definitive one. Benny Golson did a memorable “I Remember Clifford,” a moving tribute to the young trumpeter, and is a perennial jazz favorite.

Clifford Brown had established himself as the most potent trumpeter in jazz to arrive on the scene since Dizzy Gillespie. Equally influenced (and encouraged) by Fats Navarro and Gillespie, Brown possessed both a remarkable technique for high-speed playing, with every note perfectly placed and formed, and also a beautiful lyrical ballad style. He developed an innate sense of solo form, a rich tone, and a virtuoso technique in all trumpet ranges. His style included brilliant high notes, high rhythmic detail, and a generous incorporation of grace notes and varied inflections, all of which he played with rare grace and ease. He was especially noted for the melodic qualities of his improvising, which often flowed in long phrases. His impact and influence on the jazz world is only matched by his artistry on the trumpet.

On June 26th, 1956, while driving between engagements during a nationwide tour, Brown and another quintet member, pianist Richie Powell, were killed in a road accident. Clifford Brown was twenty five years old. Source: James Nadal

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Where Clifford Brown Learned to Play: Love In A Wilmington Neighborhood

by Arthur R George
June 20, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 Robert “Boysie" Lowery was trumpeter Clifford Brown's first music instructor in the early 1940s, and mentored decades of young musicians thereafter in jny: Wilmington, Delaware. He taught as a sideline to club work, a resource for his community but caring not so much about being paid for his lessons. That generosity continues with the eighth year of a tuition-free Boysie Lowery Living Jazz Residency, in conjunction with the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, which ...

History of Jazz

Clifford Brown’s Trumpet and One Summer in Atlantic City

by Arthur R George
June 3, 2021

Part 1 | Part 2 For 22-year-old trumpeter Clifford Brown, the summer of 1953 in jny: Atlantic City, New Jersey, was transformative. Playing with bebop elders, he cumulatively opened the door for what came next: a groove-oriented swinging style, in which small groups used structured arrangements like big bands, with room for improvisation, but less frenzy. It became known as hard bop, or “mainstream." In early June, Brown went to jny: New York City at the ...

New York Beat

92nd Street Y Jazz in July: The Music of Clifford Brown

by Nick Catalano
July 26, 2019

The Y's Jazz in July programing this summer included an evening celebrating the music of Clifford Brown on July 23rd—a treat for me as it was one of the few such tributes I've seen since Oxford U. published my biography of Brownie over a decade ago. The production included a panorama of Brownie photos projected onto the stage's big screen and some knowledgeable commentary from the series' director Bill Charlap. The musical aggregation amassed for the evening included ...

Radio & Podcasts

Birth of Hard Bop (1954 - 1958)

by Russell Perry
June 25, 2019

While the “Cool School" was emerging on the West Coast from its roots in Bix and Pres as codified by Miles in The Birth of the Cool sessions of 1949-- 1950, what became known as Hard Bop, a gospel-and blues-influenced variant was growing from Bebop in the east. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Miles Davis Quintet “Doxy" from Bags Groove (Prestige) 3:13 Miles Davis Quintet “Airegin" from Bags Groove (Prestige) 8:04 Host speaks 13:01 Art Blakey Quartet “Once in ...

New York Beat

Clifford Brown and Max Roach in 1954: New Research

by Nick Catalano
June 13, 2016

Jazz history is all about revisionism. New material about musicians--biographical information, newly discovered recordings and photos, corrected anecdotes and stories -are some of the areas where history is constantly evolving. This is an important process and writers should always be aware of it and report its occurrences. Since I published my book on Clifford Brown Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter (Oxford University Press, 2000) I have been contacted by individuals who ...

685

Building a Jazz Library

Jazz With Strings

by Roger Crane
February 28, 2015

Please note the title of this collection. It does not include symphony orchestras playing jazz compositions. Nor does it feature what is known as “third stream" music, which is the combination of jazz and classical elements for what is hoped to be a unified whole. No, just like the title says, this collection includes jazz musicians performing jazz with string sections. Jazz-with-strings is where the passion of jazz meets the power of an orchestra. This musical genre ...

Film Review

Brownie Speaks: A Video Documentary: The Life, Music, and Legacy of Clifford Brown

by Victor L. Schermer
September 11, 2014

Brownie Speaks: A Video Documentary: The Life, Music, and Legacy of Clifford Brown Glanden Productions 2014 This thoroughly researched and fascinating documentary about legendary jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown reveals the full scope of the man and his music through extensive interviews, recordings, photos, and both new and archival film and video footage. It is the result of the labor and devotion of Don Glanden, pianist and Division Head of Graduate Jazz Studies at The University ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Clifford Brown's birthday today!

He was the most brilliant trumpet player of his generation, an original and memorable composer, a dynamic stage presence and one of the authentic legends of modern jazz. Clifford Brown was born October 30, 1930 in Wilmington, Delaware. As a young high school student Brown began playing trumpet and within a very short time was active in college and other youth bands. By his late teens he had attracted the favorable ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Clifford Brown's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Clifford Brown's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2019

All About Jazz is celebrating Clifford Brown's birthday today!

Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
read more

Video / DVD

Weekend Extra: Clifford Brown

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
April 20, 2019

The recent post featuring the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet in the 1950s led a couple of Rifftides readers to suggest that we hear more of Brown’s sparkling trumpet playing. He became a major jazz artist before his death at 26 in an automobile accident in 1956 and has been a major influence on every generation of trumpet players since. Let’s listen to his composition “Tiny Capers,” with Clifford leading an ensemble that also includes Zoot Sims, tenor saxophone; Bob Gordon, ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2018

All About Jazz is celebrating Clifford Brown's birthday today!

Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2017

All About Jazz is celebrating Clifford Brown's birthday today!

Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
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Event

Brownie Speaks At Burlington Discover Jazz Festival!

Source: Don Glanden
May 31, 2017

Brownie Speaks: A Video Documentary will be presented at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival on Sunday, June 4 beginning at 3 PM. The 90 minute screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director Don Glanden. The event will take place at: The BCA Center, 135 Church Street, Burlington, VT. The event is free and open to the public. A native of jny: Wilmington, Delaware, jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown made an outstanding and influential contribution to music. In an ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown

Source: Michael Ricci
October 30, 2016

All About Jazz is celebrating Clifford Brown's birthday today!

Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
read more

TV / Film

Brownie Speaks Screening At The Monterey Jazz Festival on September 17

Source: Don Glanden
September 11, 2016

Brownie Speaks: A Video Documentary about jazz legend Clifford Brown will be screened at the Monterey Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 17, 2016 at 5:30 PM. The event, which will include a Q&A with producer/director Don Glanden, will take place at the Jazz Theater. The film has received rave reviews and numerous accolades in the jazz community since its release in August 2014. Sonny Rollins has called it “a great film about a great man!” Jazz Journal’s Bob Weir praised ...
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