Customer Reviews

Clifford Brown And Max Roach

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With Miles Davis succeeding so well in the 1950's and "out performing" any other trumpeter in that decade some forget about some of the other fine brilliant trumpets that were in the shadows, I'm sorry to say, of Miles Davis. Some of these trumpeters included Kenny Dorham, Dizzy Gillespie, and of course Clifford Brown. A big influence to many brilliant trumpeters such as Lee Morgan, who actually modeled his sound after Clifford Brown, Clifford Brown had a new sound, a bold screamin' sound that was essential to the movement into the more "modern" jazz at that point. In this album he is joined by one of the finest hard core drummers of the time, Max Roach, Harold Land, another truly outspoken artist, on tenor, George Morrow on bass and Richie Powell on piano. Every single cut on this album are just true jewels. This is a must for any one unfamiliar with Clifford Brown.

The playing, song selection and, thanks to the fantastic 24 bit remastering job, the recording quality is about as good as it gets. When you consider what the engineers must have started with on this 1954 recording what they have accomplished isn't much less than a miracle. Absolute state-of-the-art sound! This album joins a small number of lesser known masterpeices in the jazz field like Serge Challoff's Blue Serge and Chico Freeman's Spitit Sensitive at the very top of the heap.

Clifford Brown - a name not well known today, but the master of the trumpet in 1955 and 1956 - until his very premature demise at the age of 26 in an auto crash.

This fellow played the trumpet like he copyrighted the term "stretch-out". He blows away the constraints of bop. How he manages to rise to the heights of lyricism, especially with Max Roach keeping time with his lock-step snares and tom-toms, is beyond me. Listen to how he makes musical space in his playing! There is nothing remotely like him prior to 1954 - but Lee Morgan and Freddy Hubbard would never have played like they did without him.

On the Amazon list of recordings of Clifford Brown this is far below where it should be. To my mind it was, all in all, the most gratifying album he ever made. All the excitement that this group was capable of producing is best heard here, and in a great variety of truly excellent "tunes'. "Jordu", for example, is an absolute classic; a really wonderful melody in its own right, with astounding solos to match. So are "Joy Spring", "Parisian Thoroughfare" , and "Daahoud" - in fact, there is not a single disappointing track here, anywhere. This record was perhaps the one that brought Brown to true international fame, and it has lasted down the years with undimished splendour and brilliant, yet moving force. Brown's inventiveness was extraordinary, and combined with an ability to produce a greater emotional range than Dizzy Gillespie, whose skill and virtuosity he seems to match while nevertheless having his own very individual voice and having, to my mind, ultimately more to say. Had Brown lived beyond age 25 he would no doubt have been the greatest trumpeter besides Miles Davis. It is hard to compare the greatnesses of these two: Davis is on the whole the introvert and minimalist, while Brown states what he has to say more explicitly. Emotionally and artistically, both seem to me equally good, and those who so far have only got Miles Davis in their collection, as their favourite trumpet player for, say, the fifties and sixties, should certainly hurry to buy this recording. And I need to state that the performance of this particular ensemble is one of the great reasons for Brown's success on this album. Max Roach was, of course, one of the greatest of all drummers, at any time, and his interaction with Brown is absolutely superb. There is no uncontrolled egotism on either side, but wonderful support. Harold Land is not as great a genius as Brown - few are - but nevertheless a very, very good tenor who complements him beautifully. The piano and bass, while less exciting, are nevertheless fine, and fit into the total picture very well indeed. A truly excellent record, which continues to satisfy whenever you play it - indeed astonishes with its excellence. I would give it 6 stars if I could. You would never regret owning this CD. - Joost Daalder

i have only been collecting jazz music for the last two years, so an expert i am not. however, out of the sixty odd jazz cd's i do have, this one is easily in the top five. the vibrant tone of brownie's trumpet is heard in all it's glory here. he has a way of sometimes using staccato bursts in his blowing that is such a pleasure to hear. i also love the sound of max roach pounding on the bass drum in this cd. deep and powerful! harold land's warm tone on the tenor sax is a nice complement to brownie's trumpet. this was trend-setting music, considering it was made in 54/55, before what i consider the golden age of jazz starting in the late 50's and ending in the late 60's. brownie does not seem to get the recognition he deserves. this is no doubt due mainly to his untimely death at an early age soon after this material was recorded. miles davis, louie armstrong, dizzy, lee morgan, and freddie hubbard are all great trumpet players and get more recognition. however, my favorite is brownie. the recording quality of this remastered cd version is excellent, as good as any of the rvg remastered blue note jazz cd's i have. the verve master edition is worth the extra few bucks. nice packaging with a pull-out booklet of liner notes. highly recommended!

Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis got a lot more attention from the media and the public, but true jazz fans and fellow musicians arguably loved Clifford Brown's playing the best. His tragic death in a 1956 car accident after only two years of the fantastic Clifford Brown/Max Roach quintet did not diminsh his status as possibly the most influential trumpeter of them all.

The list of trumpet giants who were his disciples includes Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove and Nicholas Payton -- and this undoubtedly is not all. Listen to this CD, and you'll understand why. Brownie's tone was always crisp and incisive (without becoming like scraping your fingermails down a blackboard). Whether playing up-tempo or caressing a ballad, his ideas were consistently logical and lyrical -- and so original that some of his solo licks are among those most frequently quoted by other musicians.

If Brownie had never played an instrument but had only written originals like "Joy Spring," "Daahoud,"and "Parisian Thoroughfare," his place in Jazz as a composer alone would be assured. "Joy Spring" has to be one of the most uplifting pieces of music ever penned, and the band does a matchless job on it here.

One of the most underrated tenor sax players is Harold Land, who works superbly with Brown in the ensemble passages. His solo work on this CD should have catapulted him to a level of fame rivalling the best of them.

Max Roach was already known for his work with Charlie Parker and others as the quintessential modern drummer. He continues to evolve as an artist on this album.

Pianist Richie Powell may not have been the brilliant comet his brother Bud was, but the quirky charm of his playing (for my ear) fits in beautifully with this group and often provides a change of mood after the slick solo work of the front line.

Space doesn't suffice for all the superlatives that could be written about this album and about arguably the best-loved trumpet player of them all -- Clifford Brown. He has been greatly missed. Don't deprive yourself of the endless joy this album will bring you.

To me, this is one of the finest albums of bop/hard bop ever produced. Its perfect, great performances, great compositions. Take a look at any Clifford Brown best of compilation: it will include at least 2 tracks from this album, and I can include 4 in my all time 10 best Brown tracks. This should be in any jazz collection, at the very top with all the classics.

Clifford Brown's story is a breath of fresh air in jazz. When it seems that so many musicians got bogged down with drugs and booze, etc. you have Clifford Brown as the example that one doesn't have to be tortured, or a victim or addict to be a great artist. His music is so positive. This album is great and no serious jazz collection should be without it, same with Study in Brown, w/ Sarah Vaughn, with Strings. I would put Brownie up against ANY jazz trumpeter. He was that good. The tragedy is that his life was so short. He died, along with his pianist Richie Powell, in a a car wreck when he was just 25. Many people say, "Had he lived longer ...." It's true, I certainly wish he were still around. However, he is, to me, the greatest jazz trumpeter and a real hero not because of his short life or "what could've been" but because of what he did. Listen to Joyspring and Daahoud and see what I mean. Enjoy Brownie, and enjoy life! God is good!

This album defines the essence of jazz. "Delilah" should be on everyone's lips with the same abundance as "So What"; the tenderness and interaction on this peace creates a depth of emotion in me that I have rarely experienced. As the other reviewers have mentioned, this is one dramatically undersold album -- every song is a winner!

This album is really at the center of the jazz tradition and is a great choice for someone interested in exploring what sounds they dig. This is one of the most tuneful and hard swinging jazz albums in the tradition and has a polish to it that puts it up there with the best of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Clifford Brown's solos are standard listening for anyone who wants to understand trumpet but his tone is warm, homey and inviting if you want to just let this marinate in the background instead of trying to hear every note that runs by. Harold Land complements him well with an airier tone and they interact well on the classic trading figures on the burning "Blues Walk."

As a drummer, I'm partial to Max Roach and along with the album "Drums Unlimited", which features some of his solo pieces like "The Drum Also Waltzes", this is one of the best ways to hear what Max is up to in conventional group. He's very tasteful in his accompaniment with dynamics and his solos make a lot of logical sense and have lots of space. For beginning drummers, it's a more accessible path to workable solos than starting out with Elvin Jones or Tony Williams but no less deep in its own away.

All of the tunes are great and the arrangements make these definitive versions of the these tunes. "Joyspring" is a favorite. If you like chord changes like this tune or "Daahoud", consider it an encouragement to go deeper into jazz harmonically and head towards the Wayne Shorter arranged stuff like Speak No Evil and the deeper Blue Note sound. "Parisian Thoroughfare" is a Bud Powell standard and that points toward more Parker influenced bebop like his Dial sessions or Complete Bud Powell on Blue Note. "Blues Walk" is just fun and points toward some of the big band or swing era stuff where folks just blow. Duke Ellington's Newport '56 is a great album if you want to hear another famous blues solo.

There's other great stuff here as well and it's nice to have the ballad bass feature of "These Foolish Things" added on.

It's tragic that Brownie's life was cut short but this and the rest of the music by this quintet is a testimony to a spiritual joy that can accompany disciplined mastery of jazz. This is music that speaks to both head and heart.