# Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years

Alone Together: The Best of the Mercury Years is a compilation album featuring recordings by trumpeter Clifford Brown and drummer Max Roach in groups together and separately which were originally released on Mercury and subsidiary labels.

## Reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Penguin Guide to Jazz | |
Allmusic's John Bush noted "Verve's two-disc collection of the best recordings from the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet recorded for Mercury/Emarcy between 1954 and 1956 includes a parade of Brown-Roach classics ...The second disc, which doesn't include Brown at all, reels through a highlight film of Max Roach's varied quintets of the late '50s after the death of Brown in 1956. Of course, Roach's sessions during that time feature many great recordings – trumpeter Booker Little is a competent replacement for Brown, and tenors Sonny Rollins, Hank Mobley, and Stanley Turrentine all have great spots – but record buyers expecting this set to live up to its title might be disappointed". The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested Core Collection.

## Track listing

Disc one
* "Cherokee" (Ray Noble) – 5:43
* "Joy Spring" (Clifford Brown) – 6:51
* "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 3:25
* "Mildama" (Max Roach) – 4:32
* "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson) – 5:46
* "What Am I Here For?" (Duke Ellington, Frankie Laine) – 3:09
* "Sandu" (Brown) – 4:55
* "Daahoud" (Brown) – 4:02
* "Born to Be Blue" (Robert Wells, Mel Tormé) – 5:15
* "Jordu" (Duke Jordan) – 7:46
* "Gertrude's Bounce" (Richie Powell) – 4:10
* "Stardust" (Hoagy Carmichael, Mitchell Parish) – 3:24
* "Parisian Thoroughfare" (Bud Powell) – 7:19
* "Blues Walk" (Brown) – 6:46
Disc two
* "Dr. Free-Zee" (Roach) – 2:07
* "Just One of Those Things" (Cole Porter) – 7:21
* "Valse Hot" (Sonny Rollins) – 14:28
* "Tune-Up" (Eddie Vinson) – 7:46
* "Yardbird Suite" (Charlie Parker) – 3:54
* "A Night in Tunisia" (Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli) – 8:15
* "La Villa" (Kenny Dorham) – 6:17
* "Max's Variations" (Harold Farberman) – 2:20
* "Prelude" (Consuela Lee) – 5:08
* "Juliano" (Julian Priester) – 5:43
* "Lotus Blossom" (Arthur Johnston, Sam Coslow) – 5:34
* "The Left Bank" (Brown) – 3:17
* "Never Leave Me" (Gordon Jenkins) – 6:49

## Personnel

* Max Roach – drums (All tracks except Disc One: tracks 5 & 9)
* Clifford Brown (Disc One), Kenny Dorham (Disc Two: tracks 1–5), Booker Little (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Tommy Turrentine (Disc two: tracks 10–13) – trumpet
* Julian Priester – trombone (Disc Two: tracks 9–13)
* Ray Draper – tuba (Disc Two: tracks 6 & 7)
* Herbie Mann – flute (Disc One: track 5)
* George Coleman (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Harold Land (Disc One: tracks: 1–2, 4, 6–8, 10 & 13–14), Hank Mobley (Disc Two: tracks 4 & 5), Paul Quinichette (Disc One: track 5), Sonny Rollins (Disc One: track 11, Disc Two: tracks 1–3), Stanley Turrentine (Disc Two: tracks 10–13) – tenor saxophone
* Danny Banks – baritone saxophone (Disc One: track 9)
* Barry Galbraith (Disc One: tracks 3, 9 & 12) – guitar
* Ray Bryant (Disc Two: tracks 1, 2 & 13), Jimmy Jones (Disc One: tracks 5 & 9), Richie Powell (Disc One: tracks 1–4, 6–8 & 10), Bill Wallace (Disc Two: track 3) – piano
* Joe Benjamin (Disc One: track 5), Bob Boswell (Disc Two: tracks 10–13), Nelson Boyd (Disc Two: track 5), Art Davis (Disc Two: tracks 6, 7 & 9), Milt Hinton (Disc One: track 9), George Morrow (Disc One: tracks 1–4, 6–8 & 10–14, Disc Two: tracks 1–4) – bass
* Roy Haynes (Disc One: track 5), Osie Johnson (Disc One: track 9) – drums
* The Boston Percussion Ensemble – percussion (Disc Two: track 8)
* Abbey Lincoln (Disc Two: track 13), Helen Merrill (Disc One: track 9), Sarah Vaughan (Disc One: track 5) – vocals
* Unidentified string section (Disc One: tracks 3 & 12)
* Irving Faberman (Disc Two: track 8), Neil Hefti (Disc One: tracks 3 & 12), Quincy Jones (Disc One: track 9), Ernie Wilkins (Disc One: track 5) – arranger and conductor