The Complete Blue Note & Pacific Jazz Recordings
When this angel of a man, trumpeter Clifford Brown, died in a fatal auto accident in the summer of 1956, he was still in his mid-20s, an emerging star as the co-leader (with drummer Max Roach and young tenor giant Sonny Rollins) of the most dynamic hard-bop ensemble of its time. Their Mercury recordings are simply transcendent, but as these four CDs demonstrate, by 1953-1954 Brownie's technical command of the trumpet and of complex chord changes was exceeded only by his indomitable rhythmic drive and lyric fluidity. The studio sides are distinguished by some magnificent small-group arrangements, such as Elmo Hope's on "Carvin' the Rock" and Gigi Gryce's on "Hymn of the Orient," where Brownie's bluesy intensity cause pianist John Lewis to pop a woody. And goaded on by drummer Art Blakey, Brownie's epic solos on the two Birdland discs show why, in solo after solo, chorus after chorus, he never failed to deliver the goods--and why he remains the most influential jazz trumpeter some 40 years after his death.--Chip Stern