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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.
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Where Clifford Brown Learned to Play: Love In A Wilmington Neighborhood
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by Arthur R George
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 ...
read moreClifford Brown’s Trumpet and One Summer in Atlantic City
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by Arthur R George
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 ...
read more92nd Street Y Jazz in July: The Music of Clifford Brown
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by Nick Catalano
The Y's Jazz in July programing this summer included an evening celebrating the music of Clifford Brown on July 23rda 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 ...
read moreBirth of Hard Bop (1954 - 1958)
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by Russell Perry
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 ...
read moreClifford Brown and Max Roach in 1954: New Research
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by Nick Catalano
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 ...
read moreJazz With Strings
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by Roger Crane
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 ...
read moreBrownie Speaks: A Video Documentary: The Life, Music, and Legacy of Clifford Brown
![Read "Brownie Speaks: A Video Documentary: The Life, Music, and Legacy of Clifford Brown" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
by Victor L. Schermer
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 ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
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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Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
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 ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
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 ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
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... Read more.
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Weekend Extra: Clifford Brown
![Weekend Extra: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
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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Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
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... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
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... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
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Brownie Speaks At Burlington Discover Jazz Festival!
![Brownie Speaks At Burlington Discover Jazz Festival!](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Don Glanden
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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Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown
![Jazz Musician of the Day: Clifford Brown](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/2cfdd269412818cd0c6ffea6464ed632.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
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... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day widget ...
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Brownie Speaks Screening At The Monterey Jazz Festival on September 17
![Brownie Speaks Screening At The Monterey Jazz Festival on September 17](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/media/large/f/1/f/44d2a726aff7184baa84fb699a4c1.jpg)
Source:
Don Glanden
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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