Clifford Brown
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Clifford Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter.
He performed with Chris Powell, Tadd Dameron, Lionel Hampton, and Art Blakey before forming his own group with Max Roach. The Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet was a high water mark of the hard bop style. The groups pianist, Richie Powell (younger brother of Bud), contributed original compositions, as did Brown himself. One of their hallmarks was to take a familiar standard and play the theme in mixed meters, treating it alternately as a waltz & straight 4/4 for several bars at a time. This brought a modern edge to such pulp standards as Cole Porter's "I get a kick out of you". The partnership of Brown's trumpet with Harold Land's tenor saxophone made for a very strong front line. Teddy Edwards briefly replaced Land before Sonny Rollins took over for the remainder of the groups existence, taking the group from strength to strength.
Brown quickly became one of the most highly regarded trumpeters in jazz. His style was influenced by Fats Navarro, sharing Navarro's virtuosic technique and brilliance of invention. His sound was warm and round, and notably consistent across the full range of the instument. He could articulate every note, even at high tempo, which can enhance the impression of his speed of execution. His sense of harmony was highly developed, enabling him to deliver bold sequences through complex changes. As well as his up-tempo prowess, he could express himself deeply in a ballad performance. It is said that he played each set as though it would be his last.
Brown died in a car accident at the age of 25 which also took the life of his pianist, Richie Powell.
The clean-living Brown has been cited as perhaps breaking the influence of heroin on the jazz world, a model established by Charlie Parker. In his memory, Benny Golson wrote the beautiful song "I Remember Clifford". The song became an instant standard, as musicians paid tribute by recording their personal reading of it.
External link
- Clifford Brown on the Hard Bop Homepage (http://members.tripod.com/~hardbop/brownie.html)
- A tribute to Brownie (http://www.downbeat.com/default.asp?sect=stories&subsect=story_detail&sid=158)de:Clifford Brown
fr:Clifford Brown he:קליפורד בראון ja:クリフォード・ブラウン no:Clifford Brown pt:Clifford Brown