RIP, Clifford Brown (1930-1956)

Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown died on June 26, 1956, while driving from Philadelphia to Chicago. He was buried in the Mt. Zion Cemetery, in Wilmington, Delaware, where he had been born just 25 years earlier.

Brown was an incredibly gifted musician whose career lasted just four years, but in that short space of time, he "played with a full-toned, linear lyricism which proved to be the only vital alternative during the 1950's to Miles Davis's understated melodic style," according to Len Lyons. Sonny Rollins, who worked for seven months with Brown, said simply, "He had it all."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Clifford Brown's The Quintet, Vol. 1 (EmArcy/Mercury), but that album is nearly impossible to find and is only available in vinyl. Jim Determan recommends two alternatives:

• Clifford Brown and Max Roach (EmArcy/Polygram). Purchase at Amazon.com.)
• Study in Brown (PID/Polygram). Purchase at Amazon.com.)

A few weeks before he died, Brown sat in with a local band at a small jazz club in Philadelphia.  Three numbers were taped.  One of them, "A Night in Tunisia," can be heard here:

Robert
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