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Clifford Brown revisited


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I should listen more often to Clifford Brown.  He is probably my third favorite trumpeter of all time, following Miles and Dizzy.  His early death is one of jazz's greatest tragedies of all time.  He had it all as a trumpeter, and was developing nicely as a composer.  He formed two of the greatest collaborations--with Max (it's too bad Max hadn't really begun to work as a composer with Brown/Roach) and Sonny Rollins.   Yes, basically four records by Brown & Roach, unless one includes the "strings" record (which has some real high spots and overall is pretty good for this sort of thing).  

There is more of Clifford Brown to enjoy--quite a bit given that he was just 25 when the accident took his life.  Ah, but what might have been.  

 

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I slept on Clifford Brown for a lot longer than I care to admit. From when I first got pretty deep into jazz in the early 90’s — and until about 2005 — I had an arbitrary cut-off recording-date for making blind purchases without really trying trying to sample things more closely (back when the only way you could listen to CD’s before you bought them was at some stores, but you couldn’t listen to dozens of discs — so I had to at least try and be somewhat selective).

My loose (not so loose) rule was anything recorded before Miles got on Columbia (in 1956), I would force myself to scrutinize a lot further before making impulse buys (so I could avoid at least some of my impulsive overspending ways).

Bear in mind, I was buying TONS of CD’s back then, easily 300-400 or more per year, for a solid decade (not all jazz, but a BIG plurality was jazz).

And well, if 1956 was my arbitrary cut-off — you can tell right off I never really bothered with Clifford Brown, since he died in ‘56.

Then about 2006 or 2007 maybe? — my dearest friend, Joe, from Kansas City (aka ‘Spontooneous’ around these parts)… …he saw a good used EmArcy Brownie box for like $60, and he made me buy it (and wouldn’t let me not buy it). He pointed out that every single trumpet player I liked best all came out of Brownie in so many respects — but especially Woody Shaw and Lee Morgan…

That “lip” thing, as I think of it (regardless of whether that’s an accurate way to describe it) — that way of attacking the note on entrances, that’s as expressive as any singer’s voice — that THING that I adore so much in Woody’s and Lee’s playing — he swore I’d love that in Brownie’s playing too, even if the material was stylistically slightly older — and swore that all came from Brownie.

And of course, he was totally right, on all counts.

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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19 minutes ago, JSngry said:

If you do Clifford, then don't stop until you do Fats Navarro as well. It's a different listen, all 78s and airshots, but the playing of the trumpet...just do it.

I was thinking exactly this ... Clifford yes, but Fats also, for artistry and similarly for too-soon passing.

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59 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

My loose (not so loose) rule was anything recorded before Miles got on Columbia (in 1956), I would force myself to scrutinize a lot further before making impulse buys (so I could avoid at least some of my impulsive overspending ways).

Bear in mind, I was buying TONS of CD’s back then, easily 300-400 or more per year, for a solid decade (not all jazz, but a BIG plurality was jazz).

And well, if 1956 was my arbitrary cut-off — you can tell right off I never really bothered with Clifford Brown, since he died in ‘56.

:g

Amazing ... :D As I explored the styles of jazz jazz more or less chronologically from when I started buying jazz at the age of 15 in 1975 my cutoff date of my own purchases was just the other way round ... Anything past 1956 would need a LOT of careful scrutinizing and listening in lest I fall into the sinkhole of too far-out post-bebop modern jazz or even free jazz ... (remedied since, of course, but the preponderance of my stylistic preferences has remained ...)

I was 16 or 17 when (during a high school class stay during Easter holidays in London) I bought the 3-LP UK Vogue LP set of the "Clifford Brown in Paris" 1953 sessions at a record shop virtually next door to where the Bloomsbury Books Shop run by John Chilton' wife Theresa used to be. I cannot recall what made me spring for Brownie at that time but I did not regret the purchase one bit and have not looked back since with other Brownie purchases.

49 minutes ago, JSngry said:

If you do Clifford, then don't stop until you do Fats Navarro as well. It's a different listen, all 78s and airshots, but the playing of the trumpet...just do it.

+1

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55 minutes ago, JSngry said:

If you do Clifford, then don't stop until you do Fats Navarro as well. It's a different listen, all 78s and airshots, but the playing of the trumpet...just do it.

I’ve got that 2cd “Complete Blue Note and Capitol Recordings of Fats Navarro & Tadd Dameron” set.

Question: Is that fairly close to the lion’s share of most of the Fats one probably needs?

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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yep

 

27 minutes ago, BillF said:

Without Fats there would have been no Clifford.

To some people, saying this sounds like it's accusing Clifford of just copying Fats, and that's just too simple. But - there were three schools of "bop" trumpet in real time. Dizzy & Miles, but then, Fats. Clifford certainly did more than just copy Fats, but he definitely picked up on him.

One guy I knew, a trumpet player, he didn't give Fats a lot of though, just because he had no taste for 78s and the "choppy" nature of "bebop" heads. But we had a road trip and I put in some Fats and just let it play a few times. By the second time through, he had come around, and by the third time, he asked me for the tape, which I gave him. Tapes are cheap, enlightenment is priceless!

So, just sayin'...don't sleep on Fat Girl.

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43 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I’ve got that 2cd “Complete Blue Note and Capitol Recordings of Fats Navarro & Tadd Dameron” set.

Question: Is that fairly close to the lion’s share of most of the Fats one probably needs?

There are some Tadd Dameron airships which came out on one of those 1970's Prestige twofers, and those tend to be my Fats go-to.  Will post picture and more details when I get home.

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38 minutes ago, JSngry said:

But - there were three schools of "bop" trumpet in real time. Dizzy & Miles, but then, Fats. Clifford certainly did more than just copy Fats, but he definitely picked up on him.

What's the third? Or is "Dizzy & Miles" two separate schools? If so, who's a trumpeter who was influenced Davis as opposed to Gillespie pre-53?

41 minutes ago, JSngry said:

just because he had no taste for 78s 

This is a thing. Some people like LPs, me included. It generally ruins the experience for me if I am listening to a comp of 78s. 

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Dizzy & Miles were the first two. Fats was the third, but his immediate impact got dulled due to a variety of factors, including his early demise.

You could maybe put KD in there as well, but you can trace his blend to Dizzy & Miles combined. Fats was pretty much his own voice. But once Clifford broke out, his (Fats') actually became the dominant style, that eighth-note chord running (oversimplified, I know) approach of his.

As for 78s...I won't try to persuade anybody anything about subjective tastes, but there is so much magnificent music created on 78s...maybe listen to them on LP instead of CD! :g

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48 minutes ago, felser said:

There are some Tadd Dameron airships which came out on one of those 1970's Prestige twofers, and those tend to be my Fats go-to.  Will post picture and more details when I get home.

Yeah, on the Milestone two-fer, that's great stuff. Plus you get to hear Allen Eager!

To hear Fats stretching out (relatively speaking), there's the Birland airshow of him, Bird, Bud, and Art Blakey. Desert island music for me.

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33 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Yeah, on the Milestone two-fer, that's great stuff. Plus you get to hear Allen Eager!

To hear Fats stretching out (relatively speaking), there's the Birland airshow of him, Bird, Bud, and Art Blakey. Desert island music for me.

https://www.discogs.com/Fats-Navarro-Featured-With-The-Tadd-Dameron-Band/master/305897

https://www.discogs.com/Charlie-Parker-One-Night-In-Birdland/release/2753341

Fats Navarro – Featured With The Tadd Dameron Band (1977, Vinyl) - Discogs

Charlie Parker – One Night In Birdland (1993, CD) - Discogs

 

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44 minutes ago, Peter Friedman said:

Anyone deciding to not buy any recordings from prior to 1956 leaves out a huge amount of amazing music.

Bird, Pres, Bean, Louis Armstrong, and many early 50's great jazz from Sonny Rollins, Stan Getz, Jackie McLean, etc.

I just had a rule that I couldn’t impulse buy stuff from before 1956 — not without doing a little due diligence first.

I was rabidly buying lots (and lots) of music — so I had to do something to keep at least part of my buying reined in a bit.

1956 seemed like a fairy reasonable line of demarcation, actually — given that the largest majority of my jazz interests really started in the 60’s — with pre-1960 material being a little more hit-n-miss for me (and early 50’s, ‘40’s, and 30’s even more hit-n-miss (for me personally).

Edited by Rooster_Ties
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1 hour ago, felser said:

Charlie Parker – One Night In Birdland (1993, CD) - Discogs

I had a copy of this album that I bought used, and inside was a delusional collage that included images from 70s porn mags and excerpts from a Playboy piece on EST.  There were also what appeared to be ads for call girls, in German.  I unloaded the LP - it was too lo-fi for me - but I kept the collage.  

Edited by Teasing the Korean
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26 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

I just had a rule that I couldn’t impulse buy stuff from before 1956 — not without doing a little due diligence first.

I had a similar rule, for anything over $4.99.

You have no idea how loaded - and how cheaply price - the cutout bins were in 1971....

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