Clifford Brown Max Roach, At Basin Street

The last official album by the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet is the only one that featured the great Sonny Rollins on tenor. With pianist Richie Powell and bassist George Morrow completing the group, this date is a hard bop classic. Brownie and Rollins fit together perfectly on memorable versions of "What Is This Thing Called Love," "I'll Remember April," and a witty arrangement of "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing."

"I play the trumpet, my name is Clifford Brown." With these simple and unpretentious words, Brownie introduced himself to the audience of the Cotton Club in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 28, 1956. And indeed he played the trumpet, with a fire and excellence that has earned him renown worldwide. May 28 was the opening night of a week-long engagement for the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet, featuring Sonny Rollins on tenor sax, Richie Powell (Bud Powell's younger brother) on piano, and George Morrow on bass. Despite the exceptional talent of the individual band members, the quintet proved to be more than the sum of its parts. The Cleveland Cotton Club performances contained on this package were recorded on amateur equipment and include sets played by the quintet on May 28, May 29 and June 1, 1956. As a bonus to these amazing performances, we present another previously unissued set: a radio broadcast by the same quintet…

The combination of drummer Max Roach's regular group (which includes trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, tenor saxophonist Odean Pope and electric bassist Tyrone Brown) with the Uptown String Quartet to form his Double Quartet works extremely well. Because the strings get to improvise and are not restricted to the background, the interplay between the two groups is a special highlight of this particularly strong outing. In addition to works by Pope and Brown (the latter contributed "Tribute to Duke and Mingus"), The Double Quartet interprets Steve Turre's "Double Delight," Randy Weston's "Hi Fly" and Roland Kirk's happy "Bright Moments." A frequently exquisite yet adventurous album, highly recommended.

There are two schools of thought regarding this Clifford Brown with strings session. Brownie plays quite beautifully and shows off his warm tone on such numbers as "Portrait of Jenny," "Memories of You," "Embraceable You" and "Stardust." But on the other hand the string arrangements by Neal Hefti border on muzak and Brown never really departs from the melody. So the trumpeter's tone is the only reason to acquire this disc which to this listener is a slight disappointment, not living up to its potential.

Max Roach's post-Clifford Brown ensembles became more experimental down the road, but this 1960 band, with the brothers Tommy and Stanley Turrentine, and Julian Priester, was short-lived, very satisfying, and one of the most memorable combos the drummer led. Continuing to concentrate on hard bop themes, the band is hardly quiet as the title would suggest. It perhaps could be said that this band was a sleeper in not being as recognized as the superior collective talent would indicate. Perhaps the obscure bassist Bob Boswell has something to do with it, or that the front line would find their niches in jazz well past their membership in this fine combo…

Although Clifford Brown did a phenomenal amount of commercial recordings during his all too brief lifetime (he died prior to his 26th birthday in a car crash that also took the life of his quintet's pianist Richie Powell, Bud's younger brother), relatively few of the recordings he made were on stage. Fortunately, this CD includes performances from two 1956 broadcasts from the old Basin Street club in New York City, and two tracks from a Carnegie Hall concert the previous year. Although the MC talks over some of the music and the fidelity is typical for Airchecks preserved from the era (distorted rhythm section, barely audible piano and bass), the strong playing of both Brown and tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins still comes through the noisy clutter.

Clifford Brown - Brownie: The Complete EmArcy Recordings of Clifford Brown (1989) {10CD + bonus CD Box Set rec 1954-1956}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.80 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.39 Gb
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© 1954-56, 1989 EmArcy / Nippon Phonogram | 838 307-2~838 316-2 / 874 788-3
Jazz / Bop / Hard Bop / Trumpet

Although undoubtedly an expensive acquisition, this ten-CD set is perfectly done and contains dozens of gems. The remarkable but short-lived trumpeter Clifford Brown has the second half of his career fully documented (other than his final performance) and he is showcased in a wide variety of settings. The bulk of the numbers are of Brownie's quintet with co-leader and drummer Max Roach, either Harold Land or Sonny Rollins on tenor, pianist Richie Powell, and bassist George Morrow (including some previously unheard alternate takes), but there is also much more.

Various Artists - From Hard Bop To Cool (1955-1957) - La Grande Histoire Du Jazz Vol. 3 (2010) {Box 25CD - 75 of 100}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 10.6 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 5.07 Gb
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© 1955-57, 2010 Le Chant du Monde | 574 1950.74
Jazz / Classic Jazz / Bop / Hard Bob / Cool

An epic 100 CD chronological documentation of the history of jazz music from 1898 to 1959, housed in four boxed sets. Each box contains 25 slipcase CDs, a booklet (up to 186 pages) and an index. The booklets contain extensive notes (Eng/Fr) with recording dates and line-ups. 31 hours of music in each box, totalling 1677 tracks Each track has been restored and mastered from original sources.