Laura Brown

Clifford Brown - With Strings
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 156 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Emarcy 814 642-2 | Country/Year: Germany 198_, 1955
Genre: Jazz | Style: Hard Bob

…Brown's With Strings may not have been the first album in the field, but it is surely among the most beautiful of jazz discs ever to be made with strings—or, come to that, without them. It benefits, too, from the advances in studio technology made in the 1950s, after the Gillespie and Parker recordings: the sound is deep and lush, and the six violins, two violas and a cello sound like an ensemble larger than its actual size…

Laura Nyro's third Columbia effort is easily the equal of her previous two. The overwhelming strength of her song writing and distinctive arrangements fuel Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. Her unmistakable style of delivery maintains the continual examination of herself as a performer. The results are uniformly interesting and provocative as she continues to draw upon her love of jazz, folk, and R&B – which would inform Nyro's next album ,Gonna Take a Miracle, featuring the soul vocal trio LaBelle. Conceptually, this album is as potent as her previous effort, New York Tendaberry, but in a much different way. Rather than hanging together thematically, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat features two inclusive and distinctive sides of music – with different musicians and producers for each.

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.