BNJ-61001

Clifford Brown - More Memorable Tracks

Released - June 21,1984

Recording and Session Information

WOR Studios, NYC, June 9, 1953
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Elmo Hope, piano; Percy Heath, bass; "Philly" Joe Jones, drums.

BN489-1 tk.2 Bellarosa
BN490-1 tk.4 Carvin' The Rock (alternate take 1)
BN491-0 tk.7 Cookin' (alternate take)
BN490-5 tk.14 Carvin' The Rock (alternate take 2)

WOR Studios, NYC, June 22, 1953
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Jay Jay Johnson, trombone; Jimmy Heath, tenor, baritone sax; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums.

BN508-1 tk.15 Get Happy (alternate take)

Audio-Video Studios, NYC, August 28, 1953
Clifford Brown, trumpet; Gigi Gryce, alto sax, flute; Charlie Rouse, tenor sax; John Lewis, piano; Percy Heath, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

BN524-0 tk.1 Wail Bait (alternate take)
BN526-1 tk.13 Brownie Eyes
BN527-0 tk.18 Cherokee (alternate take)
BN525-3 tk.26 Hymn Of The Orient (alternate take)

See Also: BST 84428

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Bellarosa	Elmo Hope	June 9 1953
Carvin' The Rock (Alternate Take #1	Hope/Rollins	June 9 1953
Cookin' (Alternate Take)	Lou Donaldson	June 9 1953
Carvin' The Rock (Alternate Take #2)	Hope/Rollins	June 9 1953
Get Happy (Alternate Take)	Arlen-Koehler	June 22 1953
Side Two
Wail Bait (Alternate Take)	Quincy Jones	August 28 1953
Brownie Eyes	Quincy Jones	August 28 1953
Cherokee (Alternate Take)	Noble	August 28 1953
Hymn Of The Orient (Alternate Take)	Gigi Gryce	August 28 1953

Liner Notes

Clifford Brown was certainly a master and a major link in the history of the trumpet. This instrument has always had two kinds of stars: those who advance the mainstream evolution of the instrument and those who are of such unique proportions that they remain phenomena unto themselves with perhaps a few disciples. Miles Davis is indicative of the latter, but Brown is certainly a prime example of the former. Without Brownie, it would be hard to imagine the existence of Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard or Booker Little or Woody Shaw or Wynton Marsalis.

Like too many great trumpeters in jazz. Clifford's life was a short, but astonishingly productive one. This album includes material from Brownie's three Blue Note studio sessions during a very significant summer for his career. Bellarosa and Brownie Eyes were originally issued on 10" lps and did not make it to 12" issue until a mid seventies anthology (Blue Note BNLA 267 BN-LA-267-G). That same anthology also introduced the alternate take of Get Happy, which is also included here.

A severe auto accident in 1950 cut short his college education and embryonic jazz career. But after a year of recuperation and encouragement from friends and musicians, he was able to resume both.

In 1952, he found steady work with an R & B group out of Philadelphia known as Chris Powell and His Blue Flames. It was during a New York engagement with them that the first Blue Note session on June 9, 1953 under Lou Donaldson's leadership occurred. On June 11, he recorded with Tadd Dameron for Prestige and, on June 20, with J.J. Johnson. After an Atlantic City gig with Dameron, Brownie returned to New York to make his first date as a leader on August 28 for Blue Note. During most of the autumn, he was a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra that toured Europe extensively. That band also included Gigi Gryce, Art Farmer, Quincy Jones, George Wallington and other notable friends and associates of his.

Brown was briefly a member of the first Art Blakey Quintet with Donaldson and Horace Silver. Fortunately, this short-lived group was captured live at Birdland by Blue Note on February 21, 1954. By June, he was in Los Angeles forming a quintet with Max Roach that would shake the jazz world. He also made an unusual, excellent album for Pacific Jazz that summer.

This album opens with the Donaldson date. This session belongs just as much to Clifford for his brilliant playing and to Elmo Hope for his wonderful compositions and performance. His Bellarosa is a happy, medium-paced line. Lou and Brownie are soulful and execute fresh ideas with clarity. Hope's solo is so full and rich and intriguing that his lack of recognition in jazz remains a real tragedy and mystery.

The first alternate take of Hope's fast, tricky Carvin' The Rock offers solos by the three principals that are very different from the original master, but equal to it in creativity and excitement. Of particular interest is Clifford's solo, which moves much further away from the ingredients of the melody than he dares on the master. The second alternate was done at the very end of the date. Lou and Elmo seem a bit tired and it takes them a while to get into it. But Brown attacks the tune with the same vigor and imagination that he did at the start of the date.

On both the alternate and the master of Cookin', Brown seems fascinated with the intervals that the tune implies, but he develops each solo along totally different contours. Lou is strong and firm, enunciating his ideas and avoiding the use of too many notes. Hopes solo on the master is clearly superior. This alternate has a minor flaw in the hesitation of the band in the first 12 bar theme statement after the solos.

The alternate take of Get Happy is shorter than the master because Lewis takes one less piano chorus. On both, the highlight is Brown's solos, which pump needed life into the proceedings.

Brownie's first date as a leader was a sextet affair with arrangements by Quincy Jones and Gigi Gryce. On Jones' Wait Bait, the trumpeter is the only soloist to take a full chorus. On this alternate, Brown's solo seems to project a clarion quality and a more overall cohesive thread than on the master, although he does not take as many chances. Quincy's other contribution is the beautiful ballad Brownie Eyes with Gryce on flute for the ensembles and on alto for his half chorus solo. Brown takes a lyrical half chorus in double time.

Cherokee is a unique item in Clifford's legacy. It seems to have a sense of abandon and free association that departs from the calm continuum that characterized his personality and playing style. This alternate is even wilder than the master. At one point, Brown and Lewis lay out for two rounds of four bars that were supposed to be trumpet-drum exchanges, but Heath and Blakey apparently forgot the arrangement. The result of this mistake is transfixing. The two takes of Cherokee played one after the other seemed to comprise one continuous performance.

The alternate take of Hymn Of The Orient, like Carvin' The Rock from the first session, was done at the end of the session as a final attempt at the tune. Clifford's creative and rhythmic flow are better on this unissued performance. His construction is more unified and thought provoking. And indeed, the second 8 bars of his first chorus are a gem! Many musicans and writers have claimed that every note Brownie played was of value and should be heard. This album serves to reinforce that claim.

MICHAEL CUSCUNA