The death of Clifford Brown just may be the biggest jazz tragedy of them all. In 1956, Brown was already giving Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis a run for their money as the top trumpet man in the world. And, at 25, was still getting better. He lived clean of alcohol and drugs and had a tone that was warm and inviting. He took from swing and bebop and molded his own kind of adventurous neo-traditionalism that had audiences eating out of the palm of his hand. On June 26, 1956, after playing in a Philadelphia jam session that was (thankfully) recorded, he stepped into a car driven by up-and-coming piano player Richie Powell (the younger brother of legendary pianist Bud Powell). Powell’s wife was at the wheel. They were on their way to another gig in Cleveland when she lost control of the car and all three died on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The release of The Singers Sessions With Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan And Helen Merrill: The EmArcy Master Takes Vol. 2 (Hip O Select/Universal Music Enterprises) shows Brown to be an empathetic sideman to three of the greatest American voices in jazz and blues. This three-CD set is a smokin’ hot jam where the vocals are pristine and the extended instrumental interludes swing with passion.
Recorded in ’54 and ’55, there’s an informal in-the-studio live feel. The Washington tracks have been out-of-print for years. They also feature Maynard Ferguson, Clark Terry and Junior Mance. The Merrill tracks are revelatory. It was her first session. Here’s a singer totally in service to the songs: no over-dramatic obnoxious melisma. It begs to bring up the point that today’s soul and pop singers seem to think that stuffing each syllable with added notes or “runs” is good singing. Those idiot judges on American Idol certainly seem to think so as those god-awful game show contestants do their best to murder good songs. Merrill sings each song with blunt force trauma, one note at a time, letting the song breathe…and when Brownie comes in for his solos, he raises the roof!
The incomparable Vaughan nails “Lullaby Of Birdland,” “Embraceable You,” “He’s My Guy” and “September Song” among others, making each classic sound new again. The remixing makes everybody involved not only come alive but sounding as if they’re right in your living room.
Brown, at 15, was already blowin’ some mean trumpet. By 18, he was a regular in Philly jazz clubs. Originally inspired by another tragic but influential trumpeter, Fats Navarro, who died at 26 from tuberculosis after being a profound heroin addict, Brown also combined elements of Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard. After one year at Maryland State University, he suffered his first serious car crash that put him out of action for almost a year before coming up in an R&B band, The Blue Flames. He went on to play with Tadd Dameron, Art Blakey and Lionel Hampton, with whom he got to tour Europe. Ironically enough, the only known video footage of Clifford Brown is from a 1955 Soupy Sales tv show, recently discovered after being lost for 40 years. (How hip is Soupy Sales to have Clifford Brown on his show?)
Those who want to dig deeper into Brown’s recorded output would do themselves a favor by also searching out his incredible four-CD boxed set The Complete Blue Note And Pacific Jazz Recordings as well as the single disc Complete Studio Recordings of Brown’s short-lived band with two other legends: saxophonist Sonny Rollins and drummer Max Roach. There’s also a 10-CD box of his EmArcy recordings.
