ASAD #14 Clifford Brown Practicing in 1956

Incredible insight into a jazz legend

Rare glimpses into the process of true jazz legends like Clifford Brown are priceless. This was recorded at Brown’s home in 1956, the same year he was tragically killed in a car accident on the Pennsylvania turnpike as he and Richie Powell were being driven to Chicago for their next engagement by Powell’s wife Nancy. All three were killed as a result of the crash, and Clifford was just 25 years of age at the time.

Some of the tunes he wrote in those early years of his career were so strong they have become standards. Sandu, Joy Spring, and Daahoud were all tunes I played in jam sessions at Berklee and in New York, and have been recorded literally hundreds of times over the years.

It’s just incredible to me that he was only 25 when his career ended, and that he managed to contribute so much via his playing, his writing, his participation in forming the Art Blakey Quintet that would become the Jazz Messengers, and his now legendary association with drummer Max Roach in the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet.

I listen to tapes of my own playing at 25 and realize, at 44 years old, I still have a long way to go to get even close to what Clifford was able to bring to the music.

The work continues, with listening at the core of the process.

Enjoy,

Janek.