Clifford Brown: A Trumpeter’s Perspective

Al Hood

Performance Impressions
Dynamic Control
*Control in his playing was the kind of control you felt in his personality (Land)

*"Our own policy is to aim for the musical extremes of both excitement and subtle
softness whenever each is necessary, but with a lot of feeling in everything"
(Brown/Hentoff)

*He had a great sense of dynamics - he would build to a frenzied pitch! (Dockery)

*He could change from a meek lamb, musically, into a fierce tiger. He could play the
top, bottom, loud, soft - he was playing the WHOLE instrument! (Golson)

Effect on Listeners
*His style was such that it radiated emotional impulses (Golson)

*He's make you react physically. He made you twitch, move your feet. He had a
mystical charm. (Golson)

*Knack for starting solos with phrases that snapped listeners to attention (BN)

*People would stand "transfixed" (Dockery)

Performance Commitment
*Played as if his life depended on it - he never "walked" through anything! (Golson)

*He wasn't afraid to take chances - he was always reaching (Land)

*There is nothing he would stop at to make each performance sound as if it were his last
(Quincy)

*Played every tune, set, like there was no tomorrow (Teddy Edwards)

*Clifford was so consistent night after night - just got better and better! (Donaldson)
Technique
*Ability to give technically demanding passages a human heart (BN)

*Moved around the instrument more like a saxophonist (Louis Smith)

*His prodigious technique is always totally integrated with the content of his playing (Ira
Gitler)

Emotional Traits
*He had a sense of humor, which you can hear in his playing (Art Farmer)

* There was a joy in his playing - a warmth. (Marsalis)

Personal Traits

High School Days

*Howard High senior class treasurer (Morning Star)

*Andrews - He had great drive (West)

*A mind in music has to be disciplined (Boysie)

*Boysie taught him to have a "stick-to-it-iveness" - that he had to get to know his craft
(LBW)

*He learned everything fast - called him "the brain" - (Rella)

*So attuned to MATH during those days (Bach Inventions parts) (LBW)

Perfectionism
*He never really realized - I am good. Very hard on himself (LBW)

*He always tried to improve his playing. He was never satisfied - he was a perfectionist
(LaRue)

*Became a perfectionist at whatever he tried (Chris Powell)

Family
*He came from a talented family - they were competitors! (LBW)

*He took his time - everyone would get excited but him - (Leon)

*CB - You can't copy on somebody! (Leon)

About Music & Musicians

*He never had to say how good he was or how bad someone else was (Farmer)

*I never heard him criticize another musician (Morris)

*I asked why he bothered to show up to play these circus-type tunes, and he said, "I like
all kinds of music," and from that point on, I delved into anything I could get my hands
on. That one thing he said really turned me around (Belgrave)

Sound

His Own Sound

*He always had his own sound (Jenkins)

*Sound was like a flower (Cherry)

*A happiness in his sound. It affirms and makes you feel good! (Marsalis)

*Certain kind of romantic innocence in his playing (Bradford)

*Miles told me about Brownie - he plays very "warm" (Art Farmer)

*His sound was gorgeous - even when it "cracked" (Red Rodney)

*Sound would be about 95% same live as what you hear on records (LBW)

A Singing Sound
*Conceived patterns through singing (Berliner)

*Music should have the same vibrato as the human voice (Boysie)
*But to be thinking as a vocalist or singing with the trumpet - that's the way he
approached it (Don Cherry)

An Even Sound in All Registers

*"He played the full range of the instrument, utilizing the lowest and highest notes
effectively…the low notes didn't have the same body and fullness and purity of tone as
the high notes" (Brown on Harry James, db blindfold test - 2/22/56)

*Sounds the same in every register (Marsalis)

A Big & Brilliant Tone

*Sound was a little bit different than Fats - it had that 'edge' to it. It was that fat sound
that attracted me to him (Sketch One/John Lewis) - (Max Roach)

*Always thought it was dark (but with advent of CD), but actually it was pretty bright
(Goode)

*If you hear big, you're going to have a big tone. My sound is a direct result of being
around Clifford (Bop Wilson)

*I get the closest to CB's sound by experimenting with the "lip vibrato" - it's a sound
controlling device. You can hear it in his vibrato, esp. when he plays ballads. You ear
only registers the prominence of the outside, the open part of it. And just opening it
slightly gives you the illusion of a big fat sound. When he starts playing faster, he closes
down and goes to the smaller aperture. (Shew)

His Influences & Early Training

Main Influence/Listening
*We had records - Bessie Smith, Erskine Hawkins, etc…we put on the recordings and we
knew it from start to finish - what ALL the instruments were playing (Geneva)

*Started trumpet in High School (Jenkins)

*Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz - "the late Fats Navarro" (CB)

*(Navarro) - "That boy sure likes me, doesn't he?" (Golson/LBW)

*Fats, Diz, KD and Clark Terry (Larry Smith)

*Clark Terry and Fats - those were his 2 guys (Clarke)

*It was like Fats Navarro, only with a better sound (Blue Mitchell)

Boysie
*"We wouldn't allow him to copy. We was telling him to get his own thing!" (Boysie)

*Lowery taught him chord changes - he wasn't too much into playing other's solos
(Jenkins)

Howard High School

*Howard Band played all of the masters - marches, etc…(Cooper)

*Andrews - advanced brass study at the U of MI (West)

*Andrews was very strict on discipline, practicing and being neat (Cooper)

*"Carnival of Venice" (Staigers) in HS - It was flawless! Also "Blue Feathers" (Jenkins)

*Del Staigers "Carnival of Venice" - by potential concert trumpet soloist CB. Also
directed the Howard dance band - the Esquires (Morning Star)

*Capacity audience - well received (same)

*It was just in a short time that he blossomed - like Chopin or something! (Cashman)

Teachers
*While recovering, I'd show him stuff I was learning in NYC - different extensions and
changes (Jenkins)

*Nobody taught CB how to play but CB (Cooper)

*There was nobody who MADE Clifford - Clifford made himself (Morris)

*Clifford is a guy who made me because he was the one who told the world about me.
But it was him, not me…(Boysie)
Singing & Other Influences
*CB could sing pretty good too - his whole family did (LaRue/BG)

*Liked to listen to singers and classical composers, etc…(LBW)

*He loved to sing - Broadway, blues, standards, Figaro, anything! (LaRue)

*Played a ballad like a singer would sing it (LaRue)

*Sarah Vaughan, Diz, Monk, Miles, Coltrane, Golson, Milt Jackson (LBW)

Mendez & the Classical Influence

*Mendez meeting in DC - gave him a book and a horn (Chris Powell)

*(lick) on Steve Allen Show - "I stole that from Rafael Mendez!" (LBW)

*"Flight of the Bumblebee" duo with him (LaRue)

*He loved Heifetz (LaRue/BG)

The Beboppers
*Asked Red Rodney for lesson as teenager (LaRue/BG)

*Bird - smiled and said "CB - I just can't believe this guy!" (Manning)

Books

Arban/Prescott System
*Andrews - I started him on the Prescott system which is based on Arbans (West)

*Used the Arban-Prescott System (Cooper)

*Used Arban's almost exclusively (Cashman)

*Arban's was his 'bible' (Jenkins)

*Arban's is the key - the technique's in there and that's where he got a lot of his ideas
(Bop Wilson)
*Told me about the Arban book - esp. the part with the arpeggios (Don Cherry)

*Recall him playing out of that famous trumpet book - the Arban's (Land)
*"Just goin' in the Arban book - he turned it upside down and just played the shit out of
it! I realized later that he had memorized it!" (Larry Smith)

Other Technical Books

*Played an awful lot of technical books, like Clarke types of things (Shew)

*Rafael Mendez book of solos (LBW)

*Duets - trumpet and piano, reading was important (Amsden Duets) (LBW)

Practice Techniques/Habits

Practice Amount
*Everyday after school was spent practicing (Jenkins)

*Walking by Clifford's house and hearing him playing in the basement (Jackie Cooper)

*Found him in the closet practicing one Sunday morning (Leon)

*Practiced a "solo" so it would be the same next time (Leon)

*Clifford was dedicated. He would never know when to go home! When he went home,
he practiced. People call it a gift, but I figure it's a matter of patience that you have for a
particular thing (Boysie)

*When he played, everything was scientifically laid out. He was into writing ideas down,
he would always tell me to write things down. He'd play everything through the keys.
(Belgrave)

*Had an instinct for music and was serious about it. He practiced all the time. He used
to get on my nerves he practiced so much! (Ralph Morris)

*Practiced in the back of my '39 Plymouth (Dave Clarke)

*He was playing his trumpet all of the time in the hotel with the mute (Algiers-Mialy)
*Constant and diligent practicer (Morrow)

*He practiced all the time and he listened - the great ones are also great listeners (Max
Roach/Beehive)

*Practiced all the time! Hours and hours….(LBW)

*He LIKED to practice (Taylor)

Exercises
*Even if we were in a place where he couldn't blow his horn, even with the mute, he
would do lip exercises, tongue exercises or he would just simply blow his mpc (LaRue)

*LaRue - Daily warm up included an inverted whistle - pucker his lips inside out and
whistle, then blow his mpc a bit - all for an hour (West)

*Purse his lips and tongue (dih-dih-dih-dih) (LBW)

*Morning, noon and night to "keep his chops up" (LBW)

*Forever doing fingering with no trumpet (LBW)

Recording Practice
*He recorded himself practicing everyday for critical analysis. Learned from Boysie (?)
Also recorded performances (LaRue)

*Recorded his playing into a mic for 25-30 minutes (Morrow)

Practice Tapes - What We Can Learn

*Practiced mezzo-voce (in harmon) - favoring smooth passage of inner musical thought.
Stream of uninterrupted ideas which he tries to play in a stricter rhythm that he marks by
tapping his foot. In concert, he is in top form, but pays more attention to QUALITY,
sticking to what he can do best. The Emarcy recordings are much more refined. He
sings passages - senses that his mind is alert to all possible variations. Does a little
buzzing to get the "feeling" for it again. Like JS Bach, sketching without worrying about
polish. A trance-like concentration. (Mathez)

*(Practicing tape) - every time he runs stuff and hits a little snag, he stops and slows the
whole thing down and starts taking it apart. He even puts the horn down and sings it a
few times - a right brain kind of thing. He knew HOW to practice. Scat sings to clean up
articulation. Ability to confront problems - never swept anything under the rug. He
knew how to practice and he taped himself a lot to assume a subjective and objective
view point (Shew)
Relate to Singing
*One of his favorite practice methodologies was to try to capture, on his horn, a singer's
phrasing (LaRue)

*That singable quality has a great deal to do with whether you are actually playing music
or just playing trumpet. The horn is the amplifier of YOU (Shew)
Jazz Study and other instruments
Boysie's Teachings
*Boysie taught Brownie mostly CHORDS and jazz (Cashman)

*Teach them how to hear - learn the directions of sounds. "Mathematically using the
instrument" Hear it - Hum it - Play it (Boysie/Schaap)

*First class, second class, tonic class, diminished sounds and altering of such to help you
hear what a key sounds like - jazz is modification. Single and double active notes go to
"inactive" notes - eventually, the only thought is ELIMINATION (Boysie)

*Mastered their instruments. They were actually mathematicians. (Boysie)

*Mathematical genius - took his instrument to the extreme (Boysie/Schaap)

Other Instruments
*Played piano and bass (Dockery)

*We had a player piano at home, later a second hand radio. He'd go to Walnut Street
YMCA for better piano - also to practice and jam (Leon)

*Jam session - no horns, sat in and soloed like a pianist with the rhythm section (Land)

High School & After

*Andrews - he knew polytonality - took our small theory class and developed
arrangements - very Gillespie-oriented (West)

*Attributes 1950 accident recovery to great progress in development (Dockery)

His Thinking in Jazz

*He didn't ever transcribe - he "absorbed it" - the sound of the ocean, the feeling he had
for a sunset (LBW)

*Articulated the fact that he was thinking compositionally (Taylor)

*Reflects some degree of melodic organization - melodic continuity and long range
structural concerns - unfolds in a logical and dramatic way - great paraphrases of other
composer's melodies - very related to Parker (Charles Blanq)
*Lines were refreshing - highly intellectual, yet simple. He defined everything (Red
Rodney)

*People look at style (surface things) rather than CONTENT. Big sound, fat from top to
bottom, chops, etc…what does that say? He practiced a lot. The important things he did
were in how he dealt with the harmony. His concentration was into what he was playing
and he was totally centered. (Goode)

*The first trumpet player after Bird to get real specific about the intervals he played
relative to the tonic. Not by "lick" Real content was in how he wove the lines and dealt
with the harmony. (Goode)

*Had the most complete sense of chord changes - developed to its fullest. He played all
the variations and the scales (Dizzy)

*Harmonically subtle, yet melodically uncorrupted. Resolves the complexities of

difficult harmonies into melodic coherence and still retains the elusive vitality of the jazz
spirit (Benny Green)

*The clarity of his harmonic ideas just gave you something else to work with (Taylor)

Phrases & Patterns

*Phrases had a more regular construction than Parker's. Glimpses of possible extensions
- continuing Gillespie in that way. A vertical connection to Coleman Hawkins. (Hodeir)

*CB played note to note. He didn't make a lot of wide leaps. Thought on his feet like
Bird but Bird's thing was more sweeping and CB's more plodding (in short groupings)
(Goode)

*He must have been playing a lot of piano. He practiced a lot of patterns too, I believe.
He was into slightly altering the pattern to allow for the change in the chord and keeping
as many common tones as possible (Goode)

*I think that he would definitely work up certain things that he would play. (Goode)
 Equipment & Trumpet Geek Stuff

Mouthpieces
*I made his first mouthpiece (Boysie)

*Lowery cut CB's mpc off at the shank to produce higher notes easier and clearer
(Boysie)

*I talked to Art Farmer - basically he had a lot of different mouthpieces and was always
switching around. On Hamp's band he used a Bach 7C, but also a 17C and a 17CW That
was the one in the case - it's very small with a big fat cushion rim. With his rather fleshy
lips, there is only one way he could have played on it and that's with a small aperture. He
would have had to roll his lips in a bit. I think the articulation is what gives it away for
me. (Shew)

*When he finished, he reached into his pocket and pulled out another mouthpiece - I later
learned that he carried 2 or 3 - and started complaining about the mpc. (Blue Mitchell)

*Uncomfortable mouthpiece story (Land)

*We had the same horn and mouthpiece - he used KING and MARTIN (Bop Wilson)

Trumpets
*Bought him a trumpet - I think it was a Blessing (Blakey)

*He played a Blessing Super Artist trumpet. It has a .470 bore and a large "A" bell which
gives you a broader sound because its wider in the throat of the bell. There's also a
patented thing at the bottom of the tuning slide (quick change to A) that changes the
response and sound like a Monette Sound Ring (Goode)

*A Bach mpc and Blessing trumpet would give you a pretty good gap. That allows one
to tongue quicker, but gives you an airier sound (Goode)

*Small mpc on a larger bore horn (.470) - set up with mpc and lead pipe and bore of horn
that gave him just enough back pressure so he could "pop" notes - simulated clean
tonguing of notes at times - he's tonguing certain notes, but not all the notes (Standifer)

*He always came back to his old beat-up, held together with rubber bands type of horn
(LaRue/BG)

*Going to Elkhart to try a Martin "Committee"

 Embouchure

No Pressure System
*Mr. Andrews taught him about the "non-pressure" system (Jenkins)
*Andrews - introduced him to the 'no pressure' system. 2/3 lower lip in mpc. Perfected
making octave jumps early on and developed a beautiful range (West)

*Didn't sound to me like he used the "no pressure" system, though he got much lighter at
the end of his life (Goode)

Doc Reinhardt
*He didn't have a high register yet - it was weak. He needed some lip building exercises,
so I suggested he go see 'Doc' Reinhardt, which he did (Red Rodney)

*He told me he was trying to get a knot on his lip (Leon)

*Reinhardt was into finding out what your jaw type was, following a natural jaw
movement to facilitate playing across the registers Clifford was definitely upstream.
(Goode)

Buzzing & Fluttering

*I don't know how much actual buzzing he did, but on the practice tape he does a pedal
thing, sort of like a 'pre-Neanderthal' flutter. Another smart thing. (Shew)

*Embouchure and buzzing from LaRue

Tonguing & Articulation

*You got to know how to use your tongue (Boysie)

*Detached style of Miles, but more percussive (Hodeir)

*He had a real blunt, explosive attack which was somewhere between Miles and Fats
(Bradford)

*Used his tongue more frequently, creating clipped, machine-gun like lines in which
every note was crisply delineated (BN)
*Often tongued pitches individually, at times applying the technique to create complex
rhythmic patterns with a single pitch as if drumming with the trumpet (Berliner)

*Single tongued everything - a "swing" to the tonguing. He played pretty staccato - a lot
of long passages in which he would play as if slurring and ride across the air stream
(Goode)
*CB periodically compresses the air stream behind his tongue, bottling up his sound to
create dramatic tension - a unique timbral effect (Berliner)

*Had a way of closing down a sound so that the sound was not as full - an artistic device
via Clark Terry - each sound is distinct/not separate - though very connected (Standifer)

If you get the proper feel for the way you vocalize it, then that tells you what your tongue
has to do to play it. (Shew)

*By 1955, more lyrical and began to diversify his attack and delivery (West)

*It's hard to play the trumpet and tongue that much (Marsalis)

Breathing

Physical Conditioning
*Trumpet is a physical instrument and you must be in shape like an athlete to actually
play the trumpet (Cherry)

*He used to suck on raw eggs (Jenkins)

Long Lines
*He was trying to extend himself and play long lines (for breathing) (Jenkins)

*Ballads and Rafael Mendez songs he used to practice breathing and fingering (LaRue)

Influence on Others

Peers
*His peers know his value (West)
*Diz includes CB in a small list of those who have shaped the modern jazz brass tradition
*Young guys are now playing the trumpet based on a (pauses)…the "feeling" of CB
(Dizzy/Nolan)

*Your influence is in how many people copy you (Diz)

*Brownie was the most important trumpet player who has come forth since the
1940s…And still is. (Blakey, 1965)

*Greatest trumpet influence we've had to date (Red Rodney)

*Bird was gone and CB was the future of the music. Complete, utter one-in-a-million
genius (Manning)

*CB/MR at Basin Street was one of the first recordings I ever heard. In HS, I learned all
his solos off of CB with Strings Tremendous influence - Lee, Freddie, Woody (Marsalis)

Lee Morgan/Miles
*Lee Morgan at the Heritage House (hurricane story) - (LBW)

*Lee Morgan was a constant visitor in our home (LaRue)

*CB was Lee Morgan's idol/mentor - Boysie taught him too (Cooper)

*Miles, as bad as he was, had big time respect for CB (Quincy)

*It would have been more difficult for Miles had Fats and Clifford lived (Taylor)

Quincy's Assessment
*He should not only be judged by his present talent (which is still of superior quality),
but by his potentialities. I'm very aware of his sensitivity and superior taste; he will never
lower his standards and play without sincerely feeling, whatever the mood (Quincy)

*To ME, the name of Clifford Brown will always remain synonymous with the very
essence of musical and moral maturity. This name will stand as a symbol of the ideals
every young jazz musician should strive to attain (Quincy)
 Reviews of Playing

Chris Powell Oct 22, 1952 2 “I Come From Jamaica”

And a fair trumpet solo to round things out

Tadd Dameron Nonet - Metronome magazine Dec 53 – Jazz singles by

Ulanov
….they do boast a trumpet-playing discovery who may achieve the stature of Dizzy or
Fats Navarro. This distinguished youngster, Clifford Brown, goes by the name of
Brownie and plays by the way of Fats and Freddy Webster, no small accomplishment.
There’s fervor in his Philly JJ solo, piquancy in his choice Choose Now effort, muted
skill in what he does with Tadd’s Theme, and a combination of a rich tone and fingering
ease in everything.

Lou Donaldson–Clifford Brown – 12-30-53 4

Brown has roots in Gillespie and especially Navarro, but has his own crisp, recognizable
identity. Not since Miles Davis' promise began to dim has there been as exciting a horn
man in this tradition.

Metronome 1-9-54 Ulanov Reviews “Lou Donaldson”

..there's too much Donaldson alto, not enough Brown, and not really first-rate trumpet at
that. He deserves better than another rehearsal of the early bop patterns for material, too.

Clifford Brown – 04/07/1954 - Sextet (“Easy Livin”, etc…)

Brownie has really arrived; now let’s hope he can get some steady gigs.

Metronome May 1954 - Sextet

Brownie in almost every way justifies the star status he's given here. By tone and
technique and individuality, he shows himself the most striking trumpeter to come out of
the bop background since the late great Fats Navarro. He blows brilliantly, up, in the
exhilarating Cherokee and the not-so-fast Wail, satisfactorily in Minor, fairly well in the
ballads, Living and Eyes, and returns to top form in the poignant middle-tempo “Hymn”.

Is Clifford Brown Such a Discovery? asks Maurice Burman - June 5,

1954 (England)
It is seldom that one hears a whole show devoted to one artist. The reason is obvious -
We have so little jazz time and there is so much to be heard that, apart from a handful of
greats, it simply isn’t fitting. Tony Hall, however, devoted this show to trumpeter
Clifford Brown as a “Star of Tomorrow?” I am glad he added the interrogation mark, for
as good as Clifford is - and he has a masterly technique - he lacks originality, uses clichés
and has borrowed a deal from Dizzy. If we were going to look for a star of tomorrow, we
should look for someone comparable to Lester Young who, in 1938, was playing the sort
of music that every one scrambled to play in 1948. There is no doubt in my mind that
somewhere in America that contemporary player exists - but he isn’t Clifford Brown.

Alun Morgan – June 54 “with Art Farmer / Swedish All-Stars”

Lover Come Back opens with a brilliantly conceived chorus by Brownie. If you still
doubt that Cliff’s destined for big things, hear his arresting authority and strength here,
for this is great trumpet playing by any known standards.

Melody Maker– 06/12/1954 “Clifford Brown/Art Farmer with Swedish

All-Stars”
One could hardly call either Delaware-born Brownie or Californian Art Farmer the equal
of Chet Baker. If it wasn't for sometimes imperfect intonation, however, they would
come near. to being the next best.

Jazz Journal - July 1954 Raymond Horricks - Clifford Brown “Quartet

in Paris”
Brownie was certainly the leading solo personality. He has swing, wit, an abundance of
ideas and the fighting guts of a gladiator. His style combines the harmonic surety of Fats
Navarro with the attacking zest of Gillespie and the dry humor of Shavers. It is most
noticeable that his style varies considerably with different tempos. At a fast pace he
employs a smallish tone and often restricts his short, staccato type of phrasing to only a
single octave. With slow, ballad material, however, his tone quickly broadens and his
longer melodic lines flow easily through every register.

Melody Maker – 07/10/1954 “Talking of Fats & Brownie” - Alun

Morgan
It took an untimely death to elevate Fats Navarro to a position of musical esteem. Let us
hope Clifford Brown enjoys the appreciation he deserves while still alive.

Aug 25, 1954 Satchmo blindfold test - “Cherokee” (Blue Note) by

Leonard Feather
I don’t know what they’re playing…It reminds me of a guy with a mouth full of hot rice;
got to have hot lips to blow that stuff - like he put it to his lips then pulled away, a fever
blister or something … But if he’d put it right there and hold it there and let about four
good notes come out, with a beautiful tone, it would be much nicer. Now you take my
boy, Bobby Hackett – just a few of them pretty notes is worth a whole basket of these hot
mouth notes. Rate this? Well, you’ve got to rate him – he’s got nerve! If he ain’t in the
hospital yet, with chop trouble! Just that friction of the mouthpiece – he can’t keep that
damn roller derby up all night, and nobody would want to hear that all night. Let’s lay
about four on him, because a trumpet player’s got to get ratings, regardless…that’s the
toughest of all instruments.

Art Blakey “Split Kick; Once in a While; Quicksilver” 4 Sept. 8, 1954

The brilliant Clifford Brown amply justifies his new star victory in this year's Down Beat
Critics' Poll except for one thing, and that's why this isn't five-starred. Once in a While is
Clifford's concerto and it doesn't quite come off. Reasons: the approach to the tune is
interestingly different but there apparently wasn't enough preparation, because the tempo
alterations come out awkwardly (in the accompaniment, too), and there is therefore the
feeling of cluttered rather than flowing structure. Clifford also does not sustain his longer
notes well; and he has one main trouble on all the tunes - he often plays too many notes.
Clifford will be a great trumpeter, not just a very good one, when he finds out the
expressive value of economy.

Oct 20, 1954 “Clifford Brown & Max Roach” GNP Volumes 1 & 2
Clifford sounds a little tense on both “Children” and “Tenderly” (he is so far no giant on
ballads). Clifford’s blowing, however, is looser and more consistent most of the way on
this one, (vol. 2) which is why the higher rating. Sometimes, as on the first set, he tries
for more than he can cohesively absorb into his solo line, but his general conception and
amazing sense of time are often so thrilling that a few incompletions and the several
clinkers on both LPs don’t always assume major importance. There are times as on I Get
a Kick and sections of Started, when Clifford’s dazzling run of notes makes you wonder
what, if anything he’s trying to say beyond a flexing of his technical muscles. When he
does break free of his delight in notes as notes, he is certainly one of the important voices
in contemporary jazz.

3/23/55 Dinah Washington Jam Session 3

Frequent lapses of the trumpets into notes for the sake of notes. Each, particularly Brown
and Terry, have exciting moments, but can certainly construct better, less-exhibitionistic
choruses than occur here. The "exuberance and enthusiasm" mentioned in the notes is no
excuse for lack of sustained imagination.

Charlie Mingus - The Fabulous Thad Jones - 1955 Liner notes

"Here is a man (Thad Jones) who practiced while Fats goofed, and thought while
Brownie copied."

Bobby Shad – Dec 1955

Clifford Brown is one of Emarcy’s biggest money makers largely because of the Clifford
Brown with Strings LP which was issued earlier this year. "It's still selling as if it just
came out."

(talks about Brown’s acclaim)

And much of that acclaim, strangely enough, came from the with Strings album which
was liberally panned by practically all jazz critics. Shad says of that, "You guys missed
the boat - so did Brownie, he didn't want to do it. But that kind of album brings talent to
people who would never buy a jazz LP and makes a demand for the musician’s other
records." Meanwhile, the multi-noted Brownie blows on with no strings attached.

Clifford Brown – Max Roach 01/11/1956 “Study in Brown” 4

Brownie can be very exciting and is often here, but there are still times when his choruses
are partially essays in swiftness rather than cohesively well shaped, flowingly individual
statements. When Brownie comes to learn the value of economy, he'll be even more
stimulating than he is now.

Met Apr. 1955 “Gryce – Brown”

Clifford plays brilliantly in his many-noted fashion for most of the way except in the
ballad (Romantic) where he has trouble sustaining long tones as does Gryce in the same
piece.

Clifford Brown – 07/01/1955 “Clifford Brown with Strings” 3

Clifford, who hasn't been heard extensively up to now in ballads, proves that he has an
inventive lyric ability as well as his already known blazing, many-noted prowess at up
tempo flights. If it means a wider audience for Clifford, I'm for it, but I can't give the
string writing a very high rating musically. Clifford, though, is very tasty throughout.

Clifford Brown – 07/13/1955 “Clifford Brown Quartet in Paris”

There are, however, several stimulating passages of characteristic high-speed invention,
and rhythmically, Clifford swings the date almost all by himself. There are also, however,
a few sections when he has difficulty sustaining notes and it is then that his intonation
tends to waver.

Goldblatt - Report of Newport Fest Saturday July 16, 1955

The final number of Dave Brubeck’s set that same evening was “Tea for Two.” Dave’s
regulars were augmented by Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and Max and Clifford. They
cracked! Max attacked the standard savagely. While the group pounded away the
closing moments of the evening, the most telling statements were made by Max and
Clifford. The crowded audience left their seats to encircle the stage, and George Wein
came out waving his arms like a windmill to halt the festivities. Clifford ignored the
producer, digging his head deeper into his shoulders, scrunching his face up even more
than it had been, and blasting out a gorgeous, fire-breathing final chorus. At that moment
the rain, which had been threatening all day, started to spatter down against his horn.

Met July 1955 “Clifford Brown with Strings”

….proving nothing beyond the fact that popular music can be dreadfully dull especially
in such huge doses. If it has to be done, then Bobby Hackett is the trumpeter, not
Brownie, who has some trouble with intonation (track 5, for example) and more with his
vibrato (tracks 1 and 2). Then, too, Neal Hefti, for all his talent, has a string pattern for
this kind of thing which has a dull intensity that is almost melodramatic. Unfortunately,
there's no Just Friends in this collection, but Clifford does play well on Memories, and
tracks 7 and 12 are easily the most effective in the album.
9-7-55 Brown & Roach, Inc. 3
First tune displays Brown's occasionally disturbing tendency to sacrifice linear
cohesiveness and development for dazzling technical hot-rodding. In this respect, Brown
might well pay heed to Thad Jones' effective use of economy of means when it's
necessary. On Ghost, however, Brown is excellent in a long solo that is one of the
achievements of the year.

Gary Kramer – 09/10/55 Billboard

“Trio of Jazz Combos Rock NY’s Basin Street”

In contrast to the Brubeck group, the effect produced on their listeners by the Brown-
Roach Quintet is immediate and electric. Both Brown and Roach, now at the high points
of their respective careers, effortlessly perform with such supreme virtuosity on their
instruments that aficionados at the nitery are simply staggered. The fanciful flights of
Brown on trumpet never serve a cheap effect, however. The fireworks are brilliantly
patterned and thoroughly thought out. In a drummer, the modesty and complete lack of
exhibitionistic tricks of Max Roach are almost as impressive as the variety of sounds that
he coaxes from his drums in his tasty solos. These two artists are currently combining
their rich talents in one of the most stimulating modern jazz combos extant.

Davis Picks From Wide Variety

“Miles and Miles of Trumpet Players” by Leonard Feather – Sept 21, 1955 (Blindfold
test)

“Falling in Love with Love” (Prestige) – “Clifford & Art Farmer with Swedish All-Stars”

“Aside from the trumpets, I didn't care for the other soloists at all . . . also I think that
Arthur should improve his tone and that Clifford should swing more. Four stars, though.”

Burt Korall – Brubeck at Basin Street - Nov. 1955 (Metronome)

“Trumpeter Clifford Brown seems bent on exhibitionism. This, which can only serve as
an inhibiting mechanism on his progress, and make people forget how promising he is."

07/07/1956 by Mike Nevard “An Appreciation of the Late Clifford

Brown”
I respect his sincerity, his fervent belief in the music he was playing. I also believe he
was a man who played from the heart. It’s just that he wasn’t big-hearted enough. My
chain of greats omits Navarro too – the man from whom Brownie drew much of his
inspiration. But Fats did play with more assurance than his disciple. I found Clifford
Brown’s trumpet indefinite…searching…fumbling. A man who is exploring hitherto
unprobed avenues can be excused a lot, but Brownie never seemed to find anything that
justified his efforts. On the strength of his recorded work, I would say that he was a
trumpeter that played with force, but who unfortunately had that throttled, restricted tone
that so many of the modernists favor.
Tribute By Quincy Jones 08/22/56
In this generation where some well-respected and important pioneers condemn the young
for going ahead, Brownie had a very hard job. He constantly struggled to associate jazz,
it's shepherds, and it's sheep, with a cleaner element, and held no room in his heart for
bitterness about the publicity-made popularity and success of some of his pseudo-jazz
giant brothers, who were sometimes very misleading morally and musically. As a man
and a musician, he stood for a perfect example and the rewards of self-discipline.

Clifford, at 25, was at the beginning of showing capabilities parallel only to those of
Charlie Parker. There was nothing he would stop at to make each performance sound as if
it were his last. But there will never be an ending performance for him, because his
constant desire was to make every musical moment one of sincere warmth and beauty;
this lives on forever. This would be a better world today if we had more people who
believed in what Clifford Brown stood for as a man and a musician. Jazz will always be
grateful for his few precious moments; I know I will.