Just like it takes reading the Bible to see how far you have missed the mark, it takes listening to Clifford Brown’s trumpet to objectively observe the descent of trumpet players. This gold standard of a 2 cd set reissues everything the influential horn player recorded on Blue Note, both as a leader, co-leader and sideman. To say that it is a must have is like saying that the Gospel of John is a nice little read.
The 1953 sextet sessions with JJ Johnson (along with Jimmy Heath/ts, John Lewis/p, Percy Heath/b and Kenny Clarke/dr sparkle and shine with joy on tunes like “Get Happy” and “Turnpike” and ballads like “Lover Man” never sounded more convincing. Brown’s own small band with Heath, Lewis, Charlie Rouse/ts, Gigi Gryce/as and Art Blakey/dr rolls like a Mack Truck on hard hitters like “Hymn of The Orient” and “Cherokee” that display all the macho joys of hard bop, and lyricism is never far away as exemplified on a bel canto “Easy Living.”
The prototypical Art Blakey Jazz Messengers with Horace Silver/p, Curly Russell/b, Lou Donaldson/as and Brown define the genre on a trend setting gig at Birdland from 1954. Presented for the first time in the order of the sets, you get infectious grooves like “Mayreh” and no holds barred takes like “Quicksilver” and “Split Kick” that have Brown and Donaldson going at it like Rockem Sockem Robots from Marx while Blakey rides “A Night in Tunisia” like the stampede scene in Red River. This is the standard by which all swaggering gun slinging horn players are measured. Grab on and hold tight!
Blue Note Records