Daahoud

Harold Land (tenor sax), Clifford Brown (trumpet), Richie Powell (piano), George Morrow (bass) and Max Roach (drums). From the album Clifford Brown & Max Roach (1954).

Clifford Brown was an American jazz trumpeter. He played with Tadd Dameron, Lionel Hampton’s big band and Art Blakey before forming the famous quintet with Max Roach. He died in a traffic accident at the age of 25 along with the pianist of the band Richie Powell and his wife Nancy, who was driving the car. He had already had an accident in 1950 that took him off the stage for a year and Dizzy Gillespie used to visit him at the hospital to cheer him up. He never took drugs or alcohol to the astonishment of many of his fellow heroin addicted musicians.

He married LaRue Anderson in 1954 and they had a son. He was one of the most outstanding figures of the bebop and hard bop styles, influenced by Fats Navarro. The sound of his trumpet was warm and consistent across the entire range of the instrument. He could articulate each note, even at very fast tempos, which presented no difficulty for him. His sense of harmony was highly developed, allowing him to make bold speeches thanks to complex harmonic progressions, and he could also express himself deeply in ballads. In short, he was a virtuoso.

The theme starts without preamble. Brown begins with his solo following the established harmonic scheme. His pirouettes and quick phrases make up an overwhelming discourse. It’s like he is giving you an important message. Then Powell comes in by linking his phrases with the piano. Land follows demonstrating his expertise with bebop. Suddenly, Roach appears alone with his drums, deploying a stream of energy without fainting for a moment, and finally comes the re-exposure of the theme.