International Society for Jazz Research

Born in 1930, Clifford Brown studied trumpet, Jazz-harmony, improvisation and arrangement. In 1948 he met Fats Navarro, who had a strong influence on the young Clifford. In June 1950 he suffered from a severe car accident and had to stay in hospital until May 1951. Dizzy Gillespie encouraged Brown to continue his musical career. The public began to pay attention to Brown in 1953 when he first played with Tadd Dameron, then with Lionel Hampton. Early 1954, when engaged by Art Blakey into the "Birdland", he helped to start the enthusiasm about the beginning "Hard Bop" movement. In the same year Brown was elected "New Star" of the year by "down beat" magazine. In March 1954 he co-founded the "Clifford Brown - Max Roach Quintet" with which he gained his special profile. Another car accident ended his young hopeful life untimely on June 26, 1956. Clifford Brown's trumpet style remained an ideal for most of the following young trumpeters in Jazz.

Like his mentor, Fats Navarro, Brown played technically perfect solos mostly in long melodic legato lines. By changing the tempo to double time phrasing and blowing into the high registers he gave his solos dramatic character. Remarkable is the "rhythm displacement", a sudden change from retarding to anticipating off beat. Brown was a master of melodic development of his solos, which are often created out of one or more motifs in logical manner.

By listening to "Jordu" (recorded on August 3, 1954) played by the "Clifford Brown - Max Roach Quintet" one can watch the melodic development of motifs in many ways: In bar 9, Brown establishes a motif in anticipating off beat which he develops in bars 10 and 11 in retarding off beat. In bar 12, he builds a new melody out of it. In bar 21, Brown brings in an new motif which he repeats melodically a half step down in bar 22 but instead of finishing it by a fourth upwards he closes by a flatted fifth downwards. This interval is now a new minimal motif for Brown. He uses it from bar 23 to bar 24 (as perfect fifth), in his emotional climax in bars 25-26 and again in bars 28-29. In his second chorus Brown builds another climax by using the minimal motif as a fourth downwards. After runs played legato in double time in the bars 49-56, Brown re-establishes a motif from the first chorus in bars 57-58, varies it in bars 59-60 and thus rounds the complete solo as a perfect whole. The solo varies very much in rhythmical sense. A solo of a great master!