Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Ida Red
2. I Come From Jamaica
3. Bellarosa
4. Carvin' The Rock
5. Cookin'
6. Brownie Speaks
7. De-Dah
8. You Go To My Head
9. Philly J.J.
10. Choose Now
11. Dial B For Beauty
12. Theme Of No Repeat
13. Capri
14. Turnpike
15. Sketch One
16. Get Happy
17. Wail Bait
18. Hymn Of The Orient
19. Minor Mood

Disc 2:

1. Brownie Eyes
2. Cherokee
3. Easy Living
4. Stockholm Sweetnin'
5. scuse These Bloos
6. Falling In Love With Love
7. Lover Come Back To Me
8. Brown Skins
9. Deltitnu
10. Keeping Up With Jonesy
11. Conception
12. All The Things You Are
13. I Cover The Waterfront
14. Goofin' With Me
15. Quickstep
16. Bum's Rush
17. Chez Moi

Disc 3:

1. Minority
2. Salute To The Band Box
3. Strictly Romantic
4. Baby
5. All Weird
6. Blue And Brown
7. I Can Dream, Can't I?
8. The Song Is You
9. Come Rain Or Come Shine
10. It Might As Well Be Spring
11. You're A Lucky Guy
12. Introduction
13. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm
14. Tenderly
15. Sunset Eyes
16. Clifford's Axe
17. Sweet Clifford

Disc 4:

1. Delilah
2. (I Don't Stand A) Ghost Of A Chance
3. Joy Spring
4. Stompin' At The Savoy
5. Mildama
6. Daahoud
7. Bones For Jones
8. Tiny Capers
9. Jor-Du
10. I Can't Get Started
11. I Get A Kick Out Of You
12. Parisian Thoroughfare
13. You're Not The Kind

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #176232 in Music
• Released on: 2005-04-11
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, Import
• Dimensions: .46 pounds

Album Description
Trumpeter Clifford Brown's star burned brightly but for too short a time - his tragic death at the age of 25 robbed the jazz world of a truly great talent. However, before this he achieved a lot in a short space of time, and most importantly for us here in 2005, he recorded a substantial body of work. With his mercurial tone and fertile imagination, Clifford was able to play everything from the fastest bebop to the most touching ballad with conviction and a seldom heard virtuosity. This 4CD set includes the key recordings of his career, made with the likes of Lou Donaldson, Tadd Dameron, Philly Joe Jones, Quincy Jones and most famously the quintet he co-led with drummer Max Roach. This is one of the first Properbox sets to be issued in new slimline packaging - half the size of the original sets but with all the same great music, comprehensive liner notes and impeccable production quality.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful, Joyous Clifford Brown
I've had this boxed set for just a couple of weeks now, and I love every song. The sound quality is great throughout, Brown's bebop and hard bop sounds are superb as you'd expect, and the talent that appears along side Clifford Brown is outstanding.

I was a little apprehensive at first to get this set because I was concerned about too much overlap with my Emarcy albums. But it turns out the overlap is minor. This compilation does include the material you'd find on "Clifford Brown and Max Roach", and on "Brown and Roach, Inc.". But it does not contain songs from "Study in Brown", or any of Brown's work with Sonny Rollins or with strings, because they were yet within the 50-year copyright envelope when this set was compiled in 2005.

What you do get are three discs of Clifford's early work leading up to the Brown/Roach Quintet, and disc four, which includes studio and live recordings of the Brown/Roach Quintet.

Disc one contains Brown's work in the groups led by Lou Donaldson, Tad Dameron, and J.J. Johnson through June 1953. These songs show an already mature sound to Clifford Brown's playing. The sound quality is great, and I really like the blend of Brown's trumpet and Johnson's trombone.

Discs two and three focus on the fall of 1953 when Brown was touring through Europe as part of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. Apparently there was a bit of a riff between the old swing players in the Hampton band and the younger beboppers, which included Brown, alto saxophonist Gigi Gryce, drummer Alan Dawson, trumpeter Art Farmer, trumpeter/arranger Quincy Jones. The younger guys were frustrated at getting little to no soloing time during the performances. While in Paris, apparently the young guys would slip out of the hotel, get to a recording studio, and record songs they wanted to play along with some locals. Hampton was not at all happy about this practice.

The results are wonderful songs with that warm, joyous, energetic sound that Clifford Brown is known for. The songs that are arranged by Quincy Jones sound so beautiful and come off so well, it is hard to believe they were recorded on the sly. I was also very impressed with Gigi Gryce's sound on the alto and his arranging skill.

The end of disc three and disc four contain songs from the Brown/Roach quintet, starting with a live-radio performance, emceed by Max Roach, of the early quintet that included George Bledsoe on bass, Carl Perkins on piano, and Teddy Edwards on tenor. These guys were replaced by George Morrow, Richie Powell, and Harold Land, whom we hear on disc four doing their famous studio recordings for Emarcy, and a live performance. The live performances provide extended soloing time, and Parisian Thoroughfare is just magnificent, smoking fast in the intro and coda.

Classic Brownie, Some Rare
Clifford Brown was amazing from the start, and this set, which includes lots of Paris sessions that may be hard to find, proves it. Even if you have Brown-Roach and other Mercury-Emarcy sessions, these will be well worth it, especially at the price.

A Welcome ADDITION to your Clifford Brown collection.
I really like this collection. I don't like it as much as the "Complete Blue Note-Pacific Jazz" and the "Brownie: The Complete Emarcy Recordings of Clifford Brown" collections. It would certainly be a welcome addition to your Clifford Brown collection if you already have the two sets that I mentioned, but I wouldn't recommend it as your first Clifford Brown set, or especially if it were going to be your only purchase of Clifford Brown recordings. I do enjoy this set very very much though. A shame that his career was so short and that it ended so tragically.