13 Classic Albums: 1954-1960

Clifford Brown, born in October 1930, (aka "Brownie,") was an American jazz trumpeter. He died at the tragically young age of 25 in a car accident leaving behind only four years worth of recordings. Nonetheless, he had a considerable influence on later jazz trumpet players, including Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, and Freddie Hubbard among others. He was also a composer of note with two of is compositions, "Joy Spring" and "Daahoud", going on to become jazz standards. Brown was born into a musical family in a progressive East-Side neighborhood of Wilmington, Delaware. In June 1950, he was seriously injured in a car accident after a successful gig. During his year-long hospitalization, Dizzy Gillespie visited the younger trumpeter and pushed him to pursue his musical career. Brown moved into playing music professionally, where he quickly became one of the most highly regarded trumpeters in jazz. He was influenced and encouraged by Fats Navarro, sharing Navarro's virtuosic technique and brilliance of invention. His first recordings were with R&B bandleader Chris Powell, following which he performed with Tadd Dameron, J. J. Johnson, Lionel Hampton, and Art Blakey before forming his own group with Max Roach. The Clifford Brown & Max Roach Quintet was a high-water mark of the hard bop style, with nearly all members of the group contributing original songs. Brown's trumpet was originally partnered with Harold Land's tenor saxophone. After Land left in 1955 in order to spend more time with his wife, Sonny Rollins joined and remained a member of the group for the rest of it's existence. In June 1956, Brown and Richie Powell embarked on a drive to Chicago for their next appearance. While driving at night in the rain on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, west of Bedford, Powell's wife Nancy lost control of the car and went off the road. All three were killed in the resulting crash. Brown is buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery, in Wilmington, Delaware.