Looking for Clifford Brown leader/co-leader dates

[TheMusicalMarine]

I have Jazz Immortal, Memorial Album and Study in Brown. I know there are plenty of other titles out there. Which dates (preferrably in cd form) would you recommend, where Brown is either a leader or co-leading with Roach. Note: I don't want to buy the Emarcy Box because of the large number of alternate takes.

Thanks.

[Jim R]

Get whatever you find on Emarcy. Also...

Clifford Brown- Memorial Album- Blue Note RVG

Clifford Brown- Memorial Album- Prestige

(not sure which one you have)

Clifford Brown- The Complete Paris Sessions - Vogue

Clifford Brown- Brownie Lives!- Fresh Sound

Art Blakey- A Night At Birdland, Vol. 1- Blue Note RVG

Art Blakey- A Night At Birdland, Vol. 2- Blue Note RVG

J. J. Johnson- The Eminent J. J. Johnson / Vol. 1- Blue Note RVG

Sonny Rollins- Sonny Rollins Plus 4- Prestige

[jlhoots]

If you don't want to be an Emarcy "completist", then at least get At Basin Street.

[brownie]

The Gene Norman album 'The Best of Clifford Brown and Max Roach' is always overlooked. Yet there is superb Brown-Roach music there!

Essential!

[sidewinder]

Also essential IMO is the Columbia 'The Beginning and the End', which has both Brown's first sessions as part of an R&B group as well as that amazing jam session recorded in Philly literally hours before the fatal crash. I think this one has also been put out on CD as well as the original Columbia LP. The version of 'Walkin'' on this one is just incredible..

[Swinging Swede]

as well as that amazing jam session recorded in Philly literally hours before the fatal crash.

Old myths die hard. It has been established that this jam session actually was recorded on May 31, 1955, over a year before his death. Brownie did indeed play at the same location hours before his death, but that's not what's on the recording. The presence of Billy Root makes it impossible that it is from June 25, 1956, since he was with the Kenton band at the time. Root has also stated himself that is was from an earlier occasion.

This takes nothing away from the actual music of course.

[Ron S]

In addition to the 2 Emarcy's that have been more recently reissued in Verve's Master Edition series ("At Basin Street" and "Clifford Brown & Max Roach"), don't overlook this title which, like "Study in Brown" is still only available from Verve in the original 1989 CD issue:

These are the earliest studio recordings of the Brown/Roach group (Harold Land instead of Sonny Rollins on tenor) and the music is terrific. Also like "Study in Brown," this CD was a direct transfer from the original master tapes in Verve's vault and, to my ears, the sound is excellent--incredible presence and clarity. I suspect that the excellent sound of these original transfers is why Verve hasn't remastered and reissued these 2 titles in the "Master Edition" series.

Edited January 6, 2005 by Ron S

[Ron S]

The Gene Norman album 'The Best of Clifford Brown and Max Roach' is always overlooked. Yet there is superb Brown-Roach music there!

Essential!

This IS great--from 2 live performances in L.A., these are the earliest recordings of the newly-formed Brown/Roach group. Naturally, the sound is not as good as the studio recordings, but is still very good (i.e., MUCH better than radio airchecks and most Bird live recordings). The catalogue number of this CD is GNPD 18.

[sidewinder]

as well as that amazing jam session recorded in Philly literally hours before the fatal crash.

Old myths die hard. It has been established that this jam session actually was recorded on May 31, 1955, over a year before his death. Brownie did indeed play at the same location hours before his death, but that's not what's on the recording. The presence of Billy Root makes it impossible that it is from June 25, 1956, since he was with the Kenton band at the time. Root has also stated himself that is was from an earlier occasion.

This takes nothing away from the actual music of course.

Wow - news to me. I'd always assumed that the notes on the old LP were correct..

[Ron S]

as well as that amazing jam session recorded in Philly literally hours before the fatal crash.

Old myths die hard. It has been established that this jam session actually was recorded on May 31, 1955, over a year before his death. Brownie did indeed play at the same location hours before his death, but that's not what's on the recording. The presence of Billy Root makes it impossible that it is from June 25, 1956, since he was with the Kenton band at the time. Root has also stated himself that is was from an earlier occasion.

This takes nothing away from the actual music of course.

Wow - news to me. I'd always assumed that the notes on the old LP were correct..

And the notes persist in the CD still in production. You'd think Sony would add some explanation or disclaimer to the original liner notes since, in a way, the very title and concept of this album is apparently false advertising. Look at the description in the lower right corner of the current CD cover:

As already said, though, the music is still great.

Edited January 6, 2005 by Ron S

[Swinging Swede]

I suppose Columbia found The Beginning And The End more appealing than The Beginning And Somewhere In The Middle...

[Swinging Swede]

Interesting that these earliest Brown/Roach sessions are being mentioned, because Fresh Sound is just releasing (on January 10) an improved version of this album. Apparently they have done what they did with the Sweets At The Haig album and compared various 10” and 12” releases and found that some pieces appeared in edited form on the GNP Crescendo 12” LP and CD.

Here is what they write about it. I have added the track timings (in blue) from the GNP Cresendo CD when they are considerably shorter than on the Fresh Sound CD:

"Jazz historian Robert Gordon in his book Jazz West Coast writes that there was considerable editing on the two 1954 California Concerts when they were released on record on the GNP label. This editing refers mainly to the tenor saxophone and piano solos. On comparing the original releases, we have also found an additional 35 seconds of Clifford Brown's trumpet solo on "Tenderly", which has been included here. We are also pleased to present the spoken introductions by Gene Norman and Max Roach from the first date.

Regrettably, the solos of both Teddy Edwards and Carl Perkins on "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" were originally edited to one chorus each. This is the only available example of this recording. The full version has not been located and, half a century later, may be considered lost. All of the previous releases of these recordings have the same editing on three tracks from the second concert: On "Jordu", the tenor saxophone and piano were fully edited; on "I Can't Get Started" the piano intro was shorter; and the Richie Powell solo on "I Get a Kick Out of You" was deleted. These historic concerts are now issued in their most complete versions for the first time on the present CD.

Tracklisting:

1. Intro by Gene Norman & Max Roach 1:01 [not present]

2. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm (Jermann-Kahn-Kasper) 6:18

3. Tenderly (Gross-Lawrence) 5:25 [4:39]

4. Sunset Eyes (Teddy Edwards) 6:40

5. Clifford's Axe (Clifford Brown) 7:15

Max Roach (d), Clifford Brown (tp), Teddy Edwards (ts), Carl Perkins (p), George Bledsoe (b. Recorded at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, April 1954

6. Jordu Duke Jordan 10:09 [6:43]

7. I Can't Get Started With You (V.Duke-I.Gershwin) 4:04 [3:38]

8. I Get A Kick Out Of You (Cole Porter) 8:37 [6:58]

9. Parisian Thoroughfare (Bud Powell) 7:45

Max Roach (d), Clifford Brown (tp), Harold Land (ts), Richie Powell (p), George Morrow (b. Recorded at the Shrine Auditorium, Hollywood, August 30, 1954"

[Ron S]

Thanks Swede!! That's definitely a MUST BUY!!

[Jim R]

Thanks Swede!! That's definitely a MUST BUY!!

Ditto!

[brownie]

The five tracks with the longer versions were issued for the first time in 1984 on a Japanese GNP vinyl from King 'Max Roach and Clifford Brown - In Concert - Complete Version'.

[pryan]

Wow, that concert album looks killer. Hopefully I can order this in a somewhat easy manner...

[jazzkrow]

Musical Marine:

Just sent you an e-mail on one of the Brown/Roach Emarcy cds.

Jeff

[papsrus]

Thought I'd bump this up for anyone who's interested. I was listening to Brown's "Complete Blue Note & Pacific Jazz Recordings" last night. Amazing music, unreal energy, especially the Blakey at Birdland. Wow! ... So I noodled around as I listened, found this thread and hopped on a couple of recs here from the past:

"At Basin Street," "Brown and Roach, Inc.," and "The Historic California Concerts, 1954."

Settled on these three. I noticed some excitement about the California Concerts, so I'm very much looking forward to that one. What an amazing player this cat was.

cheers and happy 2009!

BTW, I don't know what it originally retailed for, but a new copy of that EmArcy box goes for $375 over at amazon. Used, $209.

Edited January 1, 2009 by papsrus

[John L]

It is not really worth paying that price for the box when almost everything can be had now on individual discs, particularly as you have already purchased the Basin Street and Brown and Roach Incorporated discs.

Edited January 2, 2009 by John L