Memorial album

Memorial album
Studio album by Clifford Brown
Publication (s)	1956
Label (s)	Blue note
Format (s)	(2x10 inch LP) 12 inch LP, CD
Genre (s)	jazz
Title (number)	10/18
running time	40:04 (12 inch LP) 71:13 (CD)
occupation	Trumpet : Clifford Brown Alto saxophone : Lou Donaldson 1–9 Flute , alto saxophone : Gigi Gryce 10–18 Tenor saxophone : Charlie Rouse 10-18 Piano : Elmo Hope 1-9, John Lewis 10-18 Bass : Percy Heath Drums : Philly Joe Jones 1–9, Art Blakey 10–18
production	Alfred Lion
Studio (s)	WOR Studios, Audio Video Studios, New York City
chronology Blue and Brown 1953 Memorial album Clifford Brown Memorial (1954)

Memorial Album is a jazz album by Clifford Brown . It was recorded in two sessions in June and August 1953 with different line-ups and initially released in the form of two 10-inch LPs by Blue Note Records . After the trumpeter's accidental death in 1956, the recordings appeared on a 12-inch LP with a new cover design under the title Memorial Album .

The album

At the time of these recordings, the 22-year-old trumpeter Clifford Brown was at the beginning of a career as an important jazz musician. In the previous year he had participated in commercial rhythm and blues recordings of singer Chris Powell; his reputation as a musician to be taken seriously, however , was already cemented by working with colleagues such as Charlie Parker , Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz .

The June session with Lou Donaldson

The first session for Blue Note took place on June 9, 1953 under the direction of the alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson ; Alfred Lion had embedded the two in a backing band of experienced session musicians such as Percy Heath and Philly Joe Jones ; In addition, the pianist Elmo Hope had the opportunity to make his record debut in the jazz field. Hope had previously worked in the R&B environment - like Clifford Brown - and now contributed three compositions to the session, namely "Bellarosa", "De-Dah" and the title "Carvin 'the Rock", which was written together with Sonny Rollins .

The first track, Hope's medium-tempo composition “Bellarosa”, is followed by “Carvin 'the Rock”. The title - composed by Sonny Rollins and Hope together - refers to the Rikers Island prison near New York City, where many musicians were also incarcerated for drug offenses. The title with the unusual 16-8-12 choruses can be heard in three versions; the first alternate take was created right before the later master take ; At the end of the recordings, a second alternate take was recorded. The following Lou Donaldson composition "Cookin '" was recorded in two takes; According to Bob Blumenthal, the highlight of the session is Clifford Brown's lively and refined composition "Brownie Speaks", impressive due to the chord changes. Also significant is the contribution of the rhythm section, especially Elmo Hope's chords behind the wind soloists. A melodic idea led the pianist Hope to the title “De-Dah”; After the thematic introduction by the wind instruments, he begins with a solo in medium tempo, with saxophonist Donaldson taking over in a relaxed mood. The last track was the jazz standard “ You Go to My Head ” with a written introductory passage through the wind instruments before Donaldson takes up the subject and begins his solo. Brown then exploits the lyrical qualities of the piece to the full in his solo play, before the saxophonist joins him with an obligation playing .

Two days later Brown and Heath played in Tadd Dameron's nonet; shortly thereafter, on June 22nd, they worked on the album The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson . At this session, Alfred Lion offered the trumpeter another recording date for August. That second session for Blue Note took place on August 28th; at the time, Clifford Brown was a member of Lionel Hampton's band . Two musicians from the Hampton band then took part in these recordings on August 28, the alto saxophonist and flautist Gigi Gryce and the tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse ; the rhythm section again consisted of Percy Heath as well as pianist John Lewis and drummer Art Blakey , who was to record his first Blue Note album A Night at Birdland with Brown six months later .

The August session with Gigi Gryce and Charlie Rouse

The music of the August session benefited from the expansion into a sextet; While the pieces from the previous session with Lou Donaldson were still largely played in the bebop fairway, the August recordings took on a more orchestral character due to the careful arrangements and the slightly smoother sound due to John Lewis' accompaniment. You can already hear these harmonic changes in the first track "Wail Bait"; it came from Quincy Jones , Clifford Brown's colleague in the Hampton band's brass section. This is followed by “Hymn to the Orient”, written by Gigi Gryce, with an impressive solo interplay by Brown and Blakey. In “Brownie Eyes” the trumpeter shows the mastery of his later ballad playing early on; Gigi Gryce introduces the beautiful Quincy Jones ballad as a flautist who accompanies the trumpeter on his solo. Then Gryce starts his solo on the alto saxophone. " Cherokee " was one of Brown's favorite chord progressions at the time; the master take immediately picks up speed, only to return to the familiar topic towards the end. Brown played him in two more times afterwards; as "Brown Skin" in an orchestra under the direction of Gryce in Paris and in 1955 in a quintet with Max Roach . Gryce's flute and Percy Heath's bowed bass form the introduction to the standard “Easy Living”, in which Brown again shows his ballad art. “Minor Mood”, with which the session ends, is a composition by the trumpeter and, at four and a half minutes, the longest piece of the recordings. After an introduction by John Lewis, the unfamiliar melody sets in, followed by the trumpeter solo, then by Gryce and Rouse. After a brief transition from Lewis, the three-part ensemble play starts again.

rating

The first Blue Note recordings by trumpeter Clifford Brown are among the highlights of early hard bop for jazz critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton ; They gave the Memorial Album the highest rating in their Penguin Guide to Jazz and particularly emphasized the careful remastering by Rudy Van Gelder , although he was not the sound engineer on the original recordings.

Editorial notes

The master takes initially appeared partially as singles, then the Clifford Brown / Lou Donaldson session from June 1953 was released as a 10-inch LP (LP 5030). The recordings of the August session with Gigi Gryce and Charlie Rouse were released on LP BLP 5032. After Clifford Brown's death in 1956, the recordings appeared on the Blue Note LP BLP 1526 - but without the titles Bellarosa and Brownie Eyes. The 2001 CD edition contains the two complete sessions with all previously unreleased alternate takes and new liner notes by Bob Blumenthal . The two sessions from 1953 are also included in the 4-CD edition The Complete Blue Note and Pacific Recordings (BN 34195-2).

The Blue Note album Memorial Album should not be confused with the album Clifford Brown Memorial (PRLP 7055), which was released by Prestige Records and featured material by the trumpeter from June 1953 with Idrees Sulieman , Gigi Gryce, Tadd Dameron , Benny Golson and others. a. contains.

The titles

Memorial Album - Blue Note BLP 1526

1. Carvin´ the Rock (Elmo Hope / Sonny Rollins ) 3:53
2. Cookin '(Lou Donaldson) 3:10
3. Brownie Speaks (Brown) 3:43
4. De-Dah (Elmo Hope) 4:47
5. You Go to My Head (JF Coots / H. Gillespie) 4:16
6. Wail Bait ( Quincy Jones ) 3:59
7. Hymn of the Orient (Gryce) 4:03
8. Cherokee ( Ray Noble ) 3:23
9. Easy Living ( Leo Robin / Ralph Rainger ) 3:40
10. Minor Mood (Clifford brown) 4:31

Memorial Album - CD reissue 2001

• The Lou Donaldson / Clifford Brown Quintet (1-9), June 9, 1953, WOR Studios, New York City
• Clifford Brown Sextet (10-18), Aug. 28, 1953, Audio Video Studios, New York City

1. Bellarosa (Elmo Hope) 4:11
2. Carvin´ the Rock (Elmo Hope / Sonny Rollins ) 3:53
3. Cookin '(Lou Donaldson) 3:10
4. Brownie Speaks (Brown) 3:43
5. De-Dah (Elmo Hope) 4:47
6. You Go to My Head (JF Coots / H. Gillespie) 4:16
7. Carvin´ the Rock (alternate take # 1) 3:48
8. Cookin´ (alternate take) 3:05
9. Carvin´ the Rock (alternate take # 2) 4:02
10. Wail Bait ( Quincy Jones ) 3:59
11. Hymn of the Orient (Gryce) 4:03
12. Cherokee ( Ray Noble ) 3:23
13. Easy Living ( Leo Robin / Ralph Rainger ) 3:40
14. Minor Mood (Clifford Brown) 4:31
15. Wail Bait (alternate take) 4:03
16. Cherokee (alternate take) 3:38
17. Hymn of the Orient (alternate take) 4:01

literature

• Bob Blumenthal: Liner Notes for the New Edition, 2005.
• Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz. 1800 bands and artists from the beginning until today. 2nd, expanded and updated edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2004, ISBN 3-476-01892-X .
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .
• Leonard Feather : Original Liner Notes 1961.

Web links

• Discography

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ Nine days later Elmo Hope recorded his first album for Blue Note , New Faces, New Sounds, with Percy Heath and Philly Joe Jones . See Blumenthal.
2. ↑ Another version of the title was created during Elmo Hope's trio session.
3. ↑ In the original it says: " Brownie Speaks is a brisk, tricky original by the trumpeter that inspires the best work on the session"; see. Blumenthal.
4. ↑ cf. Blumenthal.
5. ↑ There are certain similarities with the tenor play in "Floppy" and "For Adults Only" by Zoot Sims and Al Cohn with Miles Davis in February 1953, on which pianist John Lewis also participated. ( Miles Davis and Horns (1951/53), Prestige PRLP 7025).