For those unaware, this incredible 4CD set gathers eight essential albums that Clifford Brown recorded as leader for Blue Note and EmArcy between 1953 and 1956.

Clifford Brown (born October 30, 1930, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.—died June 26, 1956, Pennsylvania) was an American jazz trumpeter noted for lyricism, clarity of sound, and grace of technique. He was a principal figure in the hard-bop idiom.

Brown was the most influential trumpeter of his generation; the lyrical aspects of his music influenced many trumpeters, including Lee Morgan and Booker Little, and his technical brilliance especially influenced trumpeters such as Donald Byrd and Freddie Hubbard.

Drawn from his very finest sessions, it offers the definitive portrait of a genius lost at just 25 and serves both as the perfect introduction to a trumpet legend whose influence still resounds and as a superb collection for those already familiar with his work.

Bringing together tracks from these 8 classic LPs and studio/session dates compiled across the 4CD box-set, we get the best of New Star on the Horizon (1953), The Clifford Brown Sextet in Paris (1953), Clifford Brown Quartet in Paris (1953), Clifford Brown Big Band in Paris (1953), Jam Session (1954), Clifford Brown & Max Roach (1954), Brown and Roach Incorporated (1954), and Clifford Brown with Strings (1955).

Amazingly, Clifford Brown was only 25 when he died in a car accident in 1956, yet the rich body of work he left behind sealed his reputation as one of the greatest trumpet players who ever lived. Quincy Jones even described Brown as one of the most important musicians of all time. “I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will look at Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie as our Mozarts, our Chopins, our Bachs, and Beethovens,” Jones told New Orleans Public Radio in 2013.

Brown himself always said that “the most important thing” a jazz musician could do was train away from the stage. Donaldson said all the hard work strengthened Brown’s lips and enabled him to play three sets a night and still be firing after hours on stage.

In May 1952, Brown got the chance to sit in with Charlie Parker for a week at Club Harlem in Philadelphia. “Bird helped my morale a great deal,” Brown later told Hentoff. “One night he took me in a corner and said, ‘I don’t believe it. I hear what you’re saying, but I don’t believe it.”

Word soon spread about the trumpet prodigy’s talent and over the next 18 months, Brown played with Lionel Hampton’s band and Art Blakey’s Quintet, with whom he recorded his debut album for Blue Note called New Star On the Horizon. Brown also recorded with Jay Jay Johnson for Blue Note and appeared on “A Study in Dameronia” with Tadd Dameron for Prestige Records.

A key album is the 1955 EmArcy record Study in Brown, which features the trumpeter with drummer Max Roach and pianist Richie Powell, the younger brother of Bud Powell. Brown had moved out to Los Angeles by this time and had been working hard on composing. The record contains versions of his own tunes “Swingin’,” “George’s Dilemma,” “Sandu,” and “Gerkin for Perkin.” The album also contained a superb version of Ray Noble’s “Cherokee.” Brown would have been honored to know that his idol Louis Armstrong kept a well-worn copy of the album in his music library and made notes about Brown’s music.

“People did talk about him being a brilliant mathematician,” said Don Glanden, Head of Graduate Jazz Studies at Philadelphia University and the man who made the documentary Brownie Speaks. “Quincy Jones talks about him being able to calculate exchange rates for the band in his head when they were touring Europe with Lionel Hampton,” added Glanden.

Complete Track Listing:
Stockholm Sweetnin’ // Scuse These Blues // Falling In Love With You // Lover Come Back To Me // Philly J J // Dial ’B’ For Beauty // Theme Of No Repeat // Choose Now // Hymn Of The Orient // Easy Living // Minor Mood // Cherokee // Wail Bait // Brownie Speaks // De-Dah // Cookin’ // You Go To My Head // Carvin’ The Rock // Sweet Clifford // I Don’t Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You // Stompin’ At The Savoy // I’ll String Along With You // Mildama // Darn That Dream // I Get A Kick Out Of You // Caravan // Autumn In New York // Toronado // You Go To My Head // Yesterdays // Laura // What’s New? // Blue Moon // Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man // Embraceable You // Willow Weep For Me // Memories Of You // Smoke Gets In Your Eyes // Portrait Of Jenny // Where Or When // Stardust // Cherokee // Jacqui // Swingin’ // Lands End // George’s Dilemma // Sandu // Gerkin for Perkin // If I Love Again // Take The ’A’ Train // What Is This Thing Called Love? // Love Is A Many Splendored Thing // I’ll Remember April // Powell’s Prances Time // The Scene Is Clean // Gertrude’s Bounce.

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