Clifford Brown - Memorial Album [Blue Note, 180g Vinyl LP]

Clifford Brown recorded two sessions as a leader for Blue Note in 1953, a co-led quintet date with Lou Donaldson and a sextet date under his own name, that were later compiled on the 12-inch LP Memorial Album shortly after his tragic death in a car accident in June 1956. Side 1 presents the sextet with Gigi Gryce on alto saxophone and flute, Charlie Rouse on tenor, John Lewis on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Art Blakey on drums. Side 2 finds the Donaldson-Brown Quintet with Elmo Hope on piano and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Brown was 23 years old at the time of both sessions.

The ten tracks across two sides capture a trumpeter already operating well beyond his years. "Cherokee" on Side 1 is blistering, driven by Art Blakey at his most combustive, while "Easy Living" immediately follows as one of the most affecting ballad performances Brown ever recorded. Side 2 opens with "Brownie Speaks," Brown's own briskly paced original, before moving through Elmo Hope's grooving "De-Dah" and closing on the resplendent ballad "You Go To My Head."

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series pressing is mono, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. Mono is the correct and only appropriate format for these 1953 Van Gelder sessions, and the all-analog chain makes for a great transfer of the original fidelity.

• Format: 180g Black Vinyl LP
• Standout Tracks: "Cherokee," "Easy Living," "Brownie Speaks"
• Pressing Details: Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series, All-Analog Mastered by Kevin Gray from the Original Master Tapes, Pressed at Optimal, Germany, Mono
• Genre/Style: Bebop, Hard Bop, Post-Bop, Trumpet Jazz
• UPC: 602458319859

Memorial Album is a document of one of jazz's most gifted voices at the very start of a career that would prove far too brief, and the Kevin Gray all-analog mono mastering gives these 1953 sessions a presence and immediacy that honor both the music and the musicians who made it.

* The Spotify track list may not exactly represent the tracks and audio of this LP edition.

Track List:

Side A:

1. Hymn Of The Orient
2. Easy Living
3. Minor Mood
4. Cherokee
5. Wail Bait

Side B:

1. Brownie Speaks
2. De-Dah
3. Cookin'
4. You Go To My Head
5. Carving The Rock