A great starting place.
jazzfanmn | St Cloud, MN United States | 11/27/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Clifford Brown is one of Jazz music's many tragic figures. He, like too many jazz musicians, died young before his great potential could be realized. His was a particularlarly tragic loss, he did not succumb to the cliche of addiction, but was killed in a violent car wreck at the age of 25, leaving only a limited collection of recordings as his legacy. Brownie possesed a formidable technique, a bright brassy tone and a swinging lyricism that influenced a generation of future trumpet luminaries that included Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan. This cd offers a good introduction to Brownie's music. Most tracks feature Max Roach on drums, Richie Powell (brother of bop pioneer Bud Powell, Richie died in the same wreck as Clifford), George Morrow on bass, and the very underrated Harold Land on tenor. There is some variety in settings when the quintet is backed by strings for a lovely version of Stardust, and one track from the classic date with the singer Helen Merrill. Finally Sonny Rollins replaces Land on tenor for two of the tracks taken from a live date. Almost all of the performances are exciting as Brownie is in top for as are his sidemen, check out Roach's drumming especially on I Get A Kick Out Of You and Cherokee, and the sound has been excellently mastered by the folks at Verve. This is a great cd to serve as an introduction to one of jazz music's masters, and is at a budget price to boot."
Great Collection
Kenneth Y. Shih | New York, NY USA | 03/26/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sometimes you get a collection and wish that you just had a single coherent CD from the artist rather than a mish mash of songs. Not so with the CD. The collection, is a genuine fine hour of Brownie, well chosen & I think is even stronger than any single orginal album of Clifford Brown than I own (though i don't have "with Strings" yet) & certainly better than any other collection I've heard. If you want to buy any single CD of his, I think this is it. Though, who would want only one?"