Brownie - Complete Emarcy Rceordings Clifford Brow

This is the mother lode, 10 full discs of the great hard-bop trumpeter Clifford Brown recorded at the peak of his powers for Emarcy Records in 1954-56 leading up to his tragic death in a car crash at the age of 25. Start with his first quintet recordings with drummer Max Roach, pianist Richie Powell (Bud's younger brother), bassist George Morrow, and underrated tenor saxophonist Harold Land, including the great readings of "I Get a Kick Out of You" and the Brown originals "Daahoud" and "Joy Spring." Then it's on to the Clifford Brown All-Stars including Roach and saxophonists Herb Geller and Joe Main, then the huge All Star Live Jam Session with Geller, Land, trumpeters Clark Terry and Maynard Ferguson, and vocalist Dinah Washington. The vocal work continues with Brown's seminal albums with Sarah Vaughan and Helen Merrill, and the sensitivity Brown shows there comes full flower with his Clifford Brown with Strings, a rare example of a jazz-with-strings album that actually works, thanks to his beautiful phrasing on "Stardust" and others. Then it's back to the classic Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, with Sonny Rollins eventually replacing Land in what's considered one of the all-time-great jazz ensembles. Brownie isn't a perfect package: It includes a ton of bonus tracks--that's a good thing, but the integrity of the original albums is lost. For example, disc 3 consists of three takes of "Coronado," 43 minutes in all. And of course while this 10-disc set is a great collection, any Brown lover still needs to pick up Sonny Rollins Plus Four and at least some of his Blue Note work--A Night at Birdland or, for gourmands, the perfect bookend to this set, the four-disc Complete Blue Note & Pacific Jazz Recordings. --David Horiuchi