Max Roach & Clifford Brown In Concert

Although Clifford Brown died in a car accident when he was just 25, he is still considered one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, managing to influence an entire generation of horn players in his short life. This is partially because he recorded so prolifically, perhaps most notably with a superlative quintet he formed with drummer Max Roach in 1954—widely considered the gold standard in hard bop. This historic album, recorded live at two separate dates played at Gene Norman’s Crescendo nightclub in L.A. in April and May of 1954, represents some of the quintet’s earliest recordings. The first four tracks (side A) actually feature a seldom heard early line-up that included Teddy Edwards on tenor sax, Carl Perkins on piano and George Bledsoe on bass, while the classic quintet line-up—featuring Harold Land on tenor sax, Richard Powell on piano and George Morrow on bass—can be heard on side B. This is the line-up that played right up until Brownie’s untimely death in 1956.