Clifford Brown
trumpet
Clifford Brown was a trumpeter who co-led a quintet with Max Roach; Barry calls him a very good friend, and his death in a 1956 car crash with Richie Powell is how Barry came to join Max Roach’s band.
- mentions
- 5
- recordings
- 4
- Barry speaking
- 3
What Barry says
Barry calls Clifford Brown and Richie Powell very good friends of his. They were killed in a car crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and that is why Barry joined Max Roach’s band, with Donald Byrd and Sonny Rollins.
Detroit Jazz: Ancient to the Future33:03Interview on Italian television5:39Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris1:40Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶149
Barry dates his first trip to New York by the crash: he came the year Clifford Brown died. He was unsure whether that was 1955 or 1956, and accepted 1956 when the interviewer gave the date.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶86Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶289Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶151Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶171
Barry recalls that the loss hit the band hard: in his telling Harold Land, who had played with Brown, was saddened and went back to California, and Max Roach found it hard to get over Clifford and the others, so Barry stayed with him a few months.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶149Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶218Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶220
Telling the story, Barry adds that he hates the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which he calls a dangerous road, and would rather drive to New York through Canada and Buffalo.
In his own words
after Clifford Brown and Richie Powell who were very good friends of mine they got killed in an auto accident on the Pennsylvania [Turnpike]
I came in ’56, the year Clifford Brown and them got killed. Donald Byrd and I joined Max Roach’s band, so we traveled with Max.
Clifford Brown and Richie Powell got killed in a car accident, so – I think on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which is a dangerous turnpike anyway.
It was good working with Max. But it was hard for Max to get over Clifford and them
Every mention
5 moments in the recordings, 3 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Detroit Jazz: Ancient to the Future
Interview on Italian television
- 5:39
Brown and Richie Powell had been killed in a car accident, so Barry’s group joined Max.
Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harris
- 1:40
Barry joined Max after Clifford Brown and Richie Powell were killed in a car accident.
Barry Harris Spanish TV
- 15:37
Someone else
A Spanish TV narrator says Richie Powell died in a car crash with trumpeter Clifford Brown.
In the interviews and notes
Barry joined Max Roach after Clifford Brown and Richie Powell were killed, he thinks on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. In his account Harold Land, who had played with Brown, then went back to California, and Byrd, Rollins and Barry joined Max and George Morrow.
Barry first came to New York in 1956, the year Clifford Brown and the others were killed, when he and Donald Byrd joined Max Roach’s band.
It was good working with Max Roach, Barry says, but Max had a hard time getting over Clifford and the others, so Barry stayed on for him two or three months.
Barry was unsure of the year and wanted to check when Brown died; the interviewer gave 26 June 1956, at 25, and Barry agreed it was 1956.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶153Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶168Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶170Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶171
In another telling Barry says he had gone to New York in 1955, after Clifford Brown and Richie Powell died; Panken corrects the date to June 1956.
Cleary takes a lick from Brown’s solo on Pent Up House that starts with what Barry calls the seventh scale with the half step between root and seventh, and that uses the V chord’s scale over the ii chord.
Tom Cleary (University of Vermont), Six Degrees of Bud Powell, Part ii-V-I ¶5
Recordings that name them
Barry’s performances and records in the archive that credit or name them.
- Ep.3 | Everything no one has ever told you about jazz | Barry Harrisn.d., 12 min YouTube
- Barry Harris Spanish TVMadrid, 1988, 47 min YouTube
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.