H. Johnson spotlights trumpet prodigy Clifford Brown who played with legendary jazz greats

WABE’s H. Johnson has been a fixture on our station since 1978. As host of both “Blues Classics” and “Jazz Classics,” H. continually educates and entertains WABE listeners every Friday and Saturday night. Now, H. joins “City Lights” every other Friday to share a bit from his breadth of jazz knowledge. The segment, “H. Johnson’s Jazz Moment,” explores selections from the best of H.’s music collection along with tidbits from history, personal reflections, and his thoughts on the evergreen resonance of jazz. 

On this edition, Johnson shares the music of Clifford Brown, a trumpet prodigy who was a fixture of the late ’40s and ’50s jazz scene before he passed away in a tragic car accident at age 25. As a result, the jazz world is blessed with only four years’ worth of recordings by Brown, but they featured him in the ensembles of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and Charlie Parker, as well as the quintet he launched with drummer Max Roach in the mid-1950s. “He was a swinger, unrelenting,” said Johnson. “According to the critics and the people who know, he would’ve become a major force in jazz had he lived, but he left us too early.”

Johnson’s 1955 selection showcases Clifford Brown in an unusual arrangement with strings, rare in his ensembles. “The only problem I have picking a recording from his ‘Clifford Brown with Strings’ album is to pick the right one because he has so many great recordings on here,” Johnson said. He ended up choosing “Embraceable You,” offering, “A lot of old timers may be listening. A lot of young people, too, who would appreciate his tone, his dedication, his elocution. Everything about this man, Clifford Brown, comes out well on this particular recording with him.” A gem of vintage romance, the delicate piano and dewy strings underscore Brown’s laid-back notes. His restraint hypnotizes, just before his melody flutters away to the stratosphere on a whim.