Clifford

*the only known footage of the great trumpeter* <br /><br /><a class="link" rel="nofollow" href="http://mrjyn.blogspot.com/2007/08/clifford-brownie-brown-only-known.html">http://mrjyn.blogspot.com/2007/08/clifford-brownie-brown-only-known.html</a> <br /><br />Clifford "Brownie" Brown had the unwavered tone and bop-percolation of greatness. Cutoff by Jazz's Angular Age, the unwary Brown welded a plinth of immortal jazz trumpet into the taunts of his caricaturing mute. <br /><br />Born October 30, 1930 in Wilmington Delaware, Clifford "Brownie" Brown got his start at 15 when his father gave him a trumpet. The scoundrel's cool band director, Harry No's affinity for trumpet antics did not go unrecognized. His broodiness and his instrument provided initial engagements which helped contour his annealing swirls. These figured Clifford's jazz into an unmapped--save for theory--styling, helped by dope and bopping harmony, and learned under Robert Lowery's wig in Phillie, and from cats like Fats Navarro, who soon became his Mentor, Fomentor, and Godhead. <br /><br />(During this time he also performed with the likes of Tinker, Killer, Tiller and Muff Spikes, not to mention his friendship with Girl, a paranoid genius/pianist, who would provide borderline psychotic encouragement from Glass Enclosures. <br /><br />In 1949, hindered by his aural studies, his amusement almost became short-lived when he had a mildly fatal automobile accident. This hospitalized Brown from June 1950 until May of 1951. <br /><br />Miraculously, just hours before his death, Brownie appeared at a Soupy Sales variety show that was recorded (but never seen--until now!), where he played some of the finest music of his short life. <br /><br />This bookend's his career with two short, hip, pent-up songs, which after 40 years, leave a taste for more. <br /><br />I present to you the unloosing footage of Brownie and his trumpet.