Clifford Brown (1930-1956) was one of the most brilliant trumpeters of jazz. His father also played the trumpet and encouraged him and his musical siblings from the beginning - Clifford started on trumpet at the age of 10. Although he was a math major at Maryland State College, his interest soon shifted towards a professional career in music. Initially influenced by Fats Navarro, a car accident forced him to take a break in 1950; none other than Dizzy Gillespie encouraged him to continue.

Brown’s exceptional talent was immediately recognized by the jazz community in New York and he soon played in the most important groups on the scene: with Lionel Hampton, J.J. Johnson and Art Blakey. His warm tone and his ability to articulate every single note, even at breathtaking tempos, were paired with a talent for complex changes. He toured Europe with the Quincy Jones orchestra and recorded several records in Paris, the European mecca of jazz in the 1950s.

After releasing his first albums as a leader for Blue Note, he founded a quintet with the drummer Max Roach, one of the finest ensembles in hard bop. Brown wrote a host of remarkable compositions for this ensemble, which always featured the crème of the crop, such as tenor saxophonists Harold Land, Teddy Edwards and Sonny Rollins. On the road from New York City to Chicago on June 26, 1956, Clifford Brown died in a tragic car accident, only 25 years old, along with pianist Richie Powell.

Despite his short career as a studio musician, Clifford Brown left behind an extensive and highly varied musical body of work, a fact to which every single recording on this box testifies.