Clifford Brown & Max Roach All Stars - Best Coast Jazz

These legendary recordings took place in August 10, 1954, during four sessions at the old Capitol Studios (5515 Melrose Ave.) in Hollywood, and featured an all-star group headed by trumpeter Clifford Brown, with two outstanding and Bird-influenced alto saxophonists: Joe Maini, and Herb Geller, both compelling players, each with an extraordinary ability to swing. A stimulating contrast in colour is provided by the dark-toned, sinuously swinging tenor of Walter Benton. An appropriately incendiary rhythm section in pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Curtis Counce and the magisterial Max Roach, stokes the fires of invention behind them with sensitivity, imagination and drive.

From the opening tune, Coronadoa remarkably spirited and swinging bop blues numberthroughout a mid-tempo version of You Go to My Head, and on to the rhythmic excitement of Caravan and the gentle but buoyantly lyrical Autumn in New York, these performances offer everyone splendid opportunities to have their say, and to say it well. But in a wealth of fine playing, what lifts them into another dimension is the inspired trumpet of Clifford Brown, a great jazzman at the height of his considerable powers.

tracklist -
01. Coronado (Johnny Coles) 19:43
02. You Go to My Head (Coots-Gillespie) 17:13
03. Caravan (Juan Tizol) 15:10
04. Autumn in New York (Vernon Duke) 21:35
Bonus track:
05. Caravan [Edited version] (Juan Tizol) 3:06

Personnel:

Clifford Brown (tp); Herb Geller, Joe Maini (as); Walter Benton (ts); Kenny Drew (p); Curtis Counce (b); and Max Roach (d).
Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California, August 10, 1954

Original recordings produced by Bob Shad
This CD release produced by Jordi Pujol

"Clifford Browns biography by Nick Catalano points out that both Clifford and Max Roach were very uncomfortable on this date. The reason is not hard to find since the jam session nature of the performances, where the first four titles average approximately 18 minutes each, was quite different to the music they wanted to create.

Four months earlier they had debuted their new quintet with Teddy Edwards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. This group with later replacements (Harold Land and Sonny Rollins) was to become one of the greatest small groups of the era and they remained on the West Coast for the next several months recording brilliantly structured classics like Joy Spring, Parisian Thoroughfare, Jordu and Daahoud. Brown and Roach also took part in a marathon session there with Dinah Washington, Clark Terry, Maynard Ferguson, Harold Land and Herb Geller that recorded no less than 17 titles for EmArcy.

There is much to enjoy on this date despite the excessive length of the performances. The repertoire was new to Brown with the exception of You Go To My Head which he had already recorded with Lou Donaldson in 1953 and was to reprise with Rollins in 1956 - one week before he was killed. Walter Benton was under-recorded during his short career. He is particularly effective on the up-tempo Caravan where his dark, smoky tone calls Harold Land to mind.

Throughout the session Herb Gellers Benny Carter-like elegance contrasts effectively with Joe Mainis more passionate take on Charlie Parker. Coronado is notable for the climatic musical chairs sequence of four, two and one bar exchanges between the horns. With his warm, burnished tone Clifford is at his most lyrical on Autumn In New York but really, everything he played is worthy of close attention."

Gordon Jack -Jazz Journal (September, 2015)