1955 · Album
Clifford Brown With Strings
Recorded January 18–20, 1955 · EmArcy Records · Arranger: Neal Hefti
Strings and Silence: Brown's Elegant Detour
Brown plays it straight here, letting the strings do the heavy lifting instead of showing off.
Clifford Brown with Strings sits oddly in Clifford Brown's catalog. By 1955, Brown was already establishing himself as one of the sharpest trumpet voices in jazz — inventive, clear-headed, technically fearless. This album asks him to do something different: play it cool while a full string section handles the arrangement. Neal Hefti's string work is lush and composed, which sounds nice enough, but it's also the main attraction here. Brown doesn't disappear, exactly, but he's not driving the sessions the way he does on his small-group recordings. His tone remains warm and precise, but there's less of that exploratory energy that makes his other work so engaging.
The album works best when you're in the right mood for it — background music that doesn't insult your intelligence, the kind of thing that plays well in a cocktail lounge without demanding attention. The arrangements are competent and the playing is professional. Brown's solos are clean and measured. But if you came to hear what made Brown special, what separated him from a dozen other competent trumpet players, this isn't the place. The strings actually get in the way more often than they enhance what he's doing.
This is a peripheral project in Brown's discography, interesting mainly for completists or for listeners who specifically want strings-and-trumpet material. If you're new to Brown, skip this and reach for his small-group sessions instead, where his actual voice comes through. Clifford Brown with Strings (1955) exists, it's pleasant, and it shows Brown could adapt to different settings. That's about all you need to know.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Clifford Brown
All 12 albums →
The musicians on this record
Deeds, Not Words 1958
Max Roach
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
Jam Session 1954
George Morrow
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
