“I Remember Clifford” was written in 1956 by Benny Golson as a tribute to trumpeter Clifford Brown, who was killed in an automobile accident in June 1956 along with Richie Powell, the pianist in the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet.
The tune appears on more than 100 albums, and pianist Joe Block wrote a new big band arrangement of it that was to be part of the “Hard Bop and Cool School” concert by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center on January 19. That concert was snowed out and rescheduled for June 19 when the orchestra presented, instead, its “Best of JLCO” program.
Fortunately, for those in attendance, Block’s “I Remember Clifford” arrangement remained part of this concert, with a brilliant, moving trumpet solo by Marcus Printup (photo above). It was, to me, the highlight of the concert. Every member of the JALC Orchestra had at least one solo, and some of the other memorable moments were baritone saxophonist Paul Nedzela’s solo on John Coltrane’s “Alabama” and Alexa Tarantino’s flute performance on trombonist Elliot Mason’s “Summer Day.”
One of the lighter segments of the concert was the orchestra’s rendition of Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn’s “Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby”, with vocal added by trombonist Vincent Gardner. At the beginning of the concert, the JALC Orchestra’s leader, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, told the audience: “We’re trying to swing as hard as we can.” And, they did.-SANFORD JOSEPHSON
PHOTO BY FRANK STEWART