The story behind puzzle No. 35
Clifford Brown & Max Roach · Clifford Brown & Max Roach · EmArcy · 1954
Joy Spring was Clifford Brown's pet name for his wife, LaRue. The tune is as bright and warm as the name suggests.
Brown recorded Joy Spring in Los Angeles on August 6, 1954, with the quintet he co-led with drummer Max Roach. It appeared on the album Clifford Brown & Max Roach, released by EmArcy that December. Roach had invited Brown to California in March 1954, and the two experimented before settling on a classic bebop quintet.
On June 26, 1956, Brown was killed in a car crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike along with pianist Richie Powell and Powell's wife, Nancy. Brown was 25. Joy Spring, Sandu and Daahoud remain the best known of his tunes.
Sonny Rollins credited Brown with showing him that it was possible to live a clean life and still be a great jazz musician.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Play St. Thomas, puzzle No. 12, recorded two years later by Sonny Rollins with Max Roach.
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