104. Clifford Brown & Max Roach / Study in Brown (1955)

Study in Brown is a really enjoyable record. What's memorable, to me, in this Brown-Roach date from 1955, isn't just Brown's exceptional talent on the trumpet, but his talent as composer ("Sandu" is here) and contributions of tenor Harold Land on the front line. Between their instrumental abilities and composed works, the band is a really good combination. A bit like the Cookbook series by Eddie Davis, Brown and Roach went in the studio a few times and each time, the chemistry cooked something special. This set runs from blues to bop to standards, and through a variety of tempos. In the opening "Cherokee," Land can match Brown phrase for phrase at breakneck speed, and the wailing fragility of his reed provides additional texture and urgency. In each tune, Roach gets a lot of room, naturally, carving out his niche in jazz percussion with driving, melodically inspired solos on snares and toms. "Take the 'A' Train" has a really cool introduction and arrangement, and the jaunty "Gerkin for Perkin" keeps it interesting with a cool stop/start rhythm that causes Roach to kick up some dust. Such freshness, vibrancy and joy flows from this recording. It's almost hard to listen and not be overwhelmed by the sad feeling of knowing that Brown would be gone in less than a year.

44. Harold Land / West Coast Blues! (1960)

Half the group is from New York and the other half from California, but the session doesn't sound like a novel meeting of East and West, and they actually sound like they know each other pretty well. Land is a good leader. He developed his own approach to hard bop on the tenor and was a prolific composer. This record features three of his compositions. He plays with a strong sense for the rhythm, and the influence of the blues haunts each lick. The opener is the sexy but hard swinging "Ursula," as good an introduction to Land's tone and style as any. He gets down to bop and rhythmic counterpoint by next covering Charlie Parker's complicated "Klactoveedsedstene." It's nice to hear Montgomery do a Charlie Parker composition because Bird was such a big influence on him, and of course, he's right at home. Joe Gordon takes some flashy solos and also plays nicely in unison with Land. In Land's provocative tone is the quality of a high harmonic that sounds like a signal just on the verge of breaking up, giving the music an urgency that isn't lost in the fullness of the whole sound. His style is bop-oriented and fluid, but very accessible, a clear intermediary between the music and the audience.