I Remember Clifford (song)

I Remember Clifford is the name of a jazz threnody written by jazz tenor saxophone player Benny Golson in memory of Clifford Brown, the influential and highly-rated jazz trumpeter who died in an auto accident when he was only 25 years old. He and Golson had done a stint in Lionel Hampton's band together.

The song became an instant standard, as musicians paid tribute to Brown by recording their personal reading of it. Golson later said, "[it] took me several weeks, but I'd never written a composition like it before. I wanted to create a melody that the public would remember, and associate it with [him]."^{[citation needed]}

I Remember Clifford is also the name of an album by Arturo Sandoval. The entire album is a tribute to Brown, who was a great influence on Sandoval, and features Golson's tune.

Notable recordings of I Remember Clifford

• Don Ellis - Shock Treatment (2002)
• Art Farmer & Benny Golson, Meet The Jazztet
• Dizzy Gillespie, The Big Band Sound of Dizzy Gillespie (Verve, 1957)
• Arturo Sandoval, I Remember Clifford (GRP Records, 1992)

Vocal version

Jon Hendricks added the lyrics, and recorded by jazz vocalists including:

• Dinah Washington - recorded October 4, 1957, but probably not released until 1959 compilation album The Queen!.
• Carmen McRae - 1958 album Carmen for Cool Ones
• Nancy Wilson with George Shearing - 1961 album The Swingin's Mutual!
• Ray Charles - 1970 album My Kind of Jazz
• Sarah Vaughan - Live in Prague 1978 (DVD). Probably she made no studio recordings nor official live recordings of this song.
• The Manhattan Transfer - 1985 album Vocalese
• Helen Merrill - 1995 album Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown

Washington, Vaughan and Merrill are only three vocalists recorded with Brown.

External links

• Brownie Quotes - Benny Golson Golson's description of hearing of Brown's death
• Article at jazzstandards.com