Contemporary jazz quintet/quartet/trio with guitar replacing the trumpet. Featuring Willie Jones III, Greg Kurstin and Frank Strazzerri.

8 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Traditional Jazz Combo, JAZZ: Bebop



Details:
This recording marks the debut of Los Angeles based guitarist Cliff Brown.
Though he has been a stalwart of clubs in and around the L.A. area and recorded
on a few scattered recording dates since 1989, he has not emerged with an
offering as a leader until now. And that statement is tainted in itself being that
these recordings were made back in 1993. Thus the subtitle : " Sessions from â93 ".
Add to the list that Cliff Brown isn't your typical guitarist - he's one of those
"lefty-upside down" jaggedy be-bop players and you've got an interesting situation that will surely continue to develop.

In a town that brought forth the go-go groove ala Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers,
Cliff Brown started his musical career alongside an artistic career as well, enrolling in
the Corcoran School of Art and then later, attending Howard University in his native
Washington, D.C. Howard, a veritable hotbed for artistic talent which has helped spawn
the likes of dancer/choreographer Debbie Allen, actor/director Ossie Davis, and
concert and opera star Jessye Norman also gave impetus to Brown's raw talents
along with other contemporaries such as bassist Clarence Seay, keyboardist
Wayne Linsey, drummer Winard Harper, trumpeter Wallace Roney, and vocalist Kudisan Kai, to name a few.

After receiving a jazz studies degree from Howard U., Brown entered into the U.S. Navy
in 1984 and toured the Pacific North West area of the U.S. extensively, being based
in Seattle, Washington. Much like John Coltrane, Brown played in many different
situations including; dance, concert, and swing bands. He also began a short association
with the local music scene in Seattle. Brown garnered honorable mention in Guitar Player
Magazine in 1989 for his performances as well as fulfilling subsequent radio interviews : most
notably radio station KKMO 1360 am in Seattle. He also performed and recorded with a
modern jazz group co-led by tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman and trumpeter Nathan
Breedlove called the Jazz Brothers. After fronting his own group, The Cliff Brown
Ensemble at the Bellevue Jazz Festival in Seattle, Cliff relocated to the L.A. area in
December 1988.

In L.A., Brown has worked with a long list of wide ranging personalities : including
Carl Anderson, Freda Payne, Jeff Hamilton, Lou Rawls and Ray Brown while working
on a masters degree at California State University. He has also been affiliated with the
T.V. and motion picture industry on shows like : Melrose Place, Knotts Landing, Star
Trek, and the Malcolm & Eddie T.V. sitcom.

The selections represented on " In The Meantime " came from a brief association that
Brown had 'hanging out' in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles ( 43rd & Degnan )
in the early 1990's at Billy Higgins' World Stage. It was during this time that Brown
met up with bassist Mark Shelby and drummer Willie Jones and eventually recorded
with the Black Note Quartet.
D-Mob ( an attempt at a Miles Davis late-eighties style ) was the only non-live track
that was included because it was recorded during the same time with James Mahone,
and veteran bassist/producer James Manning.