之前鮪魚聽過 clifford Brown 的 study in brown; 很是喜愛, 技藝高超的小號吹起 bop 的曲調輕鬆自如, 但更重要的是你可以在那溫和的音色中感受到一種溫暖人心的東西. 今天鮪魚才從韓國人畫的漫畫 ”Jazz it up” 裡得知 Clifford Brown 的事. 原來 brown 至今 2006 已整整過世了 50 年 (怎麽音樂還如此鮮活..). 而這位音樂家在 26 歲時與Bud 的小弟 Richie Powell 與老婆 Nancy 同車, Nancy 開車墜毀山崖. 真是令人唏噓不已的一段歷史. 想一想, Brown 至今仍如此被世人所懷念, 他過世時不過是個 26 歲的少年阿! (想一想我們 26 歲在幹嘛) 我想他之所以如此被大家推崇, 除了音樂上的成就之外 (Hard Bop 的代表性人物, 影響未來的音樂家包括 Donald Byrd, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Nicholas Payton, Arturo Sandoval..), 大概還有他的生活方式還有個性吧- 相較於那些毒蟲爵士偉人們, Brown 不碰毒品, 不喝酒; 喜愛下棋, 據說個性憨厚溫馴. 很有趣的是, 光聽他的音樂你就可以感受到, 不需事先知道這些描述. Brown 除了證明給世人知道活得很清白乾淨也可以成為偉大的爵士音樂家之外, 更樹立了一個典範, 讓我們知道怎樣的生命才能不朽於世.
”Clifford was a profound influence on my personal life. He showed me that it was possible to live a good, clean life and still be a good jazz musician.”
--Sonny Rollins
自 1989 至今, Clifford Brown Jazz Festival 仍在他的出生地 Delaware 每年度舉辦.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_Brown
下面這首 I Remember Clifford 是 Benny Golson 為紀念 Brownie 寫的曲子, 現在已變成音樂家喜愛演出的標準曲. Arturo Sandoval 也有一片很棒的專輯 ”I Remember Clifford” 獻給 clifford brown.
I know he’ll never be forgotten
He was a king uncrowned
I know I’ll always remember
The warmth of his sound
Lingering long I’m sure he’s still around
For those who heard they respect him yet
So those who hear won’t forget
The sound of each phrase
Echoing time uncountable by days
The things he played are with us now
And they’ll endure should time allow
Oh yes I remember Clifford
I seem to always fed him near somehow
Every day I hear his lovely tone
In every trumpet sound that has a beauty all its own
So how can we say something so real has really gone away?
I hear him now, I always will
Believe me I remember Clifford still.
