“Threnody,” as the dictionary defines it, perfectly describes this lamentation for the death of the great trumpeter Clifford Brown, born in 1930, who died before his time at age 25 in a car accident. Professionally he was admired for his technique, his emotional, warm delivery, and his sense of rhythm. But it was his personality and his kindness that elevated his stature beyond that of just an intensely admired musician. Fellow trumpeter Art Farmer called him a “Sweet Cat.”

In 1954 Brown teamed with drummer Max Roach to form one of the most admired groups in jazz although it lasted only 27 months, cut short by Brown’s death in 1956 which produced a groundswell of grief in the jazz community.

In 1957 saxophonist and bandleader Benny Golson composed a moving elegy to Brown for which Jon Hendricks later contributed lyrics. Hendricks memorialized Brown’s legacy with these words:

I only know that I hear him now
And I believe that I always will
You’ve got to believe
I remember Clifford still, yes I hear him still
I know he’ll never be forgotten
He was a king uncrowned

Golson and Brown had played together in the bands of Tadd Dameron and Lionel Hampton. Golson remembers Brown as the complete trumpeter who had mastered the entire range of his instrument and was equally at home with ballads and breakneck tempos. Brown was also a composer of note. “Joy Spring” and “Daahoud” became major components of the jazz repertoire.

While Golson has composed other jazz standards, “Killer Joe,” Stablemates,” and “Whisper Not,” “I Remember Clifford” is his most recorded composition. Dizzy Gillespie’s band, which included Golson, introduced it at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957, and it was subsequently picked up by both instrumentalists and vocalists: Art Farmer, the MJQ, Bud Powell, Oscar Peterson, the Jazz Messengers, Lee Morgan, Carmen McRae, and Keith Jarrett. In 1954 vocalist Vaughan recorded Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown, one of her most memorable albums. She performs the song on a newly released DVD of a concert recorded in Prague in 1978. Helen Merrill, who also recorded with Brown in 1954, avoided recording the song until 1994 when she featured it in her tribute album, Brownie. The Manhattan Transfer included it in their 1985 Vocalese album, for which they won three of twelve Grammy nominations. In 1992 Arturo Sandoval released an album dedicated to Brown appropriately entitled I Remember Clifford.

Brown has been honored in many other ways as well. The Philadelphia musicians union set up a scholarship fund in his honor, and the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival was established in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1995 choreographer Twyla Tharp created a dance for Hubbard Street Dance entitled “I Remember Clifford” which concluded with the Golson piece. Nick Catalano published his biography in 2001 entitled Clifford Brown: The Life and Art of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter.