A Tribute to ‘Brownie’ in LP, Concert

It has become commonplace in the jazz world to salute some immortal in a special concert or album. Tributes to Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington and more recently Benny Goodman have been frequent, typical and predictable, but recently a more original concept surfaced with the release of “Joy Spring” (Discovery DSCD 946), by trumpeter Bob Summers’ Quintet. Subtitled “A Tribute to Clifford Brown,” it consists of seven compositions by that legendary, lyrical horn man, and two original works by Summers, “Cliffordish” and “Sweet Brownie.”

“I never heard Brownie in person,” says Summers, who will recreate the album with a similar quintet from 5 to 9 p.m. this evening at the Grand Avenue Bar of the Biltmore Hotel. “He died in 1956, when I was not quite 12 years old.

“My first influences were Clark Terry in the Duke Ellington trumpet section and Chet Baker with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. But after high school I went into the Navy, and while I was at the Naval School of Music in Washington, D.C., a trumpet player told me about this new musician he wanted me to listen to. We went to the library at the music school and he played a record by Clifford. That was truly a memorable experience.”

This incident took place six years after Brown’s death in an auto accident on June 26, 1956, which was also the 20th birthday of his wife, LaRue, and their second wedding anniversary. LaRue Brown Watson is a prominent figure in the Los Angeles jazz community and president of the Jazz Heritage Foundation, under whose auspices the Summers group will be presented. She will be on hand at this evening’s tribute.

Brown studied extensively in his native Wilmington, Del., toured with a rhythm and blues band, then worked briefly with Lionel Hampton, touring Europe with him in 1953. He spent the last two years of his life as co-leader of a quintet with drummer Max Roach.

Born in 1930 and reared near Fresno, Summers was 8 when he began studying the horn at elementary school. “As for jazz, I just picked that up myself,” he says. “In my high school days there were no stage bands. In my senior year they had a dance band, in which I played drums, but right after high school I gave up drums and concentrated on the horn.”

Besides, free-lance work, he played three years with Maynard Ferguson and nearly five years with the Basie band.

The Summers group, which he hopes to keep together at least on an occasional basis, includes a promising tenor and alto saxophonist, Mark Rowland, a product of Eagle Rock High School’s celebrated jazz program, and a former sideman with Louie Bellson and Ray Charles. The potent rhythm team includes Frank Strazzeri, perhaps the most ubiquitous pianist in town; Andy Simpkins, the bassist who rose to fame during his years with the George Shearing Quintet; and drummer Mike Stephans (replacing Jeff Hamilton, who played on the album).

Summers has managed to capture the essence of the Brown legacy not only in his own improvisational lyricism, but in the arrangements he has made of such now-standard Brown works as “Joy Spring,” “Daahoud” and “Sandu.” His decision to carry forward the Brown legacy was a logical inspiration, one that will provide a history lesson for most listeners.