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Entertainment Monday, November 3, 2008

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Calendar Dining TV & Movies Music Arts Spark Metromix Crossword Horoscopes Contests

They remember CliffordMusicians, scholars and family gather to examine the life and influence of

a jazz great

BY RYAN CORMIER THE NEWS JOURNAL OCTOBER 31, 2008

When it comes to music legends living in Wilmington, Bob Marley's 1966 stay in the city gets most of the

attention.

The reggae superstar lived there with his mother for a short time, while

working at DuPont and the Chrysler plant. And, yes, the annual People's

Festival in Wilmington pays tribute to Marley each summer.

But behind Marley's large, dreadlocked shadow stands another musical

legend -- one who was actually born in Wilmington and lived there until his

untimely death at the age of 25, Clifford Brown.

The influential jazz trumpeter, who just so happens to have his own

eponymous music festival in Wilmington each year, is even buried in the

city's Mt. Zion Cemetery.

This weekend, the hard bop innovator will get his due, as jazz greats,

scholars and historians converge on Philadelphia with Brown's family for a

multi-day symposium focusing on Wilmington's greatest jazz man.

"My father has been dead for over 50 years," says Clifford Brown Jr., who

was only six months old when his father died in a car accident. "And the

fact that there are so many people that love him, want to pay tribute to him

and recognize his musical genius and what k ind of a person he was -- I

don't have words to describe it. It's simply amazing to me."

The event, which began Thursday, will examine Brown's riveting body of

work and influence, along with his personal life and Wilmington

upbringing. For example, saxophonists Benny Golson, Lou Donaldson and

Jimmy Heath, all of whom played on Brown's recordings, will discussBrown during a roundtable Saturday. And then at night, Donaldson and

Golson will perform at the Merriam Theater in honor of the man

affectionally known as "Brownie."

The event came together thanks in part to Wilmington native Don

Glanden, who has been researching Brown for a dozen years for a

documentary entitled "Brownie Speaks," which will debut at the

symposium.

"The idea is to get an idea of his musical contributions, along with the

sociological situation of growing up on the Eastside of Wilmington and

how that helped shape him," says Glanden, head of the piano department in the Graduate Jazz Studies

program at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, the organizer and host of the symposium.

INTERACTIVE WEATHER

Submitted

Wilmington's greatest jazz legend, Clifford Brown, will be the subjectof a symposium this weekend in Philadelphia.

Submitted

Don Glanden researched Brown for a dozen years for hisdocumentary Brownie Speaks.

SELECTED EVENTS

TODAY

10 a.m. -- Nick Catalano, author of "Clifford Brown: The Life and Art

of the Legendary Jazz Trumpeter"

1 p.m. -- "Brownie Speaks: A Video Documentary" by Don Glanden

remember Clifford | delawareonline | The News Journal http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20088

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Last week, in advance of this weekend's event, Brown was inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance's

Walk of Fame. A bronze plaque honoring Brown can now be found on the Avenue of the Arts along with

those honoring performers like Dizzy Gillespie, Chubby Checker and Bill Haley.

At the ceremony, Brown's niece, Michelle Whyte, tearfully spoke of her uncle after a saxophonist

performed Brown's "Tiny Capers" -- a song Brown wrote for Whyte in 1954, just two years before his

death.

Even as he campaigns for the vice presidency, Sen. Joe Biden penned a letter commending Brown, once

he heard about the symposium: "Clifford Brown demonstrated the best of the American spirit through his

extraordinary talent, brilliant mind and love of music. I know I can speak for the rest of the community when

I say Clifford made us proud and we wi ll forever be grateful for h is amazing contributions."

Another well-known figure, radio and television personality Soupy Sales, is participating in the event. On

Thursday, Sales was in Philadelphia to be honored by Brown's devotees. Why exactly? Sales, a jazz fan,

promoted the music on his programs. Brown's two-song performance on Sales' television show in 1956

remains the only preserved television footage of Brown.

A highlight of the festival wil l be Glanden's documentary, which will be shown at 1 p.m. both today and

Saturday. The 85-minute film, which his son Brad helped edit, is culled from more than a decade's worth of

interviews with Brown's family and musical partners.

"I have three criteria for judging the historical importance of a jazz musician and you can see it in the

video," says Glanden, whose jazz trio performs at Sullivan's Steakhouse in Brandywine Hundred every

Thursday night at 6 p.m. "It's the three I's. Influence -- the level of influence they had on the idiom and the

players that came after. Individuality -- can you tell it's them if they only play four or five notes? And

innovation -- did they bring something new? I want to tell the biographica l story in a compelling way, but I

want the viewer to look at Clifford in the light of those three criteria."

"I think Don knows more about my dad than I do," said Clifford Brown Jr. "I'm on the edge of my seat

waiting to see that. After years and years making it, it's finally time to see it."

Brown, who was lauded by greats like Gillespie and Duke Ellington, has always had the support of his

home city. The annual Clifford Brown Jazz Festival is 20 years old.

That support has not gone unnoticed by Brown's family.

"Wilmington and the people who live there have done an astounding job keeping my father's memory and

music alive," says Clifford Brown Jr., 52, who is the program director and operations manager at San

Francisco radio stations 1640 KDIA-AM and 1190 KDYA-AM, and host of a jazz program on San Mateo's

Jazz 91.1 KCSM-FM. "The jazz festival bearing his name is a big, big deal. But it's not just the older people

who might remember him. There are people who are my age and younger who have gone out of their way

to find out who Clifford Brown was. It's really something."

In your voice

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2:30 p.m. -- Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard Q&A

4 p.m. -- Phil Schaap, jazz DJ and curator of Jazz at Lincoln Center,

"Clifford Brown: The Wilmington Years." Guests: David Clark,

Geneva Griffin, Kenyon L. Camper and Clifford Brown Jr.

8 p.m. - - Terence Blanchard Quintet performance, Gershman Hall.

Tickets: $20-$7.50

SATURDAY

10:30 a.m. -- Lewis Porter, jazz pianist and director of the Master's

Program in Jazz History and Research at Rutgers University: "The

Development of Brownie's Style"

1 p.m. -- "Brownie Speaks: A Video Documentary" by Don Glanden

2:30 p.m. -- Jazz saxophonists and Brown collaborators Benny

Golson, Lou Donaldson and Jimmy Heath discussion and Q&A3:45 p.m. -- Panel discussion: "Family and Friends of Clifford

Brown"

6:30 p.m. -- Teleconference with jazz critic and historian Nat Hentoff

7 p.m. -- Lou Donaldson Quartet and Benny Golson Quartet

performance, Merriam Theater. Tickets: $35-$10

Warren D. Fowler

From left: Richie Powell, Brown, George Morrow and Max Roach.

Submitted

Brown was just honored with a plaque on Philadelphia MusicAlliances Walk of Fame.

Don Glanden researchedBrown for a dozen years forhis documentary "BrownieSpeaks." From left: RichiePowell, Brown, GeorgeMorrow and Max Roach.Brown was just honored witha plaque on PhiladelphiaMusic Alliance's Walk ofFame.

Warren D. Fowler

IF YOU GO

"Brownie Speaks"

A symposium celebrating the legacy of jazz trumpet legend Clifford

Brown

WHEN: Today and Saturday

WHERE: Caplan Center for the Performing Arts, 211 S. Broad St.,


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ADS BY PULSE 360 Get Listed Here

Philadelphia, and other venues nearby

COST: Daytime events are free, but nighttime performances are

ticketed

INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION: www.uarts.edu

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