Clifford Brown: Willow Weep for Me

Clifford Brown doesn't even have to take a chorus to be one of the greatest jazz trumpet players of all times. Here, arranger Neal Hefti chose to feature him "against" two registers of strings that open up with a high riff and a lower countermelody. In this context the horn acquires a strongly dramatic quality simply by playing the melody with a phrasing and timbre all its own. And now and then a short foray out of the written line reminds us how inventive Brownie can be whenever he improvises.