I Remember Clifford (song)

"I Remember Clifford" is the name of a jazz threnody written by jazz tenor saxophone player Benny Golson in memory of Clifford Brown, the influential and highly-rated jazz trumpeter who died in an auto accident when he was only 25 years old. He and Golson had done a stint in Lionel Hampton's band together.

The song became an instant standard, as musicians paid tribute to Brown by recording their personal reading of it. Golson later said, "[it] took me several weeks, but I'd never written a composition like it before. I wanted to create a melody that the public would remember, and associate it with [him]."

I Remember Clifford is also the name of an album by Arturo Sandoval. The entire album is a tribute to Brown, who was a great influence on Sandoval, and features Golson's tune.

Notable recordings

 * Don Ellis - Shock Treatment (2002)
 * Art Farmer and Benny Golson, Meet the Jazztet (Argo, 1960)
 * Stan Getz - Didn't We (Verve, 1969)
 * Woody Herman - Woody Live East And West (CBS, 1965)
 * Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy Gillespie at Newport (Verve, 1957), Birks Works: The Verve Big Band Sessions (Verve, 1957)
 * Milt Jackson - Bags' Opus (United Artists, 1958)
 * Keith Jarrett - Still Live (ECM, 1986)
 * Modern Jazz Quartet - European Concert (Atlantic, 1960)
 * Oscar Peterson - Something Warm (Verve, 1962)
 * Bud Powell - The London House Sessions (Verve, 1961), A Tribute to Cannonball - with Don Byas (Columbia, 1961 [1979])
 * Buddy Rich - Blues Caravan (Verve, 1961)
 * Sonny Rollins - Now's the Time (RCA Victor, 1964)
 * Arturo Sandoval - I Remember Clifford (GRP Records, 1992)

Vocal version
Jon Hendricks added the lyrics, and recorded by jazz vocalists including: Washington, Vaughan and Merrill are only three vocalists who recorded with Brown.
 * Dinah Washington - recorded October 4, 1957, but probably not released until 1959 compilation album The Queen!.
 * Carmen McRae - 1958 album Carmen for Cool Ones
 * Kenny Dorham - 1958 album This Is the Moment! (Riverside)
 * Nancy Wilson with George Shearing - 1961 album The Swingin's Mutual!
 * Ray Charles - 1970 album My Kind of Jazz
 * Sarah Vaughan - Live in Prague 1978 (DVD). Vaughan probably made no studio recordings nor official live recordings of this song.
 * The Manhattan Transfer - 1985 album Vocalese
 * Helen Merrill - 1995 album Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown