Clifford Brown › Similar Artists

Elmo Hope - 100% match to Clifford Brown

St. Elmo Sylvestor Hope, 27 June 1923, New York City, New York, USA, d. 19 May 1967, New York City, New York, USA. Influenced by Bud Powell, Hope was regarded by some as a mere imitator. However he did develop his own highly individual piano style, drawing on blues and soul for inspiration. Hope first worked with Joe Morris, touring with his orchestra from 1948-51. In the 50 Read more

Lee Morgan - 85% match to Clifford Brown

10 July 1938, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 19 February 1972, New York City, New York, USA. Prodigiously talented, Morgan played trumpet professionally at the age of 15 and three years later joined Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. During this same period he recorded with John Coltrane, Hank Mobley and others. In 1958 the Gillespie band folded and Morgan joined Art Blak Read more

Kenny Dorham - 84% match to Clifford Brown

McKinley Howard Dorham, 30 August 1924, Fairfield, Texas, USA, d. 5 December 1972, New York City, New York, USA. After learning to play trumpet while at high school, Dorham played in several late 40s big bands, including Lionel Hampton’s and, more significantly given his musical leanings, the bop-orientated outfits of Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine. He was originall Read more

Sonny Rollins - 80% match to Clifford Brown

Theodore Walter Rollins, 7 September 1929, New York City, New York, USA. Although an older brother played violin and, at the age of nine, he took piano lessons, Rollins was destined for the saxophone. In 1944 he played alto saxophone in high school and when he left in 1947 he began gigging round New York on tenor. His first inspiration was Coleman Hawkins, but he was well aw Read more

Horace Silver - 73% match to Clifford Brown

Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silva, 2 September 1928, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA. Silver studied piano and tenor saxophone at school, settling on the former instrument for his professional career. Early influences included Portuguese folk music (from his father), blues and bop. He formed a trio for local gigs which included backing visiting musicians. One such visitor, Stan Get Read more

Bud Powell - 72% match to Clifford Brown

Earl Rudolph Powell, 27 September 1924, Harlem, New York City, New York, USA, d. 31 July 1966, New York City, New York, USA. After learning to play the piano in the classical tradition while still a child, Powell began working around New York’s Coney Island, where he played in a band featuring Valaida Snow around 1940. During the next couple of years he became a regular Read more

Hank Mobley - 67% match to Clifford Brown

Henry Mobley, 7 July 1930, Eastman, Georgia, USA, d. 30 May 1986, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Tenor saxophonist Mobley began his professional career with an R&B band in 1950. The following year, he was attracting the attention of such important beboppers as Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie, and by 1954 his stature was such that he was invited to become a founder member Read more

Freddie Hubbard - 66% match to Clifford Brown

Frederick Dewayne Hubbard, 7 April 1938, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Hubbard began playing trumpet as a child, and in his teens worked locally with Wes Montgomery and Monk Montgomery. When he was 20 he moved to New York, immediately falling in with the best of contemporary jazzmen. Amongst the musicians with whom he worked in the late 50s were Eric Dolphy (his room-mate for Read more

Jackie McLean - 62% match to Clifford Brown

John Lenwood McLean, 17 May 1932, New York City, New York, USA, d. 31 March 2006, Hartford, Connecticut, USA (some sources cite 1931 as his year of birth). Coming as he did from a musical background (McLean’s father played guitar with the Tiny Bradshaw band), Jackie was encouraged by family friends who included Bud Powell. It was through Powell that alto saxophonist McL Read more

Kenny Drew - 61% match to Clifford Brown

28 August 1928, New York City, New York, USA, d. 4 August 1993, Copenhagen, Denmark. A child prodigy, Drew studied piano and music, making his first records in 1949 with Howard McGhee. In the 50s, he was much in demand for recording and club sessions by mainstream and modern musicians such as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Charlie Parker. He worked regularly with Buddy De Read more

Fats Navarro - 60% match to Clifford Brown

Theodore Navarro, 24 September 1923, Key West, Florida, USA, d. 7 July 1950, New York City, New York, USA. After starting to learn the tenor saxophone and piano, Navarro opted for trumpet and by his mid-teens was playing professionally. In 1943 he joined the Andy Kirk band, working alongside Howard McGhee, and two years later was in the trumpet section of Billy Eckstine’ Read more

J.J. Johnson - 60% match to Clifford Brown

James Louis Johnson, 22 January 1924, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, d. 4 February 2001, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Johnson originally studied piano and baritone saxophone, before taking up the trombone at the age of 14. By the time he was 18 years old, he had performed professionally with various territory bands, before joining the band of the great swing altoist Benny Carter Read more

Art Pepper - 54% match to Clifford Brown

1 September 1925, Gardena, Los Angeles, California, USA, d. 15 June 1982, Panorama City, California, USA. Pepper started out on clarinet at the age of nine, switching to alto saxophone four years later. After appearing in school groups, he first played professionally with Gus Arnheim’s band. During his mid-teens he developed his jazz style sitting in with otherwise all- Read more

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - 53% match to Clifford Brown

Sonny Stitt - 53% match to Clifford Brown

Edward Boatner Stitt, 2 February 1924, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, d. 22 July 1982, Washington, DC, USA. Starting out on alto saxophone, Stitt gained his early experience playing in the big bands led by Tiny Bradshaw and Billy Eckstine. Influenced by Charlie Parker and by the many fine young beboppers he encountered on the Eckstine band, Stitt quickly developed into a formid Read more