Brownie Speaks

Clifford Brown! Clifford Brown! Clifford Brown!!!!!

That is all I can say after viewing the latest tribute to Clifford Brown,"Brownie Speaks" , a documentary about the greatest trumphet player of all time. This wonderful film was produced and directed by Don Glanden who is a very talented musican in his own right. Don is Division Head of Graduate Jazz Studies and Piano Department Chair at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He has played with jazz greats such as Donald Byrd, Henri Mancini, Patty Austin and many more. His work on Mr.Brown is totally outstanding. Don covers Clifford's life from birth to his unforunate death in 1956. The research that Don put into this was tremendous and the legends that appear are countless and they all loved Clifford Brown. Everyone from Robert "Boysie" Lowery, Benny Golson, Harold Land, Donald Byrd, Arturo Sandoval, Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, even down to Clifford's best buddy David Clark. There are so many other greats that we don't have the space to list them all. However, there is one more person we must include, Brad Glanden,who is Don's son. This young man is a brilliant film editor. He also assisted the director in scripting and shooting this masterpeice. Currently Brad is pursuing his Masters in Media Art at Emerson College. Now the name of the film is "Brownie Speaks" and I urge everyone to see it upon release. Also, Mr.Glanden will be giving Jazz On My Mind an indept interview on his career and the making of Brownie Speaks in the very near future. This is truly a trip down memory lane with someone that I have always respected as a musician, but now as the greatest trumpeter of all time, Clifford Brown! Clifford Brown! Clifford Brown!