Two albums on one CD! Includes the complete 1956 albums Clifford Brown And Max Roach At Basin Street and Sonny Rollins Plus Four.. At the very end of 1955 Sonny Rollins replaced Harold Land in the outstanding Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet. Rollins’ style proved a perfect fit for the group’s extraordinary equilibrium between fast (and we mean really fast!) tunes and delicate, romantic, ballads, all combined with careful arrangements (mostly written by pianist Richie Powell).
However, this fantastic formation was destined to end in tragedy, for in the early morning hours of June 26, 1956, Clifford Brown died in a car accident (at the age of 25) along with pianist Richie Powell. In the short time between Rollins’ arrival and Brownie’s death, the group had the chance to enter the recording studios on three occasions.
The results of those three sessions originally appeared on two albums: Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street and Sonny Rollins Plus Four. All the originally issued master takes from those sessions are compiled on this CD. The title of the first of these LPs deserves special mention: although the Roach-Brown quintet was playing at the Basin Street Club during those days, all the contents of Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street were recorded in the studio.
