Get Happy

The great Clifford Brown only recorded on one occasion with be-bebop trombone pioneer J. J. Johnson. At the time of the 1953 recording session, Johnson had withdrawn from full-time playing to work as a blueprint inspector. The date took place in New York on June 22, 1953.

The master takes were originally released as part of Blue Note’s 10-inch Modern Jazz 5000 Series on BLP 5028, entitled Jay Jay Johnson with Clifford Brown. When reissued in Blue Note’s 12-inch 1500 series of LPs, tracks from the original 1953 recording session were spread over two albums and combined with tracks from a later date producing The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 1 (BLP 1505) and The Eminent Jay Jay Johnson, Volume 2 (BLP 1506).

Such an early issue of alternate takes on the second volume, which appeared in 1956, was due to the fact that Clifford Brown had died in a car accident on June 26 of that year at the age of 25, making every recorded document of his trumpet a thing of great value.