At Basin Street is the stage for a melee of reckless abandon. Legendary jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown records his final album before his tragic car accident in firing fashion, displaying his brilliant and endearing spirit through his enthusiastic call and response with Max Roach’s drums. This album opens with a vamp characterized with a mysterious and enigmatic air, with spacey fills by Max and Clifford’s colorful phrasing. The tune then hovers on this vamp with the quiet presence like that of a motionless desert landscape while on a safari. Then suddenly, the start the sudden forward momentum of this safari cruiser takes us through an equivocal and varied exploration of bebop — through the serene sandy expanses of the ballad “Love is a Splendored Thing” to the blazing “I’ll Remember April” and concluding with a jolly merry-go-around in “Gertrude’s Bounce.”
Clifford plays with a passionate but tempered violence, rallying behind Max’s percussive assault. Sonny Rollins, the master of motivic development, showcases his lyrical proficiency through his tranquil melodies and phrasing which he miraculously builds, one atop another, all the while blowing over furious tempos. At the back end, Richie Powell, George Morrow, and Max Roach hold down the blazing tempos with enthusiasm.
Ultimately, “Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street” is a glimpse of the magic in community and music-making. It’s a fleeting yet infinite view into the subtle expressiveness that’s only possible at the blazing speed of hard bop. The tempo and harmony are almost overwhelming, but in the midst of this frenzy, there lies a calm within the storm, a convincing vision into what jazz was meant to be: a passionate discovery of natural aesthetic. This glimpse is beautiful, yet haunting for its brevity — the whole album carries this disquieting feeling. It’s a flash in the pan, a moment of realization before the end. Clifford and Richie would pass away in a car accident shortly following this recording, marking one of the most profound losses to the musical world. When listening to this album, we should listen with a reverence, for Clifford and Richie, and for Basin Street’s magic, and for all great things, which are great precisely because they come to an end.