I Remember Clifford

I am a little embarrassed to say that I was not familiar with this Benny Golson tune before I heard the terrific video of I Remember Clifford posted by volvoxburger. There is also a fine teaching video of this song done by Jazz2511. I learned this song about one month ago. I waited to record it until after it had marinated in my head for a while. The structure of this tune is a little bit difficult to learn and it's easy to lose your place while improvising if your mind wanders. This tune is a remembrance of Clifford Brown who died suddenly, accidentally and very young. Taking this into account, I took the liberty of changing some of the chords in order to make the tune sound more overtly funereal. I used fairly long flowing lines because it fit with the slow tempo and the flow of the chord changes. I also decided not to swing in the usual way of delaying and accenting the upbeat. Instead, I play the eights straight and even, but I delay the notes behind the beat much of the time. Do it a little bit and it sounds calming and laid back. Delay the notes behind the beat a lot and it increases tension. This is resolved by speeding up and ending on top of the beat. Personally, I found it interesting to go in and out of this. I tried for a minimalist approach with no showboating. I don't know if I succeeded, but that was what I was thinking about when I recorded it. I hope you enjoy it.

Channel: Music
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: 7notemode

Length: 09:26
Rating: 4.76
Views: 22858

Tags: Benny  Brown  Carolina  Clifford  Durham  Golson  Ivory  Jazz  North  piano  Raleigh  RD700SX  Remember  Roland  Steinway  Synthogy  

Video Comments